المملكة: Urgent: 30 days to conclude contracts… amending government competition and procurement regulations

The Council of Ministers amended a number of articles of the executive regulations of the competition system and Concluding contracts after submitting the final guarantee from the winning bidder, as a period not exceeding thirty working days was established to complete the contracting procedures and approvals.

The amendment confirmed that if the contractor does not complete the required procedures within the specified period, and after giving him a written warning, the offer will be excluded, the award will be cancelled, and the final guarantee will be confiscated if there is no response within ten working days from the date of the warning, with the award moving to the next offer or the competition being canceled if there are no other suitable offers.

Review And amending the payment schedules

The amendment stipulates that the winning bidder is granted the right to withdraw if the government entity does not conclude the contract within thirty-five working days from the date of submitting the final guarantee or from the date of award in cases that do not require a guarantee, with the return of the guarantees provided to him upon the expiration of a period of ten working days from the notice of withdrawal without completing the contract, in addition to carefully organizing the issue of reviewing and amending the payment schedules between the two parties during the stage before concluding the contract, in a way that ensures financial balance and transparency in contractual obligations.

The amendment stressed that it is not permissible to begin implementing any contracted works before officially signing the contract, in confirmation of the principle of regular compliance and control of contractual procedures from the beginning.

In a second amendment to Article “One Hundred and Eleven”, the regulations organized the mechanism for disbursing the final extract after the initial delivery of the works or the supply of purchases, provided that a certificate of completion of the works from the government entity is submitted, in addition to the certificates required according to the approved contract models, in order to enhance the verification of the quality of implementation. And fulfillment of obligations before the financial closure of contracts.

Availability of financial appropriations

As for the third amendment to Article “114,” it focused on regulating the work of amending government contracts, as it stipulated that the additional work be within the scope of the contract and not prejudice its nature or financial balance, with the need for financial appropriations to be available before approving any increase.

The amendment also permitted the study of prices by committees examining bids or direct purchasing committees, and in the event that the contractor does not agree, the work is allowed to be assigned. to other competitors in accordance with regulatory procedures.

The amendment affirmed the permissibility of carrying out additional work even before receiving the work subject to the contract or before the expiry of its term, while obliging government agencies to evaluate the need to extend the duration of the contract if financial or operational increases result, in order to ensure that the duration is proportional to the volume of additional work.

The amendment granted the person with the authority to award full powers to issue modification orders, whether increasing, decreasing, or extending the periods associated with them.

Reasons of interest. Public

In the fourth amendment to Article 132, the regulations reorganized the cases of termination of contracts for the public interest, as it clarified that the contract may not be terminated simply because the government entity desires to implement it itself or through another contractor, but rather the termination must be based on clear legal reasons.

The regulations limited the cases of termination to reasons of public interest in a number of cases, including harm to security, health, or public safety, a negative impact on the environment, or disruption to the work of government agencies. Other, or the existence of exceptional circumstances that prevent the continuation of implementation, in addition to the lack of actual need for the contract based on approved technical recommendations.

The regulations obligated government agencies to obtain prior approval from the Ministry before terminating the contract, with justifications supported by documents, provided that the request is decided within ten working days, and failure to respond during this period is considered approval, with the possibility of extending it for a similar period in cases that require further study.

The amendment stipulates that the decision to terminate the contract is issued by the person with authority based on On the recommendation of the Bid Examination Committee, with notification of the competent regulatory authorities, in a way that enhances transparency and governance in termination decisions.

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