Published notice: International open invitation to tender no. 2011/0716/Tp (NL - The Hague)

 IT and business related consultancy

  1. Awarding Authority:

    The European Patent Organisation (EPO) through the European Patent Office: Headquarters, Erhardtstrasse 27, D-80469 Munich.
    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, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, 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 6700 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 indicated may change).

  2. Award procedure:

    International open invitation to tender with discretionary award of contract (framework agreement).

  3. Description of the contract:

    1. Purpose of the contract:

      IT and business related consultancy.

    2. Division into lots:

      Lot 1 - Quality Assurance
      Lot 2 - Business consultancy and change management
      Lot 3 - Ergonomics (User eXperience Design)
      Lot 4 - Quality assurance for System Integration
      Lot 5 - Design Support
      Lot 6 - e-learning Services

      Bidders may submit offers for one or any number of Lots.

    3. Any deposits and guarantees required:

      Not applicable.

    4. Main terms concerning payment:

      In arrears, within 30 days of acceptance of deliverables and receipt of a correct invoice including - among others - the provision of timesheets fulfilling the contractual requirements.

    5. Qualifications required by law:

      Not applicable.

  4. Place and period of performance:

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

      The Contractor's premises, unless otherwise agreed in the individual contract(s) placed under the framework agreement.

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

      Three years with 2 optional extentions at the discretion of the EPO of 1 year each.

  5. Variants:

    Proposals for variants, the effect of which would be to reduce significantly the rights and safeguards of the EPO, are not allowed.

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

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

      European Patent Office
      Central Procurement 4.8 (2011/0716/Tp),
      Patentlaan 2,
      2288 EE Rijswijk,
      The Netherlands
      E-mail: dhtenderclarifications@epo.org

      Procurement Documents will be forwarded upon written or E-Mail request.

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

      20 March 2012, 12.00 hrs noon (CET)

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

      29 March 2012, 12.00 hrs noon (CET)
      Questions must be submitted by letter or E-Mail.

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

      19 April 2012, 12.00 hrs noon (CET)
      Original (without copies).

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

      As in point 6(a).

      Please submit bids by post only and not by fax or E-Mail. Bids submitted by fax or E-Mail will be excluded.

    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 the grouping 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:

    Customer and bank references plus answers to the questionnaire (Annex 2 of the Letter of Invitation to tender).

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

    Six months following the final date for receipt of bids indicated in point 6(d).

  10. Criteria for the award of contract:

    The award criteria and their relative weightings are as follows for all lots:

    Technical aspects: 70%

    The Technical evaluation will be based on the bidders' responses to the Technical Conditions through their answers to the questionnaires, the profiles and references provided as well as the bidders' response to the sample Requests for Offer.

    Financial aspects: 30%

    Financial aspects evaluated include the daily rates offered, possible discounts and the fixed prices offered in response to the sample Requests for Offer.

  11. Other information:

    Please note that this is a tender for a framework agreement with several Contractors. The EPO intends to conclude framework agreements with a maximum of 7 Contractors per lot.
    Award of framework agreement is expected to take place in the 2nd quarter of 2012.

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