The Utilities Contracts Regulations 2016

1. Introductory Text

2. PART 1 GENERAL

   1. CHAPTER 1 CITATION, COMMENCEMENT, EXTENT, DEFINITIONS AND SUBJECT-MATTER

      1. 1. Citation, commencement and extent

      2. 2. Definitions

      3. 3. Subject-matter and scope

      4. 4. Contracting authorities

      5. 5. Utilities

      6. 6. Mixed procurement covering the same activity

      7. 7. Procurement covering several activities

   2. CHAPTER 2 ACTIVITIES

      1. 8. Common Provisions

      2. 9. Gas and heat

      3. 10. Electricity

      4. 11. Water

      5. 12. Transport services

      6. 13. Ports and airports

      7. 14. Postal services

      8. 15. Extraction of oil and gas and exploration for, or extraction of, coal or other solid fuels

   3. CHAPTER 3 MATERIAL SCOPE

      1. SECTION 1 Thresholds

         1. 16. Threshold amounts

         2. 16A. Review and amendment of certain thresholds

         3. 17. Methods for calculating the estimated value of the procurement

      2. SECTION 2 Excluded contracts and design contests; special provisions for procurement involving defence and security aspects

         1. SUB-SECTION 1

            Exclusions applicable to all utilities and special exclusions for the water and energy sectors

            1. 18. Contracts awarded for the purpose of resale or lease to third parties

            2. 19. Contracts and design contests awarded or organised for purposes other than the pursuit of a covered activity or for the pursuit of such an activity outside the United Kingdom

            3. 20. Contracts awarded and design contests organised pursuant to international rules

            4. 21. Specific exclusions for service contracts

            5. 22. Service contracts awarded on the basis of an exclusive right

            6. 23. Contracts awarded by certain utilities for the purchase of water and for the supply of energy or of fuels for the production of energy

         2. SUB-SECTION 2

            Procurement involving defence and security aspects

            1. 24. Defence and security

            2. 25. Mixed procurement covering the same activity and involving defence or security aspects

            3. 26. Procurement covering several activities and involving defence or security aspects

            4. 27. Contracts and design contests involving defence or security aspects which are awarded or organised pursuant to international rules

         3. SUB-SECTION 3

            Special relations (cooperation, affiliated undertakings and joint ventures)

            1. 28. Contracts between contracting authorities

            2. 29. Contracts awarded to an affiliated undertaking

            3. 30. Contracts awarded to a joint venture or to a utility forming part of a joint venture

            4. 31. Notification of information

         4. SUB-SECTION 4

            Specific situations

            1. 32. Research and development services

            2. 33. Contracts subject to special arrangements

         5. SUB-SECTION 5

            Activities directly exposed to competition and related procedural provisions

            1. 34. Activities directly exposed to competition

            2. 35. Procedure for establishing whether regulation 34(2)(b) is applicable

   4. CHAPTER 4 General Principles

      1. 36. Principles of procurement

      2. 37. Economic operators

      3. 38. Reserved contracts

      4. 39. Confidentiality

      5. 40. Rules applicable to communication

      6. 40A. Powers to amend regulation 40

      7. 41. Nomenclatures

      8. 42. Conflicts of interest

3. PART 2 RULES APPLICABLE TO CONTRACTS

   1. CHAPTER 1 Procedures

      1. 43. Conditions relating to international agreements by which the EU is bound, other than the GPA

      2. 43A. Conditions relating to the GPA

      3. 43B. Conditions relating to international agreements by which the United Kingdom is bound, other than the GPA

      4. 44. Choice of Procedures

      5. 45. Open Procedure

      6. 46. Restricted Procedure

      7. 47. Negotiated Procedure with prior call for competition

      8. 48. Competitive dialogue

      9. 49. Innovation partnership

      10. 50. Use of the negotiated procedure without prior call for competition

   2. CHAPTER 2 Techniques and instruments for electronic and aggregated procurement

      1. 51. Framework agreements

      2. 52. Dynamic purchasing systems

      3. 53. Electronic auctions

      4. 54. Electronic catalogues

      5. 55. Centralised purchasing activities and central purchasing bodies

      6. 56. Occasional joint procurement

      7. 57. Procurement involving utilities from other member States

   3. CHAPTER 3 Conduct of the procedure

      1. SECTION 1 Preparation

         1. 58. Preliminary market consultations

         2. 59. Prior involvement of candidates or tenderers

         3. 60. Technical specifications

         4. 61. Labels

         5. 62. Test reports, certification and other means of proof

         6. 63. Communication of technical specifications

         7. 64. Variants

         8. 65. Division of contracts into lots

         9. 66. Setting time limits

      2. SECTION 2 Publication and transparency

         1. 67. Periodic indicative notices

         2. 68. Notices on the existence of a qualification system

         3. 69. Contract notices

         4. 70. Contract award notices

         5. 71. Publication on the UK e-notification service

         6. 72. Publication otherwise than on the UK e-notification service

         7. 73. Electronic availability of procurement documents

         8. 74. Invitations to candidates

         9. 75. Informing applicants for qualification, candidates and tenderers

      3. SECTION 3 Choice of participants and award of contracts

         1. 76. General principles

         2. SUB-SECTION 1

            Qualification and qualitative selection

            1. 77. Qualification systems

            2. 78. Criteria for qualitative selection

            3. 79. Reliance on the capacities of other entities

            4. 80. Use of exclusion grounds and selection criteria provided for under the Public Contracts Regulations

            5. 81. Quality assurance standards and environmental management standards

         3. SUB-SECTION 2

            Award of the Contract

            1. 82. Contract award criteria

            2. 83. Life-cycle costing

            3. 84. Abnormally low tenders

      4. SECTION 4 Tenders comprising products originating in third countries and relations with those countries

         1. 85. Tenders comprising products originating in third countries

   4. CHAPTER 4 Contract performance

      1. 86. Conditions for performance of contracts

      2. 87. Subcontracting

      3. 88. Modification of contracts during their term

      4. 89. Termination of contracts

4. PART 3 PARTICULAR PROCUREMENT REGIMES

   1. CHAPTER 1 Social and other specific services

      1. 90. Award of contracts for social and other specific services

      2. 91. Publication of notices

      3. 92. Principles of awarding contracts

      4. 93. Reserved contracts for certain services

   2. CHAPTER 2 Rules governing design contests

      1. 94. Scope of Chapter 2

      2. 95. Notices

      3. 96. Rules on the organisation of design contests and the selection of participants and the jury

      4. 97. Decisions of the jury

5. PART 4 INFORMATION AND DOCUMENTATION

   1. 98. Retention of contract copies

   2. 99. Information and documentation requirements

6. PART 5 REMEDIES

   1. CHAPTER 1 FACILITATION OF REMEDIES

      1. 100. Scope of Chapter 1

      2. 101. Notices of decisions to award a contract or conclude a framework agreement

      3. 102. Standstill period

   2. CHAPTER 2 APPLICATIONS TO THE COURT

      1. 103. Interpretation of Chapter 2

      2. 104. Duty owed to economic operators from the United Kingdom and Gibraltar

      3. 105. Duty owed to economic operators from countries with whom the EU has an international agreement, other than the GPA

      4. 105A. Duty owed to economic operators from GPA parties

      5. 105B. Duty owed to economic operators from countries with whom the United Kingdom has an international agreement, other than the GPA

      6. 106. Enforcement of duties through the Court

      7. 107. General time limits for starting proceedings

      8. 108. Special time limits for seeking a declaration of ineffectiveness

      9. 109. Starting proceedings

      10. 110. Contract-making suspended by challenge to award decision

      11. 111. Interim orders

      12. 112. Remedies where the contract has not been entered into

      13. 113. Remedies where the contract has been entered into

      14. 114. Grounds for ineffectiveness

      15. 115. General interest grounds for not making a declaration of ineffectiveness

      16. 116. The consequences of ineffectiveness

      17. 117. Penalties in addition to, or instead of, ineffectiveness

      18. 118. Ineffectiveness etc. in relation to specific contracts based on a framework agreement

      19. 119. Injunctions against the Crown

7. PART 5A AMENDING THESE REGULATIONS

   1. 119A. General provisions about regulations under these Regulations

8. PART A6 PROCESSING OF INVOICES SUBMITTED ELECTRONICALLY

   1. A120. Contractual provisions relating to the processing of electronic invoices

9. PART 6 REVOCATION, MODIFICATION, SAVINGS AND TRANSITIONAL PROVISIONS

   1. 120. Interpretation of Part 6

   2. 121. Revocations

   3. 122. Transitional provisions and savings where procurement procedure commenced before 18th April 2016

   4. 123. Time limits and the 2006 Regulations: modification of the existing saving of the original provisions

   5. 124. Transitory provision prior to commencement of regulation 40(1) to (7)

10. PART 7 REVIEW

    1. 125. Review of these Regulations

11. Signature

12. 1. SCHEDULE A1

       PARTIES TO THE GPA

    2. SCHEDULE 1

       ACTIVITIES CONSTITUTING WORKS

       1. In this Schedule, ‘NACE’ has the same meaning as in...

    3. SCHEDULE 2

       SOCIAL AND OTHER SPECIFIC SERVICES

    4. SCHEDULE 3

       INTERNATIONAL TRADE AGREEMENTS

13. Explanatory Note