The Public Contracts Regulations 2015

Open procedure

27.—(1) In open procedures, any interested economic operator may submit a tender in response to a contract notice.

(2) The minimum time limit for the receipt of tenders shall, subject to paragraphs (4) to (6), be 35 days from the date on which the contract notice is sent.

(3) The tender shall be accompanied by the information for qualitative selection that is requested by the contracting authority.

(4) Where contracting authorities have published a prior information notice which was not itself used as a means of calling for competition, the minimum time limit for the receipt of tenders as laid down in paragraph (2) may be shortened to 15 days, provided that both of the following conditions are fulfilled:—

(a) the prior information notice included all the information required for the contract notice in section I of part B of Annex V to the Public Contracts Directive insofar as that information was available at the time the prior information notice was published;

(b) the prior information notice was sent for publication between 35 days and 12 months before the date on which the contract notice was sent.

(5) Where a state of urgency duly substantiated by the contracting authority renders impracticable the time limit laid down in paragraph (2), it may fix a time limit which shall be not less than 15 days from the date on which the contract notice is sent.

(6) The contracting authority may reduce by 5 days the time limit for receipt of tenders set out in paragraph (2) where it accepts that tenders may be submitted by electronic means in accordance with regulation 22.