Criteria and considerations to use the templates

The present guideline has the purpose to orient each Contracting Authority (CA) in the correct interpretation and utilisation of the procurement templates.
 
Criteria and considerations to use the procurement templates


1. Considerations on the scope of the templates

The templates are documents that have been designed on the following scope:

1.1 Thematic scope

The templates cover the technical specifications and tender specifications for each object of procurement recommended in the digitalisation roadmaps received by communities participating in this project. These objects are described in Guideline on Guidance on selection of objects of procurement and templates.

Communities might seek to procure smart city items that are not among the objects of procurement covered by this project. In that case, it is important to clarify that such additional items are not part of the current templates’ scope.

1.2 Legal scope

The procurement templates are developed in accordance with EU legislation. Therefore, with regard to tender specifications, these are suitable for procurements above the EU thresholds. CAs are invited to customise the templates inserting information on their national legislation, adapting the content to use the template also for procedures below threshold. For this purpose, please consult Guideline on How to use the templates and guidelines.

1.3 Technical scope

Each template provides a list of technical and functional requirements specific to each object of procurement. In any case, the CAs are encouraged to actively review all the requirements to align them with the specific needs and the technological ecosystem of the community. Moreover, some of the requirements stem out from digital legislation at EU level, and hence adaptations based on national implementation, might be needed.

2. Recommendations on the templates’ use and integration

When using the templates, CAs are invited to carefully assess how to integrate these tools with their own procurement processes and practices. Additionally, CAs are encouraged to proactively tailor the technical specifications of the tender documents to ensure that products and services that will be acquired are aligned and compatible with their existing technological ecosystem, infrastructure, and software solutions. Assessing the applicability of the templates and customising the documents for the correct use is, therefore, the responsibility of the CAs. CAs should adapt this support material to their specific circumstances, needs, procurement procedures, budget, etc.

2.1 Integrating templates to the processes and practices of cities and communities

To effectively integrate the templates into the processes and practices of cities and communities, CAs need to make some preliminary checks in the tender specifications template in particular, including:

  • verifying if the templates align to the procurement procedures that are commonly used by the CA;
  • reviewing any existing templates the community may use and checking if they align in structure and content with the provided template;
  • checking if there are established guidelines or policies based on awarding and criteria and confirming they are in line with those proposed in the templates.

In addition to the previously mentioned topics above, CAs should also tailor the tender specifications templates on the following topics:

  • the place of performance
  • the nature of the contract
  • the volume and the value of the contract
  • the duration of the contract
  • the options and renewals
  • the price revisions
  • the technical specifications (provided a separate document)

2.2 Integrating the templates to the technological ecosystem, reference frameworks, infrastructures, and software of cities and communities

When using the technical specifications templates, CAs will find a set of predefined technical and functional requirements designed to guide the procurement of services and products recommended in their digitalisation roadmap. However, these requirements must be tailored to the specific context and needs of each city or community. To do this effectively, CAs should first assess their current technological ecosystem, including existing infrastructure, software, hardware, and data management frameworks, to determine whether the technical requirements in the templates are compatible with their systems. Moreover, some of the requirements stem out from digital legislation at EU level, and hence adaptations based on national implementation, might be needed.

Beyond technical requirements, CAs should also review and, if necessary, customise the functional requirements. These outline how the service or product should perform and what capabilities are expected. If the predefined functional requirements in the template do not fully meet the CA’s specific needs, these should be customised and adapted.

For guidance on how to modify the technical specifications in the templates, please refer to Guideline on Technical Specifications: Interpretation and Tailoring.

3.3. Recommendations to mitigate risks when using the templates

When using the procurement templates CAs could possibly face some risks, that could be related to non-compliance of national legislation with the European Directives, misinterpretation of template content and guidelines, inadequate customisation, inadequate translation, among others. As follows, a series of recommendations is provided to for consideration by the CA when using the templates, to ensure mitigation of potential risks and their adequate use:

  • When tailoring templates with a specific national law in the relevant sections, CAs must make sure that it is compliant with the European Law (e.g., Directive 2014/24, Articles 57 and 58 of the mentioned Directive, etc) and its relative national transposition.

  • Refer to the present set of guidelines in order to avoid the following: choosing a template that does not match the actual object of procurement and/or reflects the actual digital maturity level of the city; any possible misinterpretations of the template content.

  • Another common risk is related to misunderstandings from potentially imprecise translation of the template in case these documents are translated into other EU languages besides English, German and French in this case CAs must always consider the specific ecosystem for which the given object of procurement is required and adapt the related procurement template accordingly to it.

EC logo

These services are provided as part of the Local Digital Twins toolbox procurement - Advancing initial stages for the transformation of Smart Communities - Lot 1 and Lot 2, as described in the Digital Europe programme, and funded by the European Union.

© 2024. European Union. All rights reserved. Certain parts are licensed under conditions to the EU

The Commission’s reuse policy is implemented by Commission Decision 2011/833/EU of 12 December 2011 on the reuse of Commission documents (OJ L 330, 14.12.2011, p. 39 – https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec/2011/833/oj,). Unless otherwise noted (e.g. in individual copyright notices), content owned by the EU on this website is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence. This means that reuse is allowed, provided appropriate credit is given and any changes are indicated. You may be required to clear additional rights if a specific content depicts identifiable private individuals or includes third-party works. To use or reproduce content that is not owned by the EU, you may need to seek permission directly from the rightholders. Software or documents covered by industrial property rights, such as patents, trade marks, registered designs, logos and names, are excluded from the Commission's reuse policy and are not licensed to you.