Directive 2004/17/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (repealed)Show full title

Article 1 U.K. Definitions

1. For the purposes of this Directive, the definitions set out in this Article shall apply.

2. (a) ‘Supply, works and service contracts’ are contracts for pecuniary interest concluded in writing between one or more of the contracting entities referred to in Article 2(2), and one or more contractors, suppliers, or service providers.

(b) ‘Works contracts’ are contracts having as their object either the execution, or both the design and execution, of works related to one of the activities within the meaning of Annex XII or a work, or the realisation by whatever means of a work corresponding to the requirements specified by the contracting entity. A ‘work’ means the outcome of building or civil engineering works taken as a whole which is sufficient of itself to fulfil an economic or technical function.

(c) ‘Supply contracts’ are contracts other than those referred to in (b) having as their object the purchase, lease, rental or hire-purchase, with or without the option to buy, of products.

A contract having as its object the supply of products, which also covers, as an incidental matter, siting and installation operations shall be considered to be a ‘supply contract’;

(d) ‘Service contracts’ are contracts other than works or supply contracts having as their object the provision of services referred to in Annex XVII.

A contract having as its object both products and services within the meaning of Annex XVII shall be considered to be a ‘service contract’ if the value of the services in question exceeds that of the products covered by the contract.

A contract having as its object services within the meaning of Annex XVII and including activities within the meaning of Annex XII that are only incidental to the principal object of the contract shall be considered to be a service contract.

3. (a) A ‘works concession’ is a contract of the same type as a works contract except for the fact that the consideration for the works to be carried out consists either solely in the right to exploit the work or in that right together with payment;

(b) A ‘service concession’ is a contract of the same type as a service contract except for the fact that the consideration for the provision of services consists either solely in the right to exploit the service or in that right together with payment.

4. A ‘framework agreement’ is an agreement between one or more contracting entities referred to in Article 2(2) and one or more economic operators, the purpose of which is to establish the terms governing contracts to be awarded during a given period, in particular with regard to price and, where appropriate, the quantities envisaged.

5. A ‘dynamic purchasing system’ is a completely electronic process for making commonly used purchases, the characteristics of which, as generally available on the market, meet the requirements of the contracting entity, which is limited in duration and open throughout its validity to any economic operator which satisfies the selection criteria and has submitted an indicative tender that complies with the specification.

6. An ‘electronic auction’ is a repetitive process involving an electronic device for the presentation of new prices, revised downwards, and/or new values concerning certain elements of tenders, which occurs after an initial full evaluation of the tenders, enabling them to be ranked using automatic evaluation methods. Consequently, certain service contracts and certain works contracts having as their subject-matter intellectual performances, such as the design of works, may not be the object of electronic auctions.

7. The terms ‘contractor’, ‘supplier’ or ‘service provider’ mean either a natural or a legal person, or a contracting entity within the meaning of Article 2(2)(a) or (b), or a group of such persons and/or entities which offers on the market, respectively, the execution of works and/or a work, products or services.

The terms ‘economic operator’ shall cover equally the concepts of contractor, supplier and service provider. It is used merely in the interests of simplification.

A ‘tenderer’ is an economic operator who submits a tender, and ‘candidate’ means one who has sought an invitation to take part in a restricted or negotiated procedure.

8. A ‘central purchasing body’ is a contracting authority within the meaning of Article 2(1)(a) or a contracting authority within the meaning of Article 1(9) of Directive 2004/18/EC which:

• acquires supplies and/or services intended for contracting entities or

• awards public contracts or concludes framework agreements for works, supplies or services intended for contracting entities.

9. ‘Open, restricted and negotiated procedures’ are the procurement procedures applied by contracting entities, whereby:

(a) in the case of open procedures, any interested economic operator may submit a tender;

(b) in the case of restricted procedures, any economic operator may request to participate and only candidates invited by the contracting entity may submit a tender;

(c) in the case of negotiated procedures, the contracting entity consults the economic operators of its choice and negotiates the terms of the contract with one or more of these.

10. ‘Design contests’ are those procedures which enable the contracting entity to acquire, mainly in the fields of town and country planning, architecture, engineering or data processing, a plan or design selected by a jury after having been put out to competition with or without the award of prizes.

11. ‘Written’ or ‘in writing’ means any expression consisting of words or figures that can be read, reproduced and subsequently communicated. It may include information transmitted and stored by electronic means.

12. ‘Electronic means’ means using electronic equipment for the processing (including digital compression) and storage of data which is transmitted, conveyed and received by wire, by radio, by optical means or by other electromagnetic means.

13. ‘Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)’ means the reference nomenclature applicable to public contracts as adopted by Regulation (EC) No 2195/2002 of 5 November 2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the Common Procurement Vocabulary (CVP)(1) while ensuring equivalence with the other existing nomenclatures.

In the event of varying interpretations of the scope of this Directive, owing to possible differences between the CPV and NACE nomenclatures listed in Annex XII or between the CPV and CPC (provisional version) nomenclatures listed in Annex XVII, the NACE or the CPC nomenclature respectively shall take precedence.

(1)

OJ L 340, 16.12.2002, p. 1.