6 Finances - 60 Financial Management - CHAPTER One General Provisions (RELCMP)

This regulation aims to implement the Intercantonal Agreement on Public Procurement, dated November 15, 2019 (hereinafter: IAPP), and the Cantonal Law on Public Procurement, dated September 5, 2023 (hereinafter: CLPP).

[3] 1 The Department of Security, Digitalization, and Culture (hereinafter: the department) is responsible for the implementation of the law.

2. It is the cantonal supervisory authority (Art. 45 and 62 AIMP) and performs the following tasks, among others

a) it ensures compliance with the AIMP and the Neuchâtel legislation on public procurement by awarding authorities, bidders, and their subcontractors;

b) subject to the cases provided for in Article 13 of the Federal Law of 17 June 2005 on Measures to Combat Undeclared Work (LTN; RS 822.41), the department is the competent authority for sanctions, instructions, and notifications provided for by Article 45 AIMP.

1. In order to verify that bidders comply with the participation conditions and suitability criteria, the contracting authority may, in consideration of the specifics of the market, require certain evidence as exemplified in the annex to these regulations.

2. Regardless of the chosen procedure, the contracting authority may, in advance, require bidders to provide a declaration on honor for certain participation conditions exemplified in point 1 of the annex to these regulations, stating that these conditions are met and that the required evidence will be provided upon simple request.

3. In a procedure where a declaration on honor has been required in accordance with paragraph 2, only the best-placed bidders following the examination of the offers are asked to submit all required evidence.

4. The contracting authority may at any time conduct or have conducted checks regarding equal pay between men and women. This task is entrusted to the family policy and equality office.

1. In the field of construction, in order to ensure compliance, particularly with regard to working conditions and the payment of social security contributions during the execution of the contract, the contracting entity requires the selected bidder and its subcontractors to implement a monitoring system via a professional card issued by joint bodies, or an equivalent means of proof to such a system, to allow supervision of the personnel working on sites.

2. This requirement must be included in the call for tenders and the contract concluded with the successful bidder.

1. The department is the competent authority within the meaning of Article 28, paragraph 1 of the AIMP to maintain lists of bidders possessing the required qualifications to be awarded public contracts.

2. It may issue guidelines regarding the management of these lists and delegate this management to the relevant professional associations, with the authority to make decisions in this matter.

1. Exceptionally, the limit values set in Article 10, paragraph 2 of the LCMP may be exceeded for the duration necessary to complete the work for the following reasons

a) specialist position not part of the standard workforce of the company;

b) work that must necessarily be performed during school holidays;

c) unforeseen circumstances not attributable to the company; in this case, the exceedance of the number of temporary workers cannot exceed 100% of the authorized ceiling.

2. The specific situations referred to in the first paragraph must be formally and preemptively reported to the awarding authority.

**Article 1: Definition of Heatwave**

For the purposes of Article 7, paragraph 2 of the LCMP, a heatwave is defined as extreme weather conditions involving high exposure to external heat, meaning a daily average temperature equal to or exceeding 27°C for at least three consecutive days, as per the heatwave warnings issued by MeteoSwiss (danger level 4), which, given the specific circumstances of the work to be performed, pose significant health risks to male and female workers.

Tender documents shall include, in addition to the specifications outlined in Article 36 AIMP

a) the scoring method for the price criterion;

b) the payment terms;

c) the conditions for applying the liquidated damages and their amount (Art. 7 LCMP);

d) if applicable, the reserved right to award services under conditions;

e) the requirement that the selected bidder and its subcontractors must implement a control system in accordance with Article 4.

**1. The contracting entity may specify in the bidding documents the deadline by which it will accept questions and the required form for submission.**

2. It anonymizes all questions regarding the bidding documents and simultaneously makes them available to all bidders along with the corresponding answers on business days following the expiration of the question submission deadline or, where applicable, on the date set in the bidding documents for the transmission of answers to the questions.

3. Bidders shall immediately inform the contracting entity of any apparent errors identified in the bidding documents.

1. In open, selective, or invitation procedures, the awarding entity prepares a record of the opening of all bids submitted within the given timeframe. It decides whether the opening of bids is public or conducted in private.

2. The record includes at a minimum the names of those present, the names of the bidders, the date the bids were submitted, their prices, and any potential variations.

3. Before awarding the contract, the awarding entity may communicate, either on its own initiative or upon request, an excerpt of the record of the bid opening to all bidders, with the names of the bidders redacted.

Parallel study and competition procedures may be organized to acquire all types of services mentioned in Article 8, Paragraph 2 AIMP.

1. Competitions and parallel study mandates allow the contracting authority to develop different solutions, particularly from a conceptual, formal, ecological, economic, functional, or technical perspective.

2. Competition procedures are organized for tasks that can be defined sufficiently and exhaustively in advance.

3. Parallel study mandate procedures are suitable for tasks that, due to their complexity, can only be specified and completed during the procedure.

Competitions and parallel study mandates may take one of the following three forms

c) competitions or mandates related to studies and execution.

1. Competitions and parallel study mandates are subject to a notice of competition or notice of parallel study mandates launched according to the open or selective procedure if their value at least reaches the threshold value indicated in Annex 2 of the AIMP.

2. When this threshold value is not reached, competitions and parallel study mandates may be subject to an invitation procedure.

3. The number of participants may be reduced during the procedure based on objective criteria if this possibility was mentioned in the rules of the competition or parallel study mandates.

1. The value of competitions corresponds to

a) in the case of ideas competitions, the total amount of prizes;

b) in the case of project competitions and competitions concerning studies and implementation, the total amount of prizes, increased by the estimated value of the services defined in the competition regulations that will be awarded upon their conclusion.

2. In the event that the contracting entity compensates participation in a competition, the value of this compensation is added to that of the competition.

3. The value of parallel study mandates corresponds to

a) in the case of idea mandates, the total amount of compensation;

b) in the case of project mandates and mandates concerning studies and implementation, the total amount of compensation, increased by the estimated value of the services defined in the parallel study mandates regulations that will be awarded upon their conclusion.

1. The jury is composed of

a) qualified professionals related to the services covered by the competition and parallel study mandates;

b) other individuals freely chosen by the awarding entity.

2. The majority of the jury members must be qualified professionals.

3. At least half of the qualified professionals must be independent of the awarding entity.

4. For the examination of specific issues, the jury may resort to experts.

5. The jury issues a recommendation to the awarding entity concerning the awarding of an additional contract or the continuation of operations. In the context of competition procedures, it also establishes a ranking of projects that comply with the formal conditions and decides on the awarding of prizes.

6. It may rank projects that do not meet the essential points of the requirements described in the competition regulations or parallel study mandates or recommend their further development (mention)

a) if this possibility is expressly mentioned in the competition regulations or parallel study mandates, and

b) if the quorum defined in the competition regulations or parallel study mandates is met.

1. In the competitive tendering process, projects submitted to the awarding entity must be presented anonymously. Participants who do not adhere to the anonymity requirement are excluded from the competition.

2. The names of the jury members are indicated in the competition regulations or parallel study mandates.

3. The awarding entity ensures the anonymity is maintained until the jury has evaluated and ranked the projects, awarded the prizes, and, if applicable, made a recommendation regarding the continuation of the procedure.

1 The contracting authority shall specify in the rules of the competition or parallel study contracts, notably

a) whether the winner will be awarded an additional contract;

b) the rights of the participants (notably prizes, compensation, and any potential mentions).

2. It must also indicate in the rules of the competition or parallel study contracts the right to additional compensation to which the project author may be entitled

a) when it is planned to award an additional contract, and

b) when one of the following conditions is met

1. the contracting authority awards this contract to a third party even though the jury had recommended awarding it to the project author.

2. the contracting authority reuses the project with the author's consent, but without awarding an additional contract to them.

3. the contracting authority temporarily or permanently decides not to execute the project.

1. The statistics service is responsible for establishing an electronic statistic on markets subject to international agreements.

2. Adjudicating entities cooperate with said service for this purpose and communicate the data relating to their markets through the platform simap.ch.

3. The statistics service transmits the annual electronic statistics to the Intercantonal Authority for Public Procurement (AiMp) for the attention of the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO).

1. This regulation comes into force on February 1, 2025.

2. It shall be published in the official journal and inserted into the Digest of Neuchâtel Legislation.

ANNEX

Proof of Compliance with Participation Conditions and Fulfilment of Eligibility Criteria

The adjudicator may request the following documents, as listed herein, as proof of compliance with the participation conditions and fulfilment of the eligibility criteria

1. Declaration on honor or proof (mandatory proof for the presumptive awardee as per Articles 5, Paragraph 1 and 6, Paragraph 2 LCMP) relating to compliance with

a) Provisions on the protection of workers and working conditions;

b) Equal pay between women and men;

c) Environmental law;

d) Codes of conduct aimed at preventing corruption;

e) Payment of due social contributions and taxes.

2. Certificate (Article 5, Paragraph 1 LCMP) and/or, if applicable, professional card (or equivalent proof) issued by the competent joint professional commission (mandatory for the presumptive awardee in construction markets, Article 4 RELCMP);

3. Extract from the commercial register;

4. Extract from the register of prosecutions;

5. Certificate of civil liability insurance;

6. Balance sheets or extracts from the bidder's balance sheets relating to the three financial years preceding the call for tenders;

7. Total turnover achieved by the bidder during the three years preceding the call for tenders;

8. Latest audit report in the case of legal entities;

9. Bank or insurance guarantee;

10. Bank certification guaranteeing that, in case of award, the bidder will receive the necessary credits;

11. Proof of the existence of a recognized quality management system;

12. List of major works executed during the five years preceding the call for tenders;

13. References that allow the adjudicator to verify that the works previously executed by the bidder were carried out in compliance and to obtain, notably, the following information: cost of works, date, and place of execution, opinion of the former adjudicator on the smooth progress of the works and their compliance with recognized technical rules;

14. In the case of study competitions, proof of the adequacy of the services provided in the context of similar projects, notably in terms of training, efficiency, and practice;

15. Declaration relating to the number and function of the persons employed within the bidder during the three years preceding the call for tenders;

16. Declaration relating to human resources, fixed employment or temporary recruitment of these persons, and the technical means at the bidder's disposal to execute the planned work;

17. Declaration relating to the number of apprentices employed within the bidder during a period preceding the call for tenders (for example, four years) and training certificates for apprentices;

18. Diplomas and certificates attesting to the professional capacities of the bidder's collaborators or its managerial staff, notably those responsible for the execution of the contract;

19. Extract from the criminal record of the leaders and those responsible foreseen for the execution of the contract.