Public Procurement Act 2012.

This Act, implementing provisions of European Legislation coordinating the procurement procedures of entities operating in the water, energy, transport and postal services sectors, and procedures for the award of public works contracts, public supply contracts and public service contracts, provides for improving and simplifying the integrity assessment and administrative provisions, and also for laying down some rules of a substantive and administrative nature with regard to other contracts. Part I of the Act concerns general terms and conditions. The Act defines the following relevant terms: contracting authority; tender documents; supplementary purchasing activity; Consumer and Marketing Authority; special right; concession contract; conformity assessment body; dynamic purchasing system; electronic procurement system; centralised purchasing activity; award decision; innovation; quality mark requirement; competitive procedure with negotiation; negotiation procedure; entrepreneur; public procedure; public contract; innovation partnership procedure; public law institution; framework agreement; special sector works contract; exclusive right. This Part also concerns the following matters: principles and starting points for tendering; administrative regulations for tenders; regulations for the procurement of works by contracting authorities; conditions relating to agreements concluded within the framework of the World Trade Organisations.
Part II focuses on public contracts and competitions for public contracts and applies to public contracts to be awarded by the State and by contracting authorities other than the State for supplies and services of an estimated value according to the European Legislation provisions. This Part concerns the following matters: purchasing centres and joint procurement; delimitation of composite assignments; estimation of the value of the proposed public contracts; estimation of dynamic purchasing systems, innovation partnerships and competitions; exempted public contracts and competitions; public and non-public procedure; innovation partnership procedure; special provisions concerning the award of public contracts for social and other specific services; rules regarding announcement, exclusion, selection and award; grounds for exclusion; eligibility requirements and selection criteria; special provisions for the award of a public contract through a framework agreement; concession contracts and assignments.
Part III focuses on special sector contracts and competitions for special sector contracts and applies to the placing of special sector contracts for the purpose of: provision of public services in the field of the production, transport or distribution of gas or heat; provision of a public service in the field of the production, transport or distribution of drinking water. This Part concerns the following matters: purchasing centres and joint procurement; delimitation of the composition of special sector assignments; estimation of special sector assignments; procedures for placing special sector contracts; other provisions for the procedures relating to the framework agreement, the dynamic purchasing system and the price competition. Part IV concerns other provisions and focuses on the following: tendering code of conduct; assessment criteria; rules for the implementation of the European Directives; imposition of an administrative fine on the contracting authority or the special sector company; evaluation provisions; arbitration and complaints.