Reg. 77 (PCR 2015)

Reserved contracts for certain services

In: Procure > Finalise and publish procurement pack

Overview

This regulation provides that contracting authorities may reserve qualifying suppliers the right to participate in procurement procedures, where the services to be procured are covered by the Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV) codes as set out in this regulation (i.e. regulation 77).

In such circumstances, a supplier will be considered a “qualifying organisation” where:

  • its objective is the pursuit of a public service linked to one of the CPV codes covered by this regulation
  • its profits are reinvested into achieving the suppliers’ objective
  • the management or ownership structure of the supplier is based on employee ownership or participatory principles (or require the active participation of employees, users or stakeholders), and
  • the supplier has not been awarded, pursuant to this regulation, a reserved contract for services by the contracting authority within the past 3 years.

Contracts awarded under this regulation shall not have a duration longer than 3 years

Objective at this commercial stage

Where this regulation (i.e. regulation 77) is relied on to reserve qualified suppliers the right to participate in the procurement, this should be clearly specified in the contract notice.

Key considerations at this commercial stage

Contracting authorities should:

  • ensure that, where applicable, the call for competition includes a clear reference to this regulation to reserve qualifying organisations (as defined by this regulation) the right to participate in the procurement.

See also in the Procurement Act 2023:

  • Section 33: Reserving contracts to public service mutuals

Additional support and guidance

Make sure you:

  • read the regulation
  • seek legal and commercial advice in the context of specific procurements
Read the regulation

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