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Bidding period refers to the calendar period beginning at the time of issuance of bidding requirements and contract documents to bidders, and ending at the prescribed bid closing time. In other words, the bidding period can also be defined as the number of days or weeks are available to prospective bidders to prepare and lodge their bids. The bidding period shall commence on the date on which the bidding document is published in the Gazette in terms of section 38(2) of the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets (PPDPA) Act, and shall end on the date specified in that document or in a subsequent notice as the closing date for the submission of bids.

Section 39 of the PPDPA Act provides that, in determining the appropriate bidding period for any procurement, the procuring entity shall consider the time reasonably required for bidders to prepare their bids, taking into account the level of detail required and the complexity of the bids, including the time needed for any site visits and pre-bid meetings. It is necessary for procuring entities to consider time-lines that allow for bidders to submit any required authenticated legal, historical or similar documents as part of their bids. The other factor to consider is that the bidding period for any procurement shall not be shorter than the period prescribed for that procurement or class of procurement, as the case may be.

Bidding periods for Domestic and International bidders

Section 19 of the PPDPA (General) Regulations provide that, procuring entities shall afford bidders a reasonable period for the preparation and submission of their bids, which period shall not be less than twenty (20) days, in the case of procurement through the competitive bidding method where bids are solicited from national (domestic) bidders.

In the case of procurement by the competitive bidding method where bids are solicited from both domestic and international bidders, the bidding period shall not be less than forty (40) days. It is important to note that the PPDPA Act stipulates a ‘day’ as a day of the week other than a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday. Where pre-qualification applies in any procurement, the procuring entity shall afford bidders a reasonable period for the preparation and bidders of at least fifteen (15) days to prepare their applications for pre-qualification following the publication of the invitation to pre-qualify in the Gazette.

Bidding documents

In line with section 40 of the PPDPA Act, a procuring entity shall use the prescribed standard bidding documents, including any manuals or guidelines that may be issued by the Procurement Regulatory Authority.A procuring entity shall ensure that its bidding documents are ready for distribution before the publication of the invitation to bid and shall provide them, promptly and without discrimination to all potential bidders that respond to the invitation to bid.  In the case of competitive bidding with pre-qualification, a procuring entity shall provide bidding documents to all bidders that have been pre-qualified. For restricted bidding, a procuring entity shall provide bidding documents to all the bidders that have been selected or invited to participate in the procurement.

Bidding documents shall provide bidders with all the information they need in order to submit responsive bids, and shall give them such information as may be prescribed.

The guiding principle is that, a procuring entity shall not charge more for bidding documents than the cost of printing and distributing them, and where they are delivered by electronic means they shall be free of charge. A procuring entity shall record the name, postal address, telephone number and e-mail address of every bidder to whom an invitation to bid is issued, together with details of the bidder’s contact person, and shall file the record together with the procurement documents.

Content of bidding documents

The Procurement Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (PRAZ) has issued Standard Bidding Documents (SBDs) which are accessible on the Authority’s website, www.praz.org.zw.

The SBDs contains the following information:

The identity of the procuring entity and an address where further information may be obtained about the entity and the procurement, and a description of the procurement requirement, including any technical requirements and specifications;

Where not already determined through pre-qualification, the qualification required for bidders and the documentation needed to establish those qualifications;

Information regarding any site visits and pre-bid conferences, instructions for the preparation and submission of bids, including the deadline for their submission and the time and place of bid opening; and

Components to be reflected in the price must include the currency or currencies in which the price may be stated, and any exchange rates to be used for the comparison of bids;

The period for which bids are required to remain valid, which period shall be at least sixty days, in the case domestic bids, and ninety days in the case of bids from international bidding;

The criteria and methodology to be used for the evaluation of bids and the selection of the successful bidder and any preferences, to given for domestic goods and contractors;

Any grouping and sub-division of the procurement requirement into lots and packages, the manner of evaluation and award of the lots and packages;

Whether alternatives to the technical or contractual specifications will be considered, and if so, how those alternatives would be evaluated.  Where bidders are permitted to submit bids for one or more portions of the procurement requirement, a description of the portion or portions, and the amount and acceptable forms of any required bid, performance or other security;

Declarations to be signed by bidders to confirm that they are not debarred from bidding and that the documents they submitted are true and correct, the terms and conditions of the procurement contract, and any obligations to be imposed on the successful bidder regarding the safe disposal of the procurement requirement; and

Any restrictions on bidding arising out of conflict of interests, anti-fraud or anti-corruption rules, the manner in which bidders may obtain a review of actions, omissions and decisions of the procuring entity, and such other matters as may be required in guidelines, manuals and appropriate forms published or issued by the Authority.