Published notice: International open invitation to tender no. 1545 (D - Munich)

Assisting the Board of Auditors in its audit of the Organisation's annual accounts 

  1. Awarding authority:

    The European Patent Organisation, represented by the President of the European Patent Office (EPO), Erhardtstrasse 27, D-80469 Munich, acting on behalf of the Board of Auditors.
    The European Patent Organisation is an intergovernmental organisation set up pursuant to the European Patent Convention which entered into force in 1977. At present it has 38 member states (Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ellas, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Malta, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and United Kingdom). The executive body of the EPO is the European Patent Office which is charged with the searching and examination of European patent applications and the granting of European patents. It employs approximately 6 700 staff at EPO headquarters in Munich, a branch at The Hague/Rijswijk (NL) and sub-offices in Berlin and Vienna (the number of member states and staff members may change).

  2. Award procedure:

    International open invitation to tender with discretionary award of contract.

  3. Description of the contract:

    1. Purpose of the contract:

      Assisting the Board of Auditors in its audit of the Organisation's annual accounts.

    2. Division into lots:

      Not applicable

    3. Deposits and guarantees required:

      Not applicable

    4. Main terms concerning payment:

      See Part III of the Procurement Documents (Specific Conditions of Contract, Article 3.2)
      The price quoted must be a fixed flat-rate fee including all costs, particularly for travel, subsistence and transport.

    5. Qualifications required by law/other provisions:

      Article 75(3) of the EPO's Financial Regulations provides that:
      "Audit firms or experts who work or have worked on behalf of the Board shall not be employed by the Office during their period of engagement nor during the three years thereafter."

    6. Other qualifications:

      Thorough knowledge of the EPO's three official languages (English, French and German). Preference will be given to bidders with experience of auditing public and international bodies.
      Bidders must provide evidence in regard to all the qualifications required for the auditing of accounts, in particular according to the IFRS (see Part IV of the Procurement Documents - Technical Conditions of Contract, Annex 2).

  4. Place and period of performance:

    1. Place at which the contract is to be performed:

      The contract will be performed mainly in Munich, where the financial departments are situated, although there is also a branch in Rijswijk (The Hague) and two sub-offices in Vienna and Berlin. Acceptance of the documents to be submitted will take place in Munich.

    2. Duration of contract or time limit for delivery or completion of services/work:

      The initial contract term shall be three years, which may be extended for two periods of one year each.

      During its term the contract may be terminated by the awarding authority giving at least eight weeks' notice prior to the end of the calendar year.

  5. Variants:

    not permitted

  6. Requests for the Procurement Documents and receipt of bids:

    1. Name and address of department from which the Procurement Documents and clarifications of the Procurement Documents may be requested:

      European Patent Office
      Central Procurement 4.8.2
      Tender No. 1545
      Erhardtstrasse 27
      D-80469 Munich

      Fax No. +49 (0)89 2399 4145
      mntenderclarifications@epo.org

    2. Final date for receipt by the EPO of requests for the Procurement Documents:

      Monday, 9 July 2012, 12.00 hrs (CET)
      Procurement Documents will be forwarded upon written, faxed or e-mailed request.

    3. Final date for receipt by the EPO of requests for clarification:

      Monday 23 July 2012, 12.00 hrs (CET)
      Questions may be submitted by letter, fax or e-mail.

    4. Final date for receipt of bids/number of copies to be sent:

      Monday 6 August 2012, 12.00 hrs (CET)
      Two copies together with the original bid, which should be marked accordingly must be submitted.
      An additional copy of the bid should be filed in electronic form (CD-ROM / DVD)

    5. Address to which requests for clarification and bids must be sent:

      as per point 6(a) above

    6. Language or languages in which requests for clarification and bids must be drawn up:

      English.
      The Procurement Documents will be available in English only.

  7. Legal form of consortium in the event of a joint bid:

    If several bidders submit a joint bid, one must be designated as prime contractor responsible for performance of all the obligations under the contract.

  8. Information and evidence concerning the bidder's financial and economic standing and

    technical and professional competence:

    See Part I of the Procurement Documents (General Conditions of Tender)

  9. Period during which the bidder is bound by his bid:

    6 months after date of receipt of the bids

  10. Criteria for the award of contract:

    See Part IV of the Procurement Documents - Technical Conditions of Contract, Annex 2

  11. Other information:

    • A preliminary draft report must be submitted in two languages (English, and German or French) by the end of March of the following year.
    • The final conclusions must be incorporated into the report by Mid April of the following year.

    The short listed bidders may be invited to present their bids. These interviews will be held at the premises of the EPO in Munich. Travel and accommodation costs will not be reimbursed by the EPO.

Quick Navigation