Scottish Statutory Instrument 2016 Scotland

The Utilities Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2016

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At a glance

What's here

52 compliance obligations

Who this Act binds

Business-side actors with duties under this Act, ranked by how often they appear.

  • Any Person 30
  • Client 9
  • Operator 2
  • Contractor 1
  • Employer 1

Plus 9 non-business duties on Crown ministers, regulators, local authorities or tribunals — shown collapsed under each section below.

Other Acts binding the same actors

For each actor bound by this Act, the other UK Acts that bind them most often. Useful for understanding the full compliance landscape facing each role.

Any Person also bound by 2338 other Acts (top 5 shown)
Clients also bound by 65 other Acts (top 5 shown)
Operators also bound by 730 other Acts (top 5 shown)
Contractors also bound by 178 other Acts (top 5 shown)
Employers also bound by 694 other Acts (top 5 shown)

What this Act requires

Sections that create concrete duties on businesses or carry penalties. Procedural and definitional sections are folded into the “Browse other sections” expander at the bottom of each group. Click any section title to read the source text on legislation.gov.uk.

Part 1 — GENERAL

s.006

Procurement covering several activities

  • Choose procurement structure for mixed activities without avoiding regulations Any Person
s.015

Review and amendment of certain thresholds

Other duties (1) — Crown / regulator
  • Scottish Ministers must review and adjust procurement thresholds every two years Crown / Minister / Government department
s.016

Estimating value

  • Estimate contract value correctly and avoid manipulation to bypass procurement rules Any Person
s.024

Mixed procurement covering the same activity and involving defence and security aspects

  • Decide how to structure mixed procurements involving defence or security Any Person
s.025

Procurement covering several activities and involving defence or security aspects

  • Justify bundling defence/security procurement contracts Client
s.034

Principles of procurement

  • Run procurement fairly and include social, environmental and employment conditions Client
s.035

Economic operators

  • Provide staff names and qualifications in utility contract bids if required Operator
s.037

Confidentiality

Other duties (1) — Crown / regulator
  • Utility must keep confidential business information secret Local authority
s.038

Rules applicable to communication

  • Use electronic communications for procurement and ensure data integrity Any Person
Browse 35 other sections in this Part — procedural / definitional / commencement
s.001

Citation, commencement and extent

s.002

Interpretation

s.003

Subject-matter and application of these Regulations

s.003

Regulation of procurement by UK contracting authorities

s.003

Regulation of procurement under cross-border arrangements

s.004

Utilities

s.005

Mixed procurement covering the same activity

s.007

Common Provisions

s.008

Gas and heat

s.009

Electricity

s.010

Water

s.011

Transport services

s.012

Ports and airports

s.013

Postal services

s.014

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

s.015

Thresholds

s.017

Exclusion: Contracts awarded for the purpose of resale or lease to third parties

s.018

Exclusion: 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

s.019

Exclusion: Contracts awarded and design contests organised pursuant to international rules

s.020

Exclusion: Specific exclusions for service contracts

s.021

Exclusion: Service contracts awarded on the basis of an exclusive right

s.022

Exclusion: Contracts awarded by certain utilities for the purchase of water and for the supply of energy or of fuels for the production of energy

s.023

Defence and security

s.026

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

s.027

Exclusion: contracts between contracting authorities

s.028

Exclusion: contracts awarded to an affiliated undertaking

s.029

Exclusion: Contracts awarded to a joint venture or to a utility forming part of a joint venture

s.030

Notification of information

s.031

Research and development services

s.032

Activities directly exposed to competition

s.033

Procedure for establishing whether regulation 32(2)(b) is applicable

s.036

Reserved contracts

s.038

Powers to amend regulation 38

s.039

Nomenclatures

s.040

Conflicts of interest

Part 2 — RULES APPLICABLE TO CONTRACTS

s.041

Conditions relating to the GPA

  • Treat GPA party suppliers as favourably as UK suppliers Client
s.041

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

  • Utilities must treat foreign suppliers no less favourably under relevant trade agreements Any Person
s.043

Open Procedure

  • Allow any interested supplier to tender within statutory deadlines in open procedure Any Person
s.044

Restricted Procedure

  • Allow economic operators to submit requests to participate within statutory time limits Any Person
s.046

Competitive Dialogue

  • Run competitive dialogue fairly and transparently Contractor
s.047

Innovation Partnership

Other duties (1) — Crown / regulator
  • Utilities must follow the innovation partnership procurement procedure correctly Crown / Minister / Government department
s.049

Framework Agreements

Other duties (1) — Crown / regulator
  • Follow procurement rules when setting up and using framework agreements Crown / Minister / Government department
s.052

Electronic catalogues

  • State electronic catalogue requirements in contract notices and provide technical specifications Any Person
s.054

Occasional joint procurement

  • Understand your joint procurement responsibilities Any Person
s.057

Prior involvement of candidates or tenderers

  • Prevent competition distortion from prior involvement of bidders Any Person
s.058

Technical specifications

  • Set clear, fair technical specifications in procurement documents Any Person
s.059

Labels

  • Require labels as proof of environmental or social characteristics only under strict conditions Client
s.061

Communication of technical specifications

  • On request, provide technical specifications to interested operators Any Person
s.062

Variants

  • Set clear rules for variant bids in utility procurement Any Person
s.064

Setting time limits

Other duties (1) — Crown / regulator
  • Set adequate tender deadlines and extend if information is late Local authority
s.065

Periodic indicative notices

  • Publish periodic indicative notices correctly if you choose to Any Person
s.066

Notices on the existence of a qualification system

  • Publish a notice for your qualification system and tell suppliers about changes Client
s.067

Contract notices

  • Publish contract notices containing specific information on the UK e-notification service Any Person
s.069

Publication on the UK e-notification service

  • Submit procurement notices to UK e-notification service and keep proof of submission Any Person
s.070

Publication otherwise than on the UK e-notification service

  • Do not publish procurement notices elsewhere before they appear on the UK e-notification service Any Person
s.071

Electronic availability of procurement documents

  • Make procurement documents available online free of charge Any Person
s.072

Invitations to candidates

  • Send invitations to selected candidates simultaneously and in writing Any Person
s.073

Informing applicants for qualification, candidates and tenderers

  • Inform candidates and tenderers of procurement decisions and provide reasons Any Person
s.075

Qualification systems

  • Maintain an open and fair supplier qualification system Any Person
s.076

Criteria for qualitative selection

Other duties (1) — Crown / regulator
  • Utilities must publish selection criteria and maintain competition Crown / Minister / Government department
s.078

Use of exclusion grounds and selection criteria provided for under the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations

  • Apply mandatory exclusion and selection criteria in utility procurements Any Person
s.079

Quality assurance standards and environmental management standards

  • Accept equivalent quality and environmental evidence when bidders cannot obtain certificates Any Person
s.080

Contract award criteria

  • Base contract award on most economically advantageous tender Any Person
s.081

Life-cycle costing

  • Use life-cycle costing properly and inform bidders of method and data needed Client
s.087

Termination of contracts

  • Include termination clauses in utility contracts for modifications or excluded contractors Any Person
Browse 20 other sections in this Part — procedural / definitional / commencement
s.041

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

s.042

Choice of procedures

s.045

Negotiated procedure with prior call for competition

s.048

Use of the negotiated procedure without prior call for competition

s.050

Dynamic Purchasing Systems

s.051

Electronic Auctions

s.053

Centralised purchasing activities and central purchasing bodies

s.055

Procurement involving utilities from different member States

s.056

Preliminary market consultation

s.060

Test reports, certificates and other means of proof

s.063

Division of contracts into lots

s.068

Contract award notices

s.074

General principles

s.077

Reliance on the capacities of other entities

s.082

Abnormally low tenders

s.083

Tenders comprising products originating in third countries

s.084

Conditions for performance of contracts

s.084

Electronic invoicing

s.085

Subcontracting

s.086

Modification of contracts during their term

Part 3 — PARTICULAR PROCUREMENT REGIMES

s.088

Award of contracts for social and other specific services

  • Award social services contracts in accordance with this regulation chapter Client
s.092

Notices

  • Publish contest notices and result notices for design contests Client
s.093

Rules on the organisation of design contests and the selection of participants and the jury

  • Run design contests with fair selection and independent jury Any Person
s.094

Decisions of the jury

Other duties (1) — Crown / regulator
  • Jury must run design contests fairly and transparently Statutory regulator
Browse 3 other sections in this Part — procedural / definitional / commencement
s.089

Publication of notices

s.090

Principles of awarding contracts

s.091

Scope of Chapter

Part 4 — INFORMATION AND DOCUMENTATION

s.095

Retention of contract copies

  • Keep copies of high-value contracts and grant access Any Person
s.096

Reporting and documentation requirements

  • Keep records and documentation of all procurement procedures Any Person

Part 5 — REMEDIES

s.100

Duty owed to economic operators , including those from countries with whom the EU has a relevant international agreement other than the GPA

  • Utilities must comply with procurement regulations (duty owed to UK/Gibraltar economic operators) Employer
s.100

Duty owed to economic operators from GPA parties

  • Utilities must treat bidders from GPA countries fairly Client
s.100

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

  • Treat economic operators from UK trade agreement countries fairly in procurement Any Person
s.101

Enforcement of duties through the courts

  • Notify and sue utility within strict deadlines if you suffer loss from a breach Operator
s.102

Automatic Suspension of utility’s power to proceed with contract award

  • Utilities must not proceed with contract award during legal challenge Any Person
s.105

Powers of the court: ineffectiveness order

Other duties (1) — Crown / regulator
  • Court must impose financial penalties when making ineffectiveness orders Tribunal / Court
s.107

Other orders

Other duties (1) — Crown / regulator
  • Court must impose financial penalty or shorten contract when ineffectiveness declined Tribunal / Court
Browse 7 other sections in this Part — procedural / definitional / commencement
s.097

Scope of Chapter

s.098

Notices of decisions to award a contract or conclude a framework agreement

s.099

Standstill period

s.103

Powers and duties of the court

s.104

Ineffectiveness orders

s.106

General interest grounds for not making a declaration of ineffectiveness

s.108

Financial penalties

Part 5A — AMENDING THESE REGULATIONS

Browse 1 other section in this Part — procedural / definitional / commencement
s.108

General provisions about regulations under these Regulations

Part 6 — REVOCATIONS, CONSEQUENTIAL AMENDMENTS, SAVINGS AND TRANSITIONAL PROVISIONS

Browse 5 other sections in this Part — procedural / definitional / commencement
s.109

Interpretation of Part 6

s.110

Revocations and consequential amendments

s.111

Transitional provision and saving: where procurement commenced before 18th April 2016

s.112

Transitory provision: prior to full commencement of regulation 38(1) to (7)

s.113

Transitory provision: temporary exemption

Schedules

Browse 3 other Schedules — structural / supplementary
s.sch003

Cleaner Road Transport Vehicles (Scotland) Regulations 2010

s.sch003

Defence and Security Public Contracts Regulations 2011

s.sch003

Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exclusions and Exceptions) (Scotland) Order 2013

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