4.1.1 Procurement notice, prequalification and shortlisting <1>(2)(3)(4)

Publishing the public procurement notice marks the start of the formal procurement process. The contracting authority must comply with all requirements related to the publication of notices in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU). This is followed by a questionnaire to allow interested companies to demonstrate their qualifications, also known as the submission of an expression of interest.

□ The purpose of prequalification is to include only those bidders that appear to be capable of carrying out the PPP in an adequate manner.

□ The wording of the brief project description contained in the OJEU notice should be broad enough so that it will not need to be subsequently changed - which might then require the notice process to start over again.

Typically, interested parties that respond to an initial notice are sent a short statement of information about the project and instructions or a questionnaire. These form the basis of a qualification submission that such parties must make to demonstrate their capacity to implement the project.

The invitation to prequalify (or prequalification questionnaire, as it may be called) should contain at least the following:

□ The broader context of the project;

□ An overview of the project, including the intended allocation of major risks and envisaged responsibilities of each party;

□ A list and summary of the major studies that will be made available to bidders concerning the project;

□ The intended procurement process;

□ The qualifications that companies can put forward (e.g. parent or subsidiary companies' qualifications);

□ The criteria and tests that will be used to evaluate the prequalification statement (but not necessarily the precise details to be used in any scoring or ranking since that could lead to strategic manipulation by the candidates); and

□ A timetable.

It is standard practice for the contracting authority's legal advisers to draft both the PPP procurement notice and the prequalification questionnaire.