12. The preliminary evaluation is designed to determine whether or not bidders' responses comply with the PQQ's basic requirements. At a high level, the following should be taken into account:
• Completeness of information;
• Ability to undertake the project; and
• Eligibility.
13. Bidders are required to submit data in the specific formats, covering specified periods and in sufficient depth. It is normal practice to alert bidders if their responses omit key data. The failure to provide information required in the right form and in the right depth after a reminder has been issued should merit rejection.
14. At preliminary evaluation it should be possible to form a judgement on the bidder's ability to delivery a project of the PPP scheme's magnitude and complexity. This judgement is based on an initial financial hurdle, coupled with a more qualitative examination of the bidder's structure.
15. The financial hurdle assesses whether the bidder is sufficiently robust to be considered further. Examples of the criteria used are as follows:
• Turnover - it is essential that the PPP scheme does not dominate the bidders' businesses and consequently, that only those with a realistic chance of undertaking the project are passed. To qualify, bidders must have sufficient turnover. The qualifying thresholds may vary according to the size of scheme, and are set at multiples of:
- the likely mean annual capital expenditure during the construction phase for the construction and mechanical and engineering contractor(s) - likely to be at least 3 times the annual construction works value) and
- the estimated annual value of service to be provided for the FM contractor(s), equipment or IM&T providers - likely to be at least 5 times the annual FM charge).
• Credit Rating - the model PQQ deliberately avoids asking bidders to submit their own credit ratings. It is better for the NHS Board (in conjunction with its advisers) to seek ratings from one agency to ensure that the results are directly comparable;
• Qualified financial statements - indicating that the bidder's auditors could not endorse the accounts' true and fair view. This would call into question the veracity of other financial data submitted.
16. In addition to objective financial measures, it is appropriate for the NHS Board to consider the organisation of the bid. The absence of key members at PQQ would not necessary merit exclusion if, in the judgement of the evaluation team, the candidate has a reasonable justification and can demonstrate a good track record of forming consortia to deliver similar transactions.
17. In some circumstances, a candidate may wish to subcontract a key role on the project, without that party being a member of the consortium. At preliminary evaluation, it would be reasonable to assess the acceptability of the candidate's approach to subcontracting. NHS Boards should bear this in mind when scoring B4 and C4.
18. Any candidate failing to satisfy PQQ question A6, regarding eligibility under regulation 14 of the Public Services Contracts Regulations 1993 (covering prosecutions or judicial enquiries against a Relevant Company) should be disqualified automatically.
19. Questions A19, C25 and C26, which ask bidders to signify their acceptance of the principles behind the standard form project agreement, standard form payment mechanism, GAD compliant pensions and STUC Staffing Protocol (as applicable), should also be marked on a pass/fail basis. Candidates proposals for applying these concepts in a scheme specific way are addressed in procurement.
20. It is not intended that the preliminary evaluation should be subject to a prescribed scoring methodology, as for the detailed evaluation. Pass/Fail questions are unambiguous and financial thresholds should be set at levels suitable for each project. NHS Boards' legal and financial advisers should be able to provide examples of suitable approaches.