Section 1: Instructions to Tenderers
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A. General
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1. Scope of Tender
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1.1 The Employer, as indicated in the Special Instructions To Tenderers (SIT) issues this Tender Document for the procurement of Works and Related Services incidental thereto as specified in the SIT and as detailed in Section 6: Bill of Quantities. The name of the Tender and the number and identification of its constituent lot(s) are stated in the SIT. |
| 1.2 The successful Tenderer will be required to complete the Works within the Time for Completion stated in the Special Conditions of Contract (SCC). |
| 1.3 Throughout this Tender Document:
(a) the term “in writing” means communicated in written form with proof of receipt;
(b) if the context so requires, singular means plural and vice versa; and
(c) “day” means calendar day. |
2. Source of Funds
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2.1 The Employer has been allocated public funds as indicated in the SIT and intends to apply a portion of the funds to eligible payments under the Contract for which this Tender Document is issued |
| 2.2 For the purpose of this provision, “public funds” means any monetary resources appropriated to procuring entities under Government budget, or revenues generated by statutory bodies and corporations, or aid grants and credits put at the disposal of procuring entities by the development partners through the Government. |
| 2.3 Payments by the development partner, if so indicated in the SIT, will be made only at the request of the Government and upon approval by the development partner in accordance with the applicable Loan/Credit/Grant Agreement, and will be subject in all respects to the terms and conditions of that Agreement. |
3. Corrupt Fraudulent Collusive, Coercive or Obstructive Practices
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3.1 The Government requires that Employers, as well as Tenderers and Contractors shall observe the highest standard of ethics during the implementation of procurement proceedings and the execution of Contracts under public funds |
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3.2 In pursuance of this requirement, the Employer shall
(a) exclude the Tenderer from participation in the procurement proceeding concerned or reject a proposal for award; and
(b) declare a Tenderer ineligible, either indefinitely or for a stated period of time, from participation in procurement proceedings under public funds;
(c) have the right to require that a provision be included in bidding documents, requiring bidders, suppliers and contractors to permit the relevant authorities to inspect their accounts and records and other documents relating to the bid submission and contract performance and to have them audited by auditors
if it, at any time, determines that the Tenderer has engaged in corrupt, fraudulent, collusive or coercive practices in competing for, or in executing, a Contract under public funds. |
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3.3 Should any corrupt, fraudulent, collusive or coercive practice of any kind come to the knowledge of the Employer, it shall, in the first place, allow the Tenderer/Contractor to provide an explanation and shall, take actions as above only when a satisfactory explanation is not received. |
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3.4 The Government defines, for the purposes of this provision, the terms set forth below as follows:
(a) “corrupt practice” means offering, giving, or promising to give, directly or indirectly, to any officer or employee of a Procuring Entity or other governmental/private authority or individual a gratuity in any form, an employment or any other thing or service of value, as an inducement with respect to an act or decision of, or method followed by, a Procuring Entity in connection with the procurement proceeding;
(b) “fraudulent practice” means a misrepresentation or omission of facts in order to influence a procurement proceeding or the execution of a Contract to the detriment of the Employer;
(c) “collusive practice” means a scheme or arrangement among two and more Tenderers with or without the knowledge of the Employer (prior to or after Tender submission) designed to establish Tender prices at artificial, non-competitive levels and to deprive the Employer of the benefits of free, open and genuine competition; and
“coercive practice” means harming or threatening to harm, directly or indirectly, persons or their property to influence the procurement proceedings, or affect the execution of a Contract.
(e) “obstructive practice” which means
i. deliberately destroying, falsifying, altering or concealing of evidence material to the investigation or making false statements to investigators in order to materially impede relevant authorities’ investigation into allegations of a corrupt, fraudulent, coercive or collusive practice; and/or threatening, harassing or intimidating any party to prevent it from disclosing its knowledge of matters relevant to the investigation or from pursuing the investigation, or
ii. acts intended to materially impede the exercise of the relevant authorities’ inspection and audit rights provided for under par. 3.2 (c) above. |
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3.5 The Tenderer shall be aware of the provisions on fraud and corruption stated in GCC Clause 3 and GCC Sub-Clause 34.2(d). |
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3.6 The Government requires that the Employer’s personnel have an equal obligation not to solicit, ask for and/or use coercive methods to obtain personal benefits in connection with the said proceedings. |
4. Eligible Tenderers
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4.1 [Tenderers of the categories specified in the SIT are eligible to participate in the Tender.] |
| 4.2 A Government-owned enterprise in Nigeria may also participate in the Tender if it is legally and financially autonomous, it operates under commercial law, and it is not a dependent agency of the Employer. |
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4.3 For Restricted Tendering method, Tenderers shall provide satisfactory information to the Employer of their capability and adequacy of resources to carry out the Contract effectively as defined in the Tender Document. |
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4.4 When there are no enlisted contractors of the Employer to enable the use of the Restricted Tendering method, and the Employer shall invite Tenders using the Open Tendering Method (National Competitive Tendering), the Tenderers shall provide satisfactory information to the Employer of their capability and adequacy of resources to carry out the Contract effectively and shall meet the following minimum qualifying criteria:
(a) average annual volume of construction turnover as specified in the SIT during the period specified in the SIT;
(b) experience as prime Contractor or subcontractor in the construction of at least the number of completed Contracts stated in the SIT of a nature and complexity similar to the proposed work over the period stated in the SIT; and
(c) liquid assets/ availability of funds and/or credit facilities from its Banker’s to successfully complete the Contract, as specified in the SIT. |
5. Site Visit
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5.1 The Tenderer, at the Tenderer’s own responsibility and risk, is encouraged to visit and examine the Site and obtain all information that may be necessary for preparing the Tender and entering into a Contract for performance of the Works. The costs of visiting the Site shall be at the Tenderer’s own expense. |
B. Tender Document
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6. Sections of the Tender Document
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6.1 The sections comprising the Tender Document are listed below and should be read in conjunction with any Amendment issued in accordance with ITT Clause 9:
· Section 1: Instructions to Tenderers
· Section 2: Special Instructions To Tenderers
· Section 3: General Conditions of Contract
· Section 4: Special Conditions of Contract
· Section 5: Tender and Contract Forms
· Section 6: Schedule of Works & Technical Specifications
· Section 7: Drawings
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7. Clarification of the Tender Document
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7.1 A prospective Tenderer requiring any clarification of the Tender Document shall contact the Employer in writing at the Employer’s address indicated in the SIT. The Employer will respond in writing to any request for clarification received no later than seven (7) calendar days prior to the deadline for submission of Tenders. |
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7.2 The Employer shall forward copies of its response to all those who have purchased the Tender Document, including a description of the enquiry but without identifying its source. |
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7.3 Should the Employer deem it necessary to amend the Tender Document as a result of a clarification, it shall do so following the procedure under ITT Clause 8 and ITT Sub-Clause 18.3 |
8. Amendment of the Tender Document:
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8.1 At any time prior to the deadline for submission of Tenders, the Employer for any reason, on its own initiative or in response to a clarification request in writing from a Tenderer, having purchased the Tender Document, may amend the Tender Document by issuing an amendment. |
| 8.2 Any amendment issued shall become an integral part of the Tender Document and shall be communicated in writing to all those who have purchased the Tender Document. |
C. Tender Preparation
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9. Only one Tender
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9.1 A Tenderer shall submit only one (1) Tender for each lot. A Tenderer who submits or participates in more than one (1) Tender will cause all the Tenders with that Tenderers participation to be rejected. |
10. Preparation Costs of the Tender
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10.1 The Tenderer shall bear all costs associated with the preparation and submission of its Tender, and the Employer shall not be responsible or liable for those costs, regardless of the conduct or outcome of the Tendering process. |
11. Tender Language
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11.1 The Tender, as well as all correspondence and documents relating to the Tender shall be written in the English language. |
12. Contents of the Tender
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12.1 For the Restricted Tendering method using enlisted Contractors, the Tender prepared by the Tenderer shall comprise the following:
(a) the Tender Submission Sheet (Form W-1);
(b) the completed Schedule of Works including Technical Specifications (Section 6);
(c) the Tender Security in accordance with ITT Cub-Clause 15.2;
(d) the completed Tenderer Information Sheet (Form W-2);
(e) any other documents as specified in the SIT. |
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12.2 For the Open Tendering method (National Competitive Tendering), the Tender prepared by the Tenderer shall comprise the following:
(a) the Tender Submission Sheet (Form W-1);
(b) the completed Schedule of Works (section 6);
(c) the Tender Security in accordance with ITT Sub-Clause 15.2;
(d) the documentary evidence in accordance with ITT Sub-Clause 4.4 establishing Tenderer’s eligibility to Tender, including the completed Tender Information Sheet (Form W-2); and
(e) any other documents as specified in the SIT. |
13. Alternative Tenders
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13.1 Alternative tenders shall not be considered. |
14. Prices and Currency of Tenders
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14.1 All prices shall be quoted in Naira. |
| 14.2 The Tender price shall take into account the cost of materials, transportation, labour, taxes, levies, overheads and profit. The Tender price shall be fixed for the duration of performance of the Contract and shall not be subject to any adjustment on any account. The Tender price shall be applicable for the whole works described in the Drawings, Specifications and Schedule of Works. |
| 14.3 The Tenderer shall fill in a lump sum price for each component of the Works identified in the Schedule of Works. In addition, the Tenderer shall provide a breakdown of the lump sum price(s) showing rates and prices for all items of the Works described in the Schedule of Works. |
| 14.4 The price to be quoted in the Tender Submission Sheet shall be the total price of the Tender, excluding any discounts offered. In the case of a discrepancy between the Tender Price quoted in figures and words the Tender Price quoted in words shall prevail. |
15. Validity and Security of Tenders
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15.1 Tenders shall remain valid for the period specified in the SIT after the date of Tender submission prescribed by the Employer, pursuant to ITT Clause 18. A Tender valid for a shorter period shall be rejected by the Employer as non-responsive.
15.2 The Tender Security shall at the Tenderer’s option, be either in the form of a bank draft, pay order or an unconditional bank guarantee (Form W-3) issued by a commercial Bank of Nigeria. |
| 15.3 In exceptional circumstances, prior to the expiration of the Tender validity period, the Employer may solicit the Tenderers consent to an extension of the period of validity of their Tenders. The request and responses shall be made in writing. The Tender Security provided under ITT Sub-Clause 15.2 shall be suitably extended promptly. |
16. Tender Format and Signing
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16.1 The Tenderer shall prepare one (1) original of the documents comprising the Tender as described in ITT Clause 12 and clearly mark it “ORIGINAL.” In addition, the Tenderer shall prepare the number of copies of the Tender, as specified in the SIT and clearly mark each of them “COPY.” In the event of any discrepancy between the original and the copies, the original shall prevail. |
| 16.2 The original and each copy of the Tender shall be typed or written in indelible ink and shall be signed by the person duly authorized to sign on behalf of the Tenderer. All pages of the original and of each copy of the Tender, except for un-amended printed literature, shall be numbered sequentially and signed or initialled by the person signing the Tender |
| 16.3 Any interlineations, erasures, or overwriting shall be valid only if they are signed or initialled by the person(s) signing the Tender. |
D. Tender Submission
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17. Tender Sealing and Marking
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17.1 The Tenderer shall enclose the original in one (1) envelope and all the copies of the Tender in another envelope, duly marking the envelopes as “ORIGINAL” and “COPY.” These two (2) envelopes shall then be enclosed in one (1) single outer envelope. |
| 17.2 The inner and outer envelopes shall:
(a) bear the name and address of the Tenderer;
(b) be addressed to the Employer at the address specified in the SIT;
(c) bear the name of the Tender and the Tender Number as specified in the SIT, and;
(d) bear a statement “DO NOT TO OPEN BEFORE…….” the time and date for Tender opening as specified in the SIT. |
| 17.3 If all envelopes are not sealed and marked as required by ITT Sub-Clause 17.2, the Employer will assume no responsibility for the misplacement or premature opening of the Tender |
18. Tender Submission Deadline
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18.1 Tenders must be received by the Employer at the address specified in the SIT not later than the date and time specified in the SIT. |
| 18.2 Tenders may be hand delivered, posted by registered mail or sent by courier. The Employer shall, on request, provide the Tenderer with a receipt showing the date and time when its Tender was received. |
| 18.3 The Employer may, at its discretion, extend the deadline for the submission of Tenders by amending the Tender Document in accordance with ITT Clause 8, in which case all rights and obligations of the Employer and Tenderers previously subject to the deadline shall thereafter be subject to the new deadline as extended. |
19. Late Tenders
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19.1 Any Tender received by the Employer after the deadline for submission of Tenders in accordance with ITT Clause 18 shall be declared late, will be rejected, and returned unopened to the Tenderer. |
20. Tender Modification, Substitution or Withdrawal
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20.1 A Tenderer may modify, substitute or withdraw its Tender after it has been submitted by sending a written notice before the deadline for submission of Tenders. |
| 20.2 Each Tenderer’s modification, substitution or withdrawal notice shall be prepared, sealed, marked, and delivered in accordance with ITT Clauses 16, 17, and 18 with the outer and inner envelopes additionally marked “MODIFICATION”, “SUBSTITUTION” or “WITHDRAWAL” as appropriate. |
E. Tender Opening and Evaluation
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21. Tender Opening
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21.1 The Employer shall open the Tenders in public, including modifications or substitutions made pursuant to ITT Clause 20, at the time, on the date and only at the one place specified in the SIT. Tenders for which an acceptable notice of withdrawal has been submitted pursuant to ITT Clause 20 shall not be opened. Tenderers or their authorised representatives shall be allowed to attend and witness the opening of Tenders, and shall sign a register evidencing their attendance. |
| 21.2 The name of the Tenderer, Tender modifications, substitutions or withdrawals, total amount of each Tender, number of corrections, discounts, and the presence or absence of requisite Tender Security, and such other details as the Employer, at its discretion, may consider appropriate, shall be read out aloud and recorded. All pages of the original Tender, except for un-amended printed literature, will be initialled by a minimum of three (3) members of the Employer’s Tender Opening Committee. |
| 21.3 Minutes of the Tender opening shall be made by the Employer and furnished to any Tenderer upon receipt of a written request. The minutes shall include, as a minimum, the name of the Tenderer and whether there has been a withdrawal, substitution or modification; the Tender Price including any discounts and the presence or absence of a Tender Security, if one was required. |
| 21.4 Tenders not opened and read out at the Tender opening shall not be considered, irrespective of the circumstances, and shall be returned unopened to the Tenderer. |
| 21.5 No Tender shall be rejected at the Tender opening, except for late Tenders, which shall be returned unopened to the Tenderer pursuant to ITT Clause 19 |
22. Confidentiality
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22.1 After the opening of Tenders, information relating to the examination, clarification, and evaluation of Tenders and recommendations for award shall not be disclosed to Tenderers or other persons not officially concerned with the evaluation process until after the award of the Contract is announced. |
23. Tender Clarification
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23.1 The Employer may ask Tenderers for clarification of their Tenders in order to facilitate the examination and evaluation of Tenders. The request for clarification and the response shall be in writing, and any changes in the prices or substance of the Tender shall not be sought, offered or permitted, except to confirm the correction of arithmetical errors discovered by the Employer in the evaluation of the Tenders, in accordance with ITT Clause 27. |
24. Tenderer Contacting the Employer
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24.1 Following the opening of Tenders and until the Contract is signed no Tenderer shall make any unsolicited communication to the Employer or try in any way to influence the Employer’s examination and evaluation of Tenders. |
| 24.2 Any effort by a Tenderer to influence the Employer in its decisions on the examination, evaluation, comparison and post-qualification of the Tenders or Contract award may result in the rejection of its Tender. |
| 24.3 Notwithstanding ITT Sub Clause 24.1, from the time of Tender opening to the time of Contract award, if any Tenderer wishes to contact the Employer on any matter related to the tendering process, it should do so in writing. |
25. Tender: Responsiveness
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25.1 The Employer’s determination of a Tender’s responsiveness is to be based on the contents of the Tender itself without recourse to extrinsic evidence. |
| 25.2 A substantially responsive Tender is one that conforms in all respects to the requirements of the Tender Document without material deviation, reservation or omission. A material deviation, reservation or omission is one that:
(a) affects in any substantial way the scope, quality, or performance of the Works specified in the Contract; or
(b) limits in any substantial way, or is inconsistent with the Tender Document, the Employer’s rights or the Tenderer’s obligations under the Contract; or
(c) if rectified would unfairly affect the competitive position of other Tenderers presenting substantially responsive Tenders. |
| 25.3 If a Tender is not substantially responsive to the Tender Document it shall be rejected by the Employer and shall not subsequently be made responsive by the Tenderer by correction of the material deviation, reservation or omission. |
| 25.4 There shall be no requirement as to the minimum number of responsive Tenders. |
| 26. Minor Deviations
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26.1 The Employer may regard a Tender as responsive even if it contains minor deviations that do not materially alter or depart from the characteristics, terms, conditions and other requirement set forth in the Tender Document or if it contains errors or oversights that are capable of being corrected without affecting the substance of the Tender. |
27. Evaluation and Comparison of Tenders
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27.1 The Employer shall evaluate and compare only those Tenders determined to be substantially responsive to the requirements of the Tender Document. Substantially responsive tenders are those which fulfil the requirements of ITT Clauses 4 and 12. |
| 27.2 The evaluation will take into account the corrected Tender Price and discounts (if any).
27.3 The Employer will check substantially responsive Tenders for any arithmetical errors including in the computation of the breakdown of lump sum price(s). Where there is a discrepancy between the amounts in figures and words, the amount in words will govern. If a Tenderer refuses to accept the correction, its Tender shall be rejected. The Employer shall correct arithmetical errors on the following basis :
(a) if there is a discrepancy between the unit price and the line item total, the unit price shall prevail and the total price shall be corrected, unless in the opinion of the Employer there is an obvious misplacement of the decimal point in the unit price, in which case the total price, as quoted, shall govern and the unit price shall be corrected ; and
(b) where there is a discrepancy between the amounts in figures and words, the amount in words will govern. |
28. No Negotiations
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28.1 No Negotiations shall be held with the lowest or any other Tenderer. A Tenderer shall not be required, as a condition for award, to undertake responsibilities not stipulated in the Tender document, to change its price or otherwise modify its Tender. |
29. Employer’s Right to Accept or Reject any or all Tenders
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29.1 The Employer reserves the right to accept any Tender, to annul the Tender proceedings, or to reject any or all Tenders, at any time prior to Contract award, without thereby incurring any liability to Tenderers, or any obligation to inform Tenderers of the grounds for the Employer’s actions. |
F. Contract Award
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30. Award Criteria
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30.1 The Employer shall award the Contract to the Tenderer whose offer is substantially responsive to the Tender Document and that has been determined to be the lowest evaluated Tender, provided that the Tenderer is determined to be qualified to perform the Contract satisfactorily. |
31. Notification of Award
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31.1 Prior to the expiration of the period of Tender validity, the Employer shall notify the successful Tenderer, in writing that its Tender has been accepted. |
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31.2 Until a formal contract is prepared and executed, the Notification of Award shall constitute a binding Contract. |
32. Performance Security
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32.1 Within fourteen (14) days of the receipt of the Notification of Award from the Employer, the successful Tenderer shall furnish the Performance Security, if required, in the amount specified in the SIT using for that purpose the Performance Security Form (Form W-6) furnished in Section 5: Tender and Contract Forms. |
33. Contract Signing
34. Information to Tenderers.
35.Tenderer’s Right to Complain
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33.1 At the same time as the employer issues the notification of award, the employer shall send the contract agreement and all documents forming the contract to the successful tenderer.
33.2Within twenty-one (21)days of receipt of the contract agreement, the successful tenderer shall sign, date and return it to the employer.
33.3Failure of the successful Tenderer to submit the Performance Security, pursuant to ITT Sub-Clause 32.1, or sign the Contract, pursuant to ITT Sub-Clause 33.2, shall constitute sufficient grounds for the annulment of the award and forfeiture of the Tender Security. In that event, the Employer may award the Contract to the next lowest evaluated responsive Tenderer at their quoted price (corrected for arithmetical errors), who is assessed by the Employer to be qualified to perform the Contract satisfactorily.
33.4Immediately upon receipt of the signed Contract Agreement and Performance Security from the successful Tenderer, the Employer shall discharge and return the successful Tenderer’s Performance Security. |
| 34.1 Upon the successful Tenderer’s furnishing of the Performance Security pursuant to ITT Clause 32, and signing of the Contract pursuant to ITT Clause 33, the Employer shall also notify all other Tenderers that their Tenders have been unsuccessful.
34.2 The Employer shall promptly respond in writing to any unsuccessful Tenderer who, after notification in accordance with ITT Sub-Clause xx.1, requests in writing for the Employer to communicate the grounds on which its Tender was not selected. |
| 35.1 Any Tenderer has the right to complain if it has suffered or may suffer loss or damage in accordance with paragraphs 23-27 of the current Public Procurement Regulations for Goods and Works.
35.2 The complaint shall firstly be processed through an administrative review following the procedures set out in paragraph 24 of the Public Procurement Regulations for Goods and Works. The place and address for the first step in the submission of complaints to the Administrative Authority is provided in the SIT. |
| 35.3 If not satisfied with the outcome of the administrative review, the Tenderer may complain to the BPP pursuant to paragraph 25 of the Public Procurement Regulations for Goods and Works. |
