Article 7 - Prequalification proceedings

(1) The procuring entity may engage in prequalification proceedings with a view towards identifying, prior to the submission of tenders, proposals or offers in procurement proceedings conducted pursuant to chapter III, IV or V, suppliers and contractors that are qualified. The provisions of article 6 shall apply to prequalification proceedings.

(2) If the procuring entity engages in prequalification proceedings, it shall provide a set of prequalification documents to each supplier or contractor that requests them in accordance with the invitation to prequalify and that pays the price, if any, charged for those documents. The price that the procuring entity may charge for the prequalification documents shall reflect only the cost of printing them and providing them to suppliers or contractors.

(3) The prequalification documents shall include, at a minimum:

(a) the following information:

i. instructions for preparing and submitting prequalification applications;

ii. a summary of the principal required terms and conditions of the procurement contract to be entered into as a result of the procurement proceedings;

iii. any documentary evidence or other information that must be submitted by suppliers or contractors to demonstrate their qualifications;

iv. the manner and place for the submission of applications to prequalify and the deadline for the submission, expressed as a specific date and time and allowing sufficient time for suppliers or contractors to prepare and submit their applications, taking into account the reasonable needs of the procuring entity;

v. any other requirements that may be established by the procuring entity in conformity with this Law and the procurement regulations relating to the preparation and submission of applications to prequalify and to the prequalification proceedings; and

(b)

i. in proceedings under chapter III, the information required to be specified in the invitation to tender by article 25 (1) (a) to (e), (h) and, if already known, (j);

ii. in proceedings under chapter IV, the information referred to in article 38 (a), (c), if already known, (g), (p), and (s).

(4) The procuring entity shall respond to any request by a supplier or contractor for clarification of the prequalification documents that is received by the procuring entity within a reasonable time prior to the deadline for the submission of applications to prequalify. The response by the procuring entity shall be given within a reasonable time so as to enable the supplier or contractor to make a timely submission of its application to prequalify. The response to any request that might reasonably be expected to be of interest to other suppliers or contractors shall, without identifying the source of the request, be communicated to all suppliers or contractors to which the procuring entity provided the prequalification documents.

(5) The procuring entity shall make a decision with respect to the qualifications of each supplier or contractor submitting an application to prequalify. In reaching that decision, the procuring entity shall apply only the criteria set forth in the prequalification documents.

(6) The procuring entity shall promptly notify each supplier or contractor submitting an application to prequalify whether or not it has been prequalified and shall make available to any member of the general public, upon request, the names of all suppliers or contractors that have been prequalified. Only suppliers or contractors that have been prequalified are entitled to participate further in the procurement proceedings.

(7) The procuring entity shall upon request communicate to suppliers or contractors that have not been prequalified the grounds therefor, but the procuring entity is not required to specify the evidence or give the reasons for its finding that those grounds were present.

(8) The procuring entity may require a supplier or contractor that has been prequalified to demonstrate again its qualifications in accordance with the same criteria used to prequalify such supplier or contractor. The procuring entity shall disqualify any supplier or contractor that fails to demonstrate again its qualifications if requested to do so. The procuring entity shall promptly notify each supplier or contractor requested to demonstrate again its qualifications as to whether or not the supplier or contractor has done so to the satisfaction of the procuring entity.