Are the days of the PQQ – Pre Qualification Questionnaire numbered?
It seems that for larger tenders it may still have a role to play, but for smaller tenders it is deemed that they are not relevant. I, for one, am a little unsure of the logic. If the logic is that for smaller tenders it is not necessary to have a two stage, and therefore more onerous, process, then I believe that the logic may be flawed.
The purpose of the PQQ – Pre Qualification Questionnaire was to reduce the burden on tenderers who stood little or no chance of being shortlisted. The idea was that the first stage was to complete a simple questionnaire which effectively “weeded out” the least likely bidders, leaving the serious contenders to complete the full tender process.
The new all-in-one process means that all bidders will have to complete all the documentation.
An interesting case is a tender in which I am currently involved. This was originally released as a PQQ and an ITT, but having had all the bids in for both stages, the process, for reasons I won’t go into here, was abandoned. It was then re-released as a single document with no pre-qualification stage. The new document simply combines everything from the PQQ plus everything from the ITT. This means that all the bidders have to complete all the paperwork. Where is the sense in that? At least first time around those bidders who were not serious contenders only had to complete part of the process, thus saving time for everybody!
However, all is not as simple as that. Now we have the prospect of the European Single Procurement Document. Does this initiative represent more administration designed to simplify the process – whilst actually complicating it – or will it really make things easier. More to come!
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