Open Call for Tenders

No 2015-11/IT-APPLICS-DEV

Contract for in-house services to provide technical assistance for the development of applications and the performance of

maintenance tasks

*

SPECIFICATIONS

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1. Name of contract ................................................................................................................ 3

2. Purpose and context of the tender ....................................................................................... 3

3. Purpose of the contract ....................................................................................................... 3

4. Participation in the tender procedure .................................................................................... 4

5. Documentation available to bidders ...................................................................................... 5

6. Variations .......................................................................................................................... 5

7. Price of services ................................................................................................................. 5

8. Price .................................................................................................................................. 5

9. Payment conditions ............................................................................................................. 5

10. Contractual conditions ......................................................................................................... 6

11. Criteria .............................................................................................................................. 6

12. Tenders to be delivered by the bidders ................................................................................. 8

13. Submission of proposals .................................................................................................... 10

14. General Conditions ............................................................................................................ 11

15. Period of validity of the tender: .......................................................................................... 11

16. Payment conditions ........................................................................................................... 11

17. Contact between the bidders and the CPVO ........................................................................ 12

18. List of Annexes ................................................................................................................. 12

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1. Name of contract

Contract for in-house services to provide technical assistance for the development of applications and

the performance of maintenance tasks

EU Official Journal Ref: Contract notice published on 23/12/2015 in the European

Union Official Journal, reference 2015/S 248-450600.

2. Purpose and context of the tender

The Community Plant Variety Office (CPVO) is a decentralised, European Union (EU) body located in

Angers, France. It manages a system that protects intellectual property relating to plant varieties

across the EU. Detailed information about the CPVO is available on their website:

www.cpvo.europa.eu

The CPVO expects to sign a services contract with a specialist company that will provide in-house IT

services for the development of web applications and the performance of maintenance tasks.

The bidders agree to provide the services described above to the CPVO, in accordance with the

conditions stipulated in these specifications.

3. Purpose of the contract

3.1 Project scope

The contract is for the delivery of in-house technical assistance, on a full-time basis, for the

development of applications and the performance of maintenance tasks.

The CPVO expects that the provision of technical assistance will be focused on several areas, including the following:

the development of services via its extranet sites (mainly in the PHP/ZEND Framework);

the performance of maintenance tasks.

The support described above will take place under the supervision of the CPVO. The expert will also be

selected by the CPVO from the various profiles provided by the successful bidder.

3.2 Place of supply

The services will be provided in-house on the premises of the CPVO in Angers, France.

3.3 IT/technical specifications

The CPVO has a number of software packages and electronic services that it would like to develop

further.

Bidders are requested to submit a tender for development services in operational conditions.

The main features of the technical environment at the CPVO are as follows:

64-bit Windows 7 platform, Windows 2008 Server and later versions;

ORACLE 11g relational database and later versions, Microsoft SQL, MariaDB;

WinDev 18 client/server application development tools, and later versions;

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WebDev 18 dynamic web interface development tools, and later versions;

WinDev Mobile 18 mobile applications development tool, and later versions;

PHP Zend framework 2.2.x, and later versions, and its Zend Studio (or Eclipse) and Zend Debugger development environment;

web applications using web 2.0 technologies (HTML5, CSS3, Ajax, jQuery, AngularJS...);

XSD definition diagrams and XML files;

Intranet SharePoint 2013 (on-premise).

3.4 Volumetry

A services contract (model attached in Annex 1) will be signed with the successful bidder for an initial

period of 1 (one) year. The contract will be renewable 3 (three) times for periods of 1 (one) year. The

contract period will be limited to a maximum of 4 (four) years.

Services will be provided on site at the offices of the CPVO) 5 days per week.

3.5 Conditions - Methodology

In their tenders, the bidders will describe how they intend to provide the required services, guarantee

the security and confidentiality of information obtained and provide a replacement for the proposed

expert in the event he or she is unavailable. Methodologies that offer a key expert dedicated to

fulfilling the objectives of the contract will be viewed favourably.

The proposed candidates must meet the following criteria:

Minimum academic qualifications: Two years of Higher Education;

At least five years’ relevant professional experience;

‘Senior developer’ profile;

Good command of technical English;

Sound experience of web-orientated PHP/ZEND Framework, front-end Javascript (AngularJS), CSS3, HTML5, REST architecture.

Experience of IDE-type tools (Eclipse...) and management of sources (SVN/GIT...)

Good knowledge of project management (in Waterfall and Agile mode)

Good knowledge of relational databases (Oracle, MySQL) and of PL/SQL

Good knowledge of XML/XSD;

Knowledge of the following will be considered an advantage;

o AGL (WinDev)

o LaTeX

o SharePoint 2013

o .NET

4. Participation in the tender procedure

Participation in the bid is open on equal terms to any natural or legal persons in countries where the

treaties apply and to all natural or legal persons from a third country that has signed a specific

agreement with the EU relating to public contracts, in accordance with the conditions established by

this agreement.

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If the multilateral Agreement relating to public contracts signed in the context of the World Trade

Organisation is applicable, contracts are also open to states that have ratified this agreement

according to the conditions established therein. It should be noted in this regard that the services in

Annex I-B of Directive 92/50/EC, and research and development services relating to category 8 of

Annex I-A in the same Directive, are not covered by this agreement.

Subcontracting is normally permitted.

5. Documentation available to bidders

The call for tenders

These specifications

The draft contract of services

Website www.cpvo.europa.eu

6. Variations

Variations are not permitted. Bidders must decide on a proposal that they believe best fits the

specifications.

7. Price of services

The service is to be provided in-house at the offices of the CPVO.

Bidders must therefore ensure that the daily contractor rate is included in the terms of their proposal.

8. Price

The proposed price must be fixed and remain unchanged during the initial period of the contract.

According to Articles 3 and 4 of the Protocol on Privileges and Immunities of the European

Communities, the CPVO is exempt from all taxes, duties and levies, including VAT, and therefore these

cannot form part of any calculation of the proposed price. The VAT amount will be indicated

separately.

The price must include all elements in the proposal and be provided in EUROS. This also applies to

bidders from outside the Eurozone. Bidders from countries outside the Eurozone are not permitted to

revise the proposed sum as a result of fluctuations in the rate of exchange. The bidder will select the

rate of exchange and assume the risks, or benefit from the advantages, of a variation in the rate of

exchange.

9. Payment conditions

Services will be invoiced monthly, in arrears.

At the closing of a month’s provision of service/final provision of service, a final report of activity will

be issued by the successful bidder summarising the hours worked and main tasks performed. It will be

approved by the CPVO.

Any invoicing for costs not covered in the specifications will require documentary evidence of spending.

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Invoices should be sent to: CPVO - Community Plant Variety Office

Unité Administration; 3, boulevard du M. Foch – CS 10121

F - 49101 ANGERS CEDEX 2 (France)

10. Contractual conditions

Please see the attached draft contract of services.

11. Criteria

11.1 Exclusion criteria

1. The following candidates or bidders are excluded from participation in the contract:

a) any company declared bankrupt, or facing proceedings for bankruptcy, liquidation or legal

rulings or facing proceedings for an arrangement with creditors or for the ceasing of activities,

or any company in a similar situation as a result of equivalent proceedings under national rules

or legislation;

b) any company subject to a ruling with the force of res judicata relating to any offence affecting

their professional integrity;

c) any company that has committed a serious professional offence that the awarding authorities

are able to demonstrate;

d) any company that has failed to meet its obligations to pay social security contributions or make

taxation payments according to the legal provisions in the country where the company is based,

in the country of the awarding authority, or in the country in which the contract is to be

implemented;

e) any company that has faced a ruling with the force of res judicata for fraud, corruption,

participation in a criminal organisation, or any other illegal activity affecting the financial

interests of the Communities;

f) any company declared in serious breach of contract for failure to comply with its contractual

obligations following a procurement procedure for another contract, or an award procedure for

a subsidy funded by the community budget.

2. Candidates or bidders must confirm that none of the situations specified in paragraph 1 apply to them.

Candidates or bidders to whom the following situations apply at the time of the procurement

procedure will not be awarded the contract:

a) companies in a situation of conflict of interest;

b) companies found guilty of providing false declarations in the information required by the

awarding authority to participate in the bid, or companies who have failed to provide the

required information.

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11.2 Selection criteria:

11.2.1 Financial and economic capacity

Evidence of financial and economic capacity can be provided by one or several of the following

documents:

relevant declarations from banks or evidence of insurance against professional risks;

presentation of balances sheets, or balance sheet extracts, for at least the last two closed

financial periods if companies are required by legislation in the country of operation to publish

financial statements;

a statement of overall business turnover and turnover relating to the proposed works,

supplies or services covered by the contract, provided over a period relating to no more than

the last three financial periods.

If the awarding authority accepts that there are exceptional reasons preventing the bidder or

candidate from producing the reference documents required, economic and financial capacity may be

demonstrated by any means judged appropriate by the awarding authority.

A business operator may, where relevant, and for a specific contract, assert the economic and financial

capacities of other organisations, regardless of the legal nature of the relationship between the

operator and said organisations. In such cases, a business operator must provide evidence to the

awarding authority of the means necessary to meet the requirements of the contract, for example, by

presenting the agreement showing that said organisations commit to making the required means

available to the operator.

11.2.2 Technical and professional capacity

The technical and professional capacity of business operators, in relation to the nature, quantity or

extent to which they use supply services or works in the services they provide, can be demonstrated

by the following documents:

a list presenting the main services and supplies delivered in the last three years, indicating the

amount relating to the goods, date of delivery and the public or private sector recipient;

an indication of the proportion of the contract that the service provider intends to subcontract.

The technical and professional abilities of the experts included in the proposal for technical assistance

can be demonstrated by the following documents:

Curriculum Vitae of the experts included in the proposal: in this document the bidder will provide

more details of the following:

o the level of expertise in the technical environment, as detailed in point 3 of these

specifications;

o the level of knowledge of the various architectures;

o perfect knowledge of the relevant fields to allow an IT system for the CPVO to return to

normal operation as quickly as possible;

evidence that the experts included in the proposal have an employment contract binding them to

the bidder company;

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The bidder agrees to replace any expert unable to provide services within 2 working days by offering

the Curriculum Vitae of at least two experts who could be freed to provide the service.

If the recipient of the services and deliveries is an awarding authority, the business operators will

provide the documentary evidence of these services in the form of certificates issued or countersigned

by the competent authority.

A business operator may, where relevant, and for a specific contract, assert the economic and financial

capacities of other organisations, regardless of the legal nature of the relationship between the

operator and said organisations. In such cases, a business operator must provide evidence to the

awarding authority of the means necessary to meet the requirements of the contract, for example, by

presenting the agreement showing that said organisations commit to making the required means

available to the operator.

11.3 Assignment criteria

The contract will be assigned to the business proposal offering the most financially advantageous

contract of services that takes the following elements into consideration:

the cost to the CPVO;

an understanding of the needs - by taking account of the requirements and specific elements in the specifications

(criteria worth 50 points; to be eligible, the tender must be awarded at least 30 points);

the methodology proposed and sufficient team members provided to ensure replacements

(criteria worth 50 points; to be eligible, the proposal must be awarded at least 30 points);

11.4 Awarding of the contract

The contract will be awarded to the bidder whose tender obtains the minimum points required and

offers the best proposal in terms of quality/price. This will be calculated by dividing the price by the

number of points awarded. The tender achieving the smallest figure as a result will be awarded the

contract.

11.5 Presentation of the best tenders

Unless a proposal clearly stands out as offering the best quality/price ratio, the bidders with the

eligible tenders offering the two lowest prices per points awarded may be invited to present their

proposals before a final decision is made to award the contract. Following this presentation, each of

these two tenders will be judged on its overall quality with a possible score of up to 10 points. The

contract will be awarded to the tender that offers the lowest price for each point awarded for quality.

12. Tenders to be delivered by the bidders

Tenders will contain all the documents mentioned in this section.

They may be written in any of the official languages of the EU. Nevertheless the bidders’ attention is

drawn to the fact that the working languages most used at the CPVO are English and French.

Proposals submitted by company consortia or groups of service providers (or entrepreneurs or

suppliers, depending on the contract) should specify the role, name and experience of each member of

the group.

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Evidence of access to the market, the declaration confirming the absence of any conflict of interest,

and documents relating to exclusion and selection criteria, must be submitted by each member of

company consortia, groups of service providers, entrepreneurs or suppliers, according to the type of

contract, and included within the tender.

The following documents are required for the assessment (exclusion, selection and awarding criteria):

A statement by the bidders to the effect that none of the situations specified in point 11 apply to

them.

Evidence of access to the market according to the national law in the country where the head

office of the bidder is located.

Evidence of legal status and capacity provided by extracts from the relevant registers.

Evidence of financial and economic capacity provided by one or several of the following documents:

relevant declarations from banks or evidence of insurance against professional risks;

presentation of balances sheets, or balance sheet extracts, for at least the last two closed

financial periods if companies are required by legislation in the country of operation to publish

financial statements;

a statement of overall business turnover and turnover relating to the proposed works, supplies or

services covered by the contract provided over a period relating to no more than the last three

financial periods.

Verification of technical and professional capacity: the technical and professional capacity of business

operators in relation to the nature, quantity or extent to which they use supply services or works in the

services they provide can be demonstrated by the following documents:

a list presenting the main services and supplies delivered in the last three years, indicating the

amount relating to the goods, date of delivery and the public or private sector recipient;

an indication of the proportion of the contract that the service provider intends to subcontract.

12.1.1 Declaration relating to the absence of any conflict of interest.

Bidders must declare that:

they are unaffected by any conflict of interest in the framework of the contract. A conflict of

interest may include a business interest, political or national affinities, family or emotional ties, or

any other type of relationship or shared interests;

any conflict of interest, or situation likely to lead to a conflict of interest, will be made known to

the awarding authority without delay;

they have not completed, and undertake not to do so, any tender of any nature that could offer

an advantage in this contract;

they have not consented to, researched, tried to obtain, or accepted for financial or any other

advantage, in favour or on behalf of any person, any illegal practice, or one directly or indirectly

resulting from corruption, as an incentive or payment relating to the awarding of this contract.

The CPVO reserves the right to verify this information.

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12.1.2 Elements of the tender

In this section, each bidder must describe, specifically and in detail, the proposed product or service

aimed at fulfilling the objectives of the contract.

12.1.3 Financial Proposal

The terms of the proposal should include the daily contractor rate to provide in-house services at the

offices of the CPVO.

Bidders should pay particular attention to the following points relating to the proposed price:

prices must be provided in EUROS, excluding all taxes and duties. Failure to comply will result in

the bid being disregarded. Prices must cover all services, including any (potential) travel and

accommodation costs for experts providing services at the offices of the CPVO in Angers, or the

offices of the contractor;

the proposed price is fixed and may not be revised throughout the initial period of the service

contract (one year);

Prices will be revised by mutual agreement between the parties when the contract for services is

renewed. The total contract period may not exceed a maximum of four consecutive years,

including the initial duration period of the contract.

13. Submission of proposals

Companies interested in this contract are asked to submit two copies of their tender no later than 12 February 2016 to the address below:

CPVO - Community Plant Variety Office Unité Administration; 3, boulevard du M. Foch – CS 10121 F - 49101 ANGERS CEDEX 2 (France)

Bidders can deliver their tenders in a number of ways:

by registered mail;

by delivering the tender (directly or by any representative of the bidder, including courier

services) to the secretariat of the CPVO at the above address between 9.30-12.30p.m. and 2.30-

4 00p.m., Monday to Friday.

Acceptable proof of submission will include:

a stamp by the Post Office; or

a receipt dated and signed by the employee in the above-mentioned department who receives

the package.

The documents must be sent in a double envelope. The two envelopes must be sealed with the

address of the department to which the package is to be delivered (as indicated in the call for tenders)

to be written on the inside envelope with the following information:

CALL FOR TENDERS No 2015-11/IT-APPLICS-DEV

Proposal from ...

NOT TO BE OPENED BY THE INTERNAL MAIL SERVICE

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If self-adhesive envelopes are used, they must be sealed with adhesive tape and the sender must sign

across that tape.

The tender must:

include the date, company stamp and signature of the bidder;

be accurate and concise and perfectly legible, avoiding any possible confusion over words and

figures;

include any document that will assist the CPVO in the task of assessing the tenders on the basis

of the award criteria listed in point 11 of these specifications;

include the price list requested in point 8 of these specifications.

Incomplete or illegible responses may lead to a proposal being rejected.

14. General Conditions

Submission of a tender:

automatically confirms acceptance of the conditions stipulated in these specifications and the

draft contract of services in Annex I;

binds the bidder to whom the contract is awarded during the performance of the contract;

automatically confirms that the bidder’s own conditions of sale or supply have been waived.

Completion of a call for tenders procedure does not place any obligation on the CPVO to award the

contract.

15. Period of validity of the tender:

Six months from 12/02/2016. Bidders will be informed of the outcome of their tender(s) by mail.

A contract of services will be signed between the CPVO and the successful bidder (hereinafter, ‘The

Contractor’). The contract will be valid from the date it is signed. The initial duration is one year,

renewable thereafter on a yearly basis by mutual agreement of the parties, following an exchange of

correspondence, and subject to the availability of sufficient funding and satisfactory implementation of

the contract. The total contract period may not exceed a maximum of four consecutive years, including

the initial duration of the contract.

This contract of services does not confer any exclusive right to supply the services covered by this

contract on The Contractor. It does not in any way place an obligation on the CPVO to purchase

services.

By signing a contract, The Contractor will be required to provide the services in accordance with the

specifications.

16. Payment conditions

Payments shall be made within 30 calendar days of receipt of the invoice. Payment will be

considered to have been made on the day the sum is debited from CPVO’s account.

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The CPVO may defer payment if the services covered by the request for payment are the subject of a

complaint presented by the CPVO, or if the supporting documents provided with the payment request

are incomplete.

Non-payment of invoices within the time period established in the contract, will engender a reminder

being sent by registered mail by The Contractor. The CPVO will then be required to explain the delay

and inform the Contractor of the likely date of payment. Any payment delayed in this way will not incur

interest or compensation payments by the CPVO.

17. Contact between the bidders and the CPVO

All contact between the bidders and the CPVO is forbidden during the procedure.

In exceptional cases, however, the CPVO may respond to a request from the bidder to provide

additional information strictly for the purpose of explaining the nature of the contract.

This additional information may be requested in writing only (by letter, email or fax) from one of

the addresses below:

By post: CPVO - Community Plant Variety Office

Unité Administration; 3, boulevard du M. Foch – CS 10121 F - 49101 ANGERS CEDEX 2 (France)

e-mail: rouillard@cpvo.europa.eu Fax: +33 (0)2 41 25 64 10.

Provided that the request is made in good time, this information will be made available to all bidders

simultaneously via the CPVO internet site at www.cpvo.europa.eu no later than six calendar days

before the deadline for sending or submitting tenders, or for requests for information received less

than eight calendar days before the final date for sending or submitting tenders, as quickly as possible

after the request is received.

18. List of Annexes

The draft services contract in the annex document is an integral part of this call for tenders.