Market Testing

5.5  Subject to paragraph 1.2 of this Part 3, the Contractor shall Market Test the Market Tested Service on the Market Test Date in accordance with the procedure as set out in this Part 3.

At least forty (40) weeks6 before each Market Test Date, the Parties shall meet together as often as necessary in respect of the Market Tested Service to be Market Tested on that date:

to consider any changes required to the Market Tested Service;

to discuss and seek to agree the appropriate manner of advertising the Market Tested Service required and the means of identifying prospective tenderers;

to discuss and seek to agree the tender requirements which shall include:

a statement of the tender validity period;

details of the tender evaluation criteria;

the terms and conditions under which the Market Tested Service will be contracted;

information relating to employees and their conditions of employment;

the information that tenderers are required to provide;

how many tenders are required for the Market Test to be valid; and

whether or not an independent tender manager needs to be appointed by the Contractor to manage the tender process.

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6 This may need to change on a project specific basis.  The period has to allow time for the benchmarking process (including appointment of a Benchmarking Consultant to be completed.