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Procurement Notice Details

Insc - support to the iranian nuclear regulatory authority (inra)
Iran

29/03/2018 S62 External aid programmes - Services - Contract notice - Restricted procedure
Belgium-Brussels: INSC - Support to the Iranian Nuclear Regulatory Authority (INRA)

2018/S 062-136421

Location - Iran

SERVICE CONTRACT NOTICE



1.
Publication reference
EuropeAid/139516/DH/SER/IR
2.
Procedure
Restricted
3.
Programme title
Instrument for Nuclear Safety Cooperation (INSC)
4.
Financing
Budget line
5.
Contracting Authority
European Union, represented by the European Commission, on behalf and for the account of the partner country, Brussels, Belgium.


CONTRACT SPECIFICATION

6.
Nature of contract
Fee-based
7.
Contract description
This project is aimed to enhance the capacity and effectiveness of the Iranian Nuclear Regulatory Authority (INRA) by the implementation of the following main activities in cooperation with INRA: firstly, to support further improvements to the legal and regulatory framework for nuclear and radiation safety and for waste management; secondly, to support the further development of the INRA management system; thirdly, to strengthen capabilities for safety assessment and verification of nuclear installations; fourthly, to refine the human resource development plan; fifthly, to prepare for improvements in the national and regional emergency preparedness and response; sixthly, to support to the review of the safety reassessment and action plan for the Tehran Research Reactor.
The actions are part of the implementation of Annex III of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA).
8.
Number and titles of lots
One lot only
9.
Maximum budget
4 000 000 EUR
10.
Scope for additional services
The Contracting Authority may, at its own discretion, extend the contracts in duration and/or scope subject to the availability of funding up to the estimated amount of up to the maximum value of the initial contracts. Any extension of the contracts would be subject to satisfactory performance by the Contractors.

CONDITIONS OF PARTICIPATION

11.
Eligibility
Participation is open to all natural persons who are nationals of and legal persons (participating either individually or in a grouping – consortium of tenderers) which are effectively established in a Member State of the European Union or in a eligible country or territory as defined under the Regulation (EU) No236/2014 establishing common rules and procedures for the implementation of the Union's instruments for external action (CIR) for the applicable Instrument under which the contract is financed (see also heading 29 below). Participation is also open to international organisations.

12.
Candidature
All eligible natural and legal persons (as per item 11 above) or groupings of such persons (consortia) may apply.
A consortium may be a permanent, legally-established grouping or a grouping which has been constituted informally for a specific tender procedure. All members of a consortium (i.e., the leader and all other members) are jointly and severally liable to the Contracting Authority.
The participation of an ineligible natural or legal person (as per item 11) will result in the automatic exclusion of that person. In particular, if that ineligible person belongs to a consortium, the whole consortium will be excluded.
13.
Number of applications
No more than one application can be submitted by a natural or legal person whatever the form of participation (as an individual legal entity or as leader or member of a consortium submitting an application). In the event that a natural or legal person submits more than one application, all applications in which that person has participated will be excluded.
14.
Shortlist alliances prohibited
Any tenders received from tenderers comprising firms other than those mentioned in the shortlisted application forms will be excluded from this restricted tender procedure unless prior approval from the Contracting Authority has been obtained (see Practical Guide – PRAG - 2.4.3.). Short-listed candidates may not form alliances or subcontract to each other for the contract in question.
15.
Grounds for exclusion
As part of the application form, candidates must submit a signed declaration, included in the standard application form, to the effect that they are not in any of the exclusion situations listed in Section 2.3.3 of the PRAG.
16.
Sub-contracting
Subcontracting is allowed.
17.
Number of candidates to be short-listed
On the basis of the applications received, between 4 and 8 candidates will be invited to submit detailed tenders for this contract. If the number of eligible candidates meeting the selection criteria is less than the minimum of 4, the Contracting Authority may invite the candidates who satisfy the criteria to submit a tender.

PROVISIONAL TIMETABLE

18.
Provisional date of invitation to tender
May 2018
19.
Provisional commencement date of the contract
October 2018
20.
Initial period of implementation of tasks
42 months

SELECTION AND AWARD CRITERIA

21.
Selection criteria
The following selection criteria will be applied to candidates. In the case of applications submitted by a consortium, these selection criteria will be applied to the consortium as a whole unless specified otherwise. The selection criteria will not be applied to natural persons and singlemember companies when they are sub-contractors.
1) Economic and financial capacity of candidate (based on item 3 of the application form). In case of candidate being a public body, equivalent information should be provided. The reference period which will be taken into account will be the last three years for which accounts have been closed.
a) The average annual turnover for the last 3 years for which accounts have been closed must exceed 1 000 000 EUR
2) Professional capacity of candidate (based on items 4 and 5 of the application form). The reference period which will be taken into account will be the last three years from submission deadline.
a) There are at least 40 permanent staff each year, for the current year (2018) and the two previous years (2016, 2017), working for the candidate and composed as follows:
(i) a minimum of 30 permanent staff in the field of nuclear safety assessment directly supporting the nuclear power plant (NPP) licensing or regulation activities of an EU nuclear safety authority,
AND
(ii) another minimum of 10 permanent staff performing NPP licensing or regulation activities at an EU nuclear safety authority.
Please be aware that this professional capacity selection criterion implies that if the candidate is not an EU nuclear safety authority itself, it needs to include in its consortium a member that is an EU nuclear safety authority.
3) Technical capacity of candidate (based on items 5 and 6 of the application form). The reference period which will be taken into account will be the last three years from submission deadline.
A. The candidate has successfully implemented as leader (i.e. implementation of a minimum of 50 % of the project budget by the candidate itself) at least one project in the field of nuclear safety assessment and/or technical support activities directly supporting licensing or regulation activities of an EU nuclear safety authority, with a budget for each contract of at least 500 000 EUR. The projects must have been implemented in the EU.
B. The candidate has successfully implemented at least one project in the field of nuclear safety assessment and/or technical support activities directly supporting licensing or regulation activities of a nuclear safety authority, with a budget for each contract of at least 400 000 EUR, which together must demonstrate that the candidate has experience in at least 4 of the 5 technical areas below:
a) establishment of nuclear safety regulations for nuclear reactor installations
b) performing safety assessment of nuclear reactor installations
c) performing regulatory inspections of nuclear reactor installations
d) regulatory review in the field of nuclear Emergency Preparedness and Response
e) providing training or tutoring in the field of nuclear safety
C. The candidate has proven experience (shown in at least one project) of transferring EU nuclear safety expertise and know-how to nuclear safety authorities (or their technical support organisations) in other countries outside the EU.
Projects used as reference for criteria 21.3(A), 21.3(B) and 21.3(C) above must have been implemented at any moment during the following period: April 2015 – April 2018. This means that the project the candidate refers to could have been started or completed at any time during the indicated period but it does not necessarily have to be started and completed during that period, nor implemented during the entire period Candidates/tenderers are allowed to refer either to projects completed within the reference period (although started earlier) or to projects not yet completed. In the first case the project will be considered in its whole if proper evidence of performance is provided (statement or certificate from the entity which awarded the contract, proof of final payment). In case of projects still on-going only the portion satisfactorily completed during the reference period although started earlier will be taken into consideration. This portion will have to be supported by documentary evidence (similarly to projects completed) also detailing its value. In this case, a precise budget and a description of the tasks which were implemented until the end of the reference period (up to April 2018) shall be added in the detailed description of the project in the application form. Please adapt the table in the submission form accordingly.
If a candidate/tenderer has implemented the project in a consortium, the percentage that the candidate/tenderer has successfully completed (incl. the starting and end date) must be clear from the documentary evidence, together with a description of the nature of the services provided if the selection criteria relating to the pertinence of the experience have been used.
Previous experience which caused breach of contract and termination by a Contracting Authority shall not be used as reference.
An economic operator may, where appropriate and for a particular contract, rely on the capacities of other entities, regardless of the legal nature of the links which it has with them. It must in that case prove to the Contracting Authority that it will have at its disposal the resources necessary for performance of the contract, for example by producing a commitment on the part of those entities to place those resources at its disposal. Such entities, for instance the parent company of the economic operator, must respect the same rules of eligibility — notably that of nationality — and must fulfil the same relevant selection criteria as the economic operator. With regard to technical and professional criteria, an economic operator may only rely on the capacities of other entities where the latter will perform the works or services for which these capacities are required. With regard to economic and financial criteria, the entities upon whose capacity the tenderer relies, become jointly and severally liable for the performance of the contract.
If more than 8 eligible candidates meet the above selection criteria, the relative strengths and weaknesses of the applications of these candidates must be reexamined to identify the eight best candidates. The only factors which will be taken into consideration during this reexamination are:
The highest number of projects in criteria 21.3.A
22.
Award criteria
Best price-quality ratio.

APPLICATION

23.
Deadline for receipt of applications
16:00 CET on 14.5.2018
Any application received by the Contracting Authority after this deadline will not be considered.
24.
Application format and details to be provided
Applications must be submitted using the standard application form, the format and instructions of which must be strictly observed. The application form is available from the following Internet address:
http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/prag/annexes.do?chapterTitleCode=B

The application must be accompanied by a declaration of honour on exclusion and selection criteria using the template available from the following Internet address:
http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/prag/annexes.do?chapterTitleCode=A

Any additional documentation (brochure, letter, etc.) sent with an application will not be taken into consideration.
25.
How applications may be submitted
Applications must be submitted in English exclusively to the Contracting Authority in a sealed envelope:
— EITHER by recorded delivery (official postal service) to:
European Commission
Directorate General for Development and Cooperation — EuropeAid
Unit B6
EuropeAid/139516/DH/SER/IR
Avenue du Bourget 1
Office L-41, 03/110
B- 1049 Brussels
Belgium
(Tel: +32 2 299 79 16)
In this case, the delivery record makes proof of compliance with the time-limit for receipt.
— OR hand delivered (including courier services) directly to the Contracting Authority in return for a signed and dated receipt to:
European Commission
Directorate General for Development and Cooperation - EuropeAid
Unit B6
EuropeAid/139516/DH/SER/IR
Avenue du Bourget 1
Office L-41, 03/110
B- 1040 Brussels
Belgium
(Tel: +32 2 299 79 16)
In this case, the acknowledgment of receipt makes proof of compliance with the time-limit for receipt.
N.B.: This department is open from 7:00 to 17:30 from Monday to Friday: it is closed on Saturdays, Sundays and Commission holidays.
The Contract title and the Publication reference (see item 1 above) must be clearly marked on the envelope containing the application and must always be mentioned in all subsequent correspondence with the Contracting Authority.
Applications submitted by any other means will not be considered.
By submitting an application candidates accept to receive notification of the outcome of the procedure by electronic means. Such notification shall be deemed to have been received on the date upon which the contracting authority sends it to the electronic address referred to in the application.
26.
Alteration or withdrawal of applications
Candidates may alter or withdraw their applications by written notification prior to the deadline for submission of applications. No application may be altered after this deadline.
Any such notification of alteration or withdrawal shall be prepared and submitted in accordance with Item 25. The outer envelope (and the relevant inner envelope if used) must be marked 'Alteration' or 'Withdrawal' as appropriate.
27.
Operational language
All written communications for this tender procedure and contract must be in English.
28.
Date of publication of prior information notice
OJ S 40 on 27.2.2018
29.
Legal basis
Regulation (EU) No236/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11.3.2014 laying down common rules and procedures for the implementation of the Union's instruments for financing external action and Council Regulation (EURATOM) No 237/2014 of 13.12.2013 establishing an Instrument for Nuclear Safety Cooperation — See Annex A2 of the Practical Guide

30.
Additional information
Please be aware that after the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the EU, the rules of access to EU procurement procedures of economic operators established in third countries will apply to candidates or tenderers from the United Kingdom depending on the outcome of negotiations. In case such access is not provided by legal provisions in force at the time of contract award, candidates or tenderers from the United Kingdom could be rejected from the procurement procedure.
For further information about the eligibility rules, please consult Annex A2a “Eligibility programmes 2014-2020” to the Practical Guide:
http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/prag/annexes.do?chapterTitleCode=A

Contact mailbox: EuropeAid-TENDERS-139516@ec.europa.eu


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