Regulation
TheUKconstruction industry is ahighly regulated environment - not just via compliance with Building Regulations (issued pursuant to the Building Act 1984), which provide some control over the quality of construction, but also in the broader context of procurement, planning, employment and health and safety. EU procurement rules
contracts or enter into partnerships with private entities. These procedures require that contract opportunities are advertised in the Official Journal of the EU, that the criteria applied – at pre-qualification stage, if there is one, and at tender evaluation stage – are non-discriminatory and uniformly applied, and that there is transparency of dealings with bidders. They also prescribe minimum time limits to enable tenderers to respond to invitations to tender. In recent years the public procurement rules have become more ‘contractor friendly’ when it comes to challenging authorities’ decisions. Once a decision has been reached on the selection of the successful bidder, unsuccessful bidders must be notified of the details of their performance and scoring in relation to the winning bid, and a contract may not be entered into during a standstill period of ten days. An action brought by an unsuccessful bidder during this period will automatically suspend the contract award procedure, without the contractor having to apply for an injunction or offer a cross-undertaking in damages, which would normally be required in other cases. If the complaint is well founded, the authority will be required to re-run the award procedure. Failure to observe the public procurement rules can expose an authority to an action for a declaration of ineffectiveness – that the
The EU public procurement rules impose obligations of transparency, equal treatment and non-discrimination (equal treatment based on nationality) where contracts for works, supplies, or services above given financial thresholds are awarded. Concessions and decisions to enter into PPPs are also caught by these rules. Since 1 January 2016 the procurement rules apply to public works contracts worth EUR 5,225,000 or more, or in pound sterling GBP 4,104,394. For supply and service contracts awarded by central government authorities the threshold is EUR 135,000, or GBP 106,047 and in the case of supply and service contracts awarded by sub-central contracting authorities, EUR 209,000, or GBP 164,176. The threshold above which the public procurement rules apply to public service contracts for social and health and education contracts is EUR 750,000, or GBP 589,148. In the case of utilities, the works contracts threshold is the same as for public authorities but in the case of supplies and services contracts the thresholds are higher, being EUR 418,000 or GBP 328,352. Subject to these thresholds, use of OJEU tendering procedures will generally be required where public authorities award
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