Aarhus Universitet Procurement Office Fuglesangs Allé 26 8210 Aarhus V

INSTRUCTIONS TO TENDERERS December 2016

Open procedure

for

Purchase of small basic apparatus and accessories, including software, and service agreements for

research and educational purposes.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 4

2. Contracting Authority .......................................................................................................... 4

3. Framework Agreements ........................................................................................................ 5

3.1. Background for the tender .................................................................................................... 5

3.2. Division of the Framework Agreements and the tender procedure ............................................. 5

4. Subsequent purchases under the Framework Agreements ......................................................... 6

4.1. Direct purchases .................................................................................................................. 6

4.2. Mini-tender procedures ........................................................................................................ 7

4.3. Purchase of service agreements and spare parts ....................................................................... 8

5. General requirements as to form and procedure ...................................................................... 9

5.1. Tenderer's contact person ..................................................................................................... 9

5.2. Deadline for submission ....................................................................................................... 9

5.3. Address for submission ........................................................................................................ 9

5.4. Submission of tenders .......................................................................................................... 9

5.5. Language .......................................................................................................................... 10

5.6. Fees ................................................................................................................................. 10

5.7. Ownership of tenders received ............................................................................................ 10

5.8. Validity period ................................................................................................................... 10

6. ESPD (European Standard Procurement Document) ............................................................. 10

7 Specifications for the layout of the tender ............................................................................. 13

7.13 Appendix 1 – Bid Schedule ................................................................................................. 13

7.14 Appendix 2 – Categories / lots ............................................................................................ 14

7.15 Appendix 3 – Price list including discounts ........................................................................... 14

7.16 Template A (Reservations) .................................................................................................. 15

8 Lots ................................................................................................................................. 15

9 Variants ............................................................................................................................ 15

10 Tender verification ............................................................................................................. 15

11 Award criterion ................................................................................................................. 16

11.13 Sub-criteria ....................................................................................................................... 16

11.14 100-point scale .................................................................................................................. 16

11.15 Service concept ................................................................................................................. 17

11.16 Support concept ................................................................................................................ 19

12 No negotiations ................................................................................................................. 20

13 Questions regarding the tender documents ............................................................................ 20

14 Practicalities ...................................................................................................................... 21

15 Timetable for the tender procedure ...................................................................................... 22

16 List of tender documentation .............................................................................................. 23

LIST OF APPENDICES

Appendix 1: Bid Schedule

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Appendix 2: List of the Categories and Lots

Appendix 3: Price list including discounts

Template A: Reservations

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1. Introduction

These instructions to tenderers apply to Aarhus University’s (the “Contracting

Authority”) invitation to tender for Framework Agreements on the supply of small basic

apparatus and instruments in accordance with the Tender Notice sent for publication on

XXXX, 2016 in the Official Journal of the European Union.

The procedure will be affected according to the rules for an open procedure subject to

the provisions of section 56 of the Danish Act on Tender Procedures (udbudsloven)

(Act No. 1564 of 15/12/2015), which means that any interested tenderer may submit a

tender.

The Contracting Authority is responsible for ensuring the tender procedure is in

accordance with the EU’s public procurement rules, including compliance with the basic

principles of transparency and equal treatment during the tender procedure. The

tenderers may therefore expect that the Contracting Authority will reject out of hand any

tender which contain errors or deficiencies. Ensuring a tender is submitted in

accordance with EU public procurement rules is at the risk of the tenderers.

2. Contracting Authority

The Contracting Authority for this tender procedure is Aarhus University, which

comprises all the faculties, departments, researchers and other staff connected to the

University.

All natural and legal persons/entities affiliated with the Contracting Authority may

therefore make purchases under the Framework Agreements.

Delivery must be made to an address specified by the Contracting Authority, which may

be to any of the Contracting Authority's addresses in Denmark.

The Contracting Authority's Procurement Office is responsible for the preparation and

completion of the tender procedure.

All inquiries to the Contracting Authority prior to the submission of the tender must be

forwarded by email to:

Aarhus University

Procurement Office

Trøjborgvej 82-84

8000 Aarhus C

Bygn. 1918

Lokale 334

Attn.: Lasse Krongaard

Email: udbud@au.dk

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All inquiries submitted must be marked "Tender of small apparatus and instruments”.

Further information about the Aarhus University may be obtained at www.au.dk.

3. Framework Agreements

3.1. Background for the tender

The Contracting Authority wants to consolidate all purchases of small basic apparatus

and instruments in a number of Framework Agreements.

The Framework Agreements concluded on the basis of this tender thus lay down the

overall conditions for the specific contracts subsequently entered into on the basis of the

Framework Agreements. Additional conditions may be laid down in connection with

conducting mini-invitations to tender as described below.

The Contracting Authority’s consolidation of these purchases is expected to generate a

volume of approx. DKK 5 million annually. The Contracting Authority is not obligated

to order a given quantity in the agreement period or achieve given revenues. All

information relating to consumption is for guidance only, and is not binding in any way.

The final quantity of purchases depends on a number of factors, including specific

needs, equipment that needs replacing and the allocations granted during the term of the

Framework Agreement.

It is an independent objective for the Contracting Authority to make it possible for the

individual researchers affiliated with the various departments at the Universities to make

quick and low-cost purchases of relevant products under the Framework Agreement.

The companies submitting tenders will be referred to as "tenderer" in these instructions.

3.2. Division of the Framework Agreements and the tender procedure

The Contracting Authority will conclude parallel Framework Agreements with the below

shown number of tenderers in each of the lots:

Lot Number of framework agreement

holders

1) Electrophoresis instruments 5-7

2) Laboratory scales 5-7

3) Small equipment for sample

preparation

5-7

4) Small basic laboratory equipment 5-7

5) Small measurement instruments 5-7

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6) Instruments for heat and cooling

technology

5-7

7) Electrochemical measurements 5-7

8) Basic microscopes for teaching 5-7

9) Cooling and freezing storage solutions 10

10) Pipettes 10

11) Pumps and compressors 5-7

The tenderer may submit tenders for one or more of the above lots.

Reference is made to Appendix 2 for a detailed description and exemplification of the

contents of the individual lots.

4. Subsequent purchases under the Framework Agreements

4.1. Direct purchases

In the term of the Framework Agreement all purchases with a volume of less than the

mini-tender limit per lot, shown below, will be made by direct award to the Framework

Agreement holder who has offered the lowest price of the equipment concerned.

The mini-tender limit for all 11 lots is 25,000 DKK.

For direct awards the award criterion is "lowest price". Lowest price will be identified

taking research into consideration so that the contract is awarded to the tenderer

offering the suitable equipment with the lowest price.

Where the Contracting Authority has a research related objective justification for doing

so the Contracting Authority may choose to require a specific brand (or its equivalent).

Where only one Framework Agreement holder is able to offer that brand the purchase

will be made directly with that Framework Agreement holder regardless of the price.

For example it will be a research related objective justification for choosing a specific

brand if the concerned apparatus or instrument must cooperate with some other

equipment with the same brand or if the research requires a specific brand to conduct an

experiment. The examples are not exhaustive; there may be several other justifications.

The prices are set out in Appendix 3.

If a product that must be purchased by direct award, proves to be more expensive than

the market price for a similar product, the Contracting Authority reserves the right to

obtain 2-3 tenders of the wanted product outside the Framework Agreement, according

to “delydelsesreglen” in § 8 in the Danish Act on Tender Procedures (udbudsloven) (Act

No. 1564 of 15/12/2015). The tenders may be obtained from the Framework

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Agreement holders as well as other suppliers - it is the Contracting Authority's decision

from purchase to purchase.

4.2. Mini-tender procedures

Where the Contracting Authority intends to make a purchase with an estimated value of

more than the above mentioned mini-tender limit of 25,000 DKK, the Contracting

Authority will conduct a mini-tender procedure in accordance with the rules set out in

the Framework Agreement.

In any event, the Contracting Authority will draft technical specifications regarding the

equipment to be purchased and the tenderers are in turn invited to submit a tender prior

to a given deadline. As the equipment to be purchased cannot be specified beforehand

the Contracting Authority has defined the categories set out in Appendix 2. When

conducting the mini-tender the Contracting Authority will use the relevant lot and the

Framework Agreement holders on that lot, and only them, will be invited to submit a

tender.

The purchase is then in turn made on the conditions set out in the Framework

Agreement with the modifications published in the invitation to mini-tender. The

Contracting Authority may alter any clause in the Framework Agreement, provided

however, that the agreement as such is not significantly altered. Furthermore the

Contracting Authority will specify whether or not a service agreement and/or spare

parts are part of the mini-tender.

A mini-tender may be conducted by a single research group, an entire institute or several

institutes jointly.

When conducting mini-tenders the award criterion will be ”the economically most

advantageous tender” based on a best price-quality ratio. The following sub-criteria will

be used when assessing the tenders:

• Quality 30-40 %

• Price 60-70 %

In connection with each mini-tender, the Contracting Authority will determine the

weighting of each sub-criterion. The weighting will always be within the above intervals.

Where the Contracting Authority has a research related objective justification for doing

so the Contracting Authority may choose to require a specific brand (or its equivalent).

Where only one Framework Agreement holder is able to offer that brand the purchase

will be made directly with that Framework Agreement holder. For example it will be a

research related objective justification for choosing a specific brand if the concerned

apparatus or instrument must cooperate with some other equipment with the same

brand or if the research requires a specific brand to conduct an experiment. The

examples are not exhaustive; there may be several other justifications.

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Where two or more Framework Agreement holders are able to offer the brand required

(or its equivalent) the Contracting Authority will conduct a mini-tender procedure

among those Framework Agreement holders. As in such events the quality is not likely

to differ between the relevant products the award will take place based on the lowest

price only. In such events all requirements regarding the quality will be set out as

minimum requirements.

If only one Framework Agreement holder is able to provide a specific brand or product

to be used due to a research related reason, the Contracting Authority will award the

contract pursuant to the Danish Act on Tender Procedures (udbudsloven) (Act No.

1564 of 15/12/2015) exemptions, and the Contracting Authority consequently reserves

the right to negotiate the tender.

In mini-tender procedures the prices offered for the purpose of the award of the

Framework Agreement (ie. during this procedure) will serve as maximum prices with the

effect that the tenderers are not allowed to submit tenders during the mini-tender

procedure with prices that exceed the prices applicable for direct purchases. If the

Supplier nevertheless offers a higher price than the price applicable for direct award, it

will be the price offered for the purpose of the award of the Framework Agreement that

will be applicable.

The entire process will be electronic (by email or through an electronic procurement

platform.). The tenderers must expect that the deadline for submission in connection

with invitations to mini-tender may, according to the circumstances, be short. The

deadline will, however, normally not be shorter than 10 (ten) business days and the

Contracting Authority will only establish short deadlines if the Contracting Authority

believes there is an objective reason for doing so.

After the expiry of the deadline for submission, the Contracting Authority will identify

the best tender and the final order will be placed with that tenderer. All tenderers will be

notified of the outcome of the mini-tender. There is no stand-still period in connection

with mini-tenders.

4.3. Purchase of service agreements and spare parts

If the Contracting Authority does not choose to buy service agreements and/or spare

parts in relation to mini-tenders, but later assess the need for one or both, the

Contracting Authority will obtain two to three offers by the Framework Agreement

holders on a given lot, and the Framework Agreement holder with the lowest offer will

be awarded the order.

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5. General requirements as to form and procedure

5.1. Tenderer's contact person

The tenderer must indicate a contact person in Appendix 1, Section 1. The Contracting

Authority will direct all communication after the tender submission deadline by e-mail to

the person indicated in Appendix 1.

5.2. Deadline for submission

Tenders must be submitted by February 2, 2017 at 14:00.

5.3. Address for submission

The tenders must be delivered to the following address:

Aarhus University

Purchasing Office

Denmark

Attn.: Lasse Krongaard

Email: udbud@au.dk

All tender documentation submitted must be marked "Tender of small basic apparatus

and instruments - to be opened by Lasse Krongaard only".

5.4. Submission of tenders

Tenders must be submitted in electronic form on USB memory stick or via e-mail. The

electronic version must be in MS Office or PDF format.

A tender is considered on time provided that it is submitted prior to the deadline.

Requests for extension of the deadline will not be considered and it is the responsibility

of the tenderer to comply with the deadline. A failure by a third party currier or the like,

even if due to unexpectedly adverse weather or force majeure, will not be taken into

consideration.

The electronic version of the tender must contain a scanned version of Appendix 1

including the tenderer’s signature.

Appendix 3 must be submitted in Excel format (and should not be password protected

or otherwise restricted).

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5.5. Language

The language of the tender must be Danish or English, or a combination of both.

The Framework Agreement will be in English.

Questions prior to the deadline for submission of tenders must be in English.

5.6. Fees

Tenderers will not be entitled to any fees for participation in this tender procedure,

including any fees for the preparation of the tender.

5.7. Ownership of tenders received

All documents submitted will be deemed the property of the Contracting Authority.

5.8. Validity period

Tenders must be binding for 6 (six) months after expiry of the deadline for the

submission of a tender.

If the tenderer is informed that its tender is accepted, the Contracting Authority is

entitled, until expiry of the validity period, to extend the validity period by up to 6 (six)

months upon written notice to the tenderer's contact person.

A tenderer awarded a Framework Agreement is liable for any loss suffered by the

Contracting Authority if the tenderer refuses to sign or make sales under the Framework

Agreement.

If a tenderer is informed that the Contracting Authority intends to award agreements to

other tenderers this shall not be considered a refusal of the tenderer’s tender. Only when

all Framework Agreements are signed by all parties on all lots a non-winning tenderer

will be released from the validity period.

6. ESPD (European Standard Procurement Document)

According to the Danish Act on Tender Procedures (udbudsloven) (Act No. 1564 of

15/12/2015), the Contracting Authority shall require that the tenderers are using the

European Single Procurement Document (hereinafter referred to as ESPD) when

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participating in a public tender procedure. The ESPD shall act as preliminary evidence

for the tenderer meeting the criteria regarding exclusion, eligibility and selection. Only

the tenderer chosen to be awarded the Contract must submit full documentation prior to

the contract award. Costs related to the documentation, must be defrayed by the

tenderer.

5.9. How to fill in the eESPD

The tenderer must download the ESPD file from www.au.dk/udbud by right-clicking on

the mouse and select “save destination as…” and then save the ESPD on the desktop of

the computer.

Since the ESPD is a XML-file it only works with the eESPD and can only be opened via

the following website, by means of the functions in this:

https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/espd/filter?lang=en.

If the tenderer tries to open the ESPD by double clicking on the file, it does not work.

Instead a default browser with a html-code opens.

When the ESPD is saved on the desktop the tenderer must follow this link to fill in the

eESPD: https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/espd/filter?lang=en. On this

website the tenderer must choose “English” in order to fill in the eESPD in English.

Afterwards the tenderer must choose “I am an economic operator”, and then “Import

ESPD”. Hereinafter the tenderer must upload the ESPD file, which the tenderer has

downloaded from www.au.dk/udbud and saved on the desktop of the computer. Once

this is done, the tenderer will be ready to fill in the sections in the eESPD that the

Contracting Authority has chosen as relevant according to this tender, cf. section 6.2 and

section 7 below.

5.10. Parts of the ESPD

The ESPD is divided into the following Parts:

• Part I: Information concerning the procurement procedure and the contracting

authority.

• Part II: Information concerning the economic operator – Must be fulfilled

• Part III: Exclusion grounds – Must be fulfilled

• Part IV: Selection criteria – Not relevant in this tender, must not be fulfilled

• Part V: Reduction of the number of qualified candidates - Not relevant in this

tender, must not be fulfilled

• Part VI: Concluding statements – Must be fulfilled.

5.11. Grounds for exclusion

5.11.1. Tenderer's affairs

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To ensure that the tenderer will not be excluded from participation, the tenderer must

fill in all required information in the ESPD Part II, III and VI.

In Part II the tenderer must fill in some general information about the economic

operator. The tenderer must answer the questions in the following sections:

• Section A) Information about the economic operator

• Section B) Information about representatives of the economic operator

• Section C) Information about reliance on the capacities of other entities

In Part III the tenderer must fill in the following sections:

• Section a) Grounds relating to criminal convictions.

• Section b) Grounds relating to the payment of taxes or social security contribution.

• Section c) Grounds relating to insolvency, conflict of interest or professional

misconduct.

The tenderer is upon request obligated to provide further documentation that the

aforesaid grounds for exclusion do not exist.

In Part VI the tenderer must only fill in date and place. It is not necessary with a

signature.

A lacking or incorrect ESPD may cause that the tender will be deemed non-conforming

and rejected.

It is of high importance, that the tenderer in case of any question, especially regarding

the fulfilling of the ESPD, will not hesitate to make use of the right for questioning the

material, cf. clause 9.1.

5.11.2. Self-cleaning

Tenderers have the opportunity to prove that they are reliable even if they are covered

by one or more grounds for exclusion cf. ESPD part III. This option is called "self-

cleaning" and applies to both compulsory and optional grounds of exclusion.

If the Contracting Authority has found that a tenderer is subject to an exclusion ground

and the Tenderer has been informed, the Tenderer have the opportunity to "clean"

themselves. The Contracting Authority will establish a deadline for the Tenderer to

submit their proof of reliability. In determining what constitutes a reasonable period all

relevant factors associated with the Tenderers documentation of its reliability will be

taken into account. The Contracting Authority cannot exclude a tenderer until it has

been able to prove its reliability.

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Evidence of reliability can either be evidence demonstrating that the Tenderer is not

covered by the exclusion reason or evidence of measures which the Tenderer has taken

to avoid elimination.

5.11.3. Consortia

If the tenderer is a consortium, all the participating economic operators must provide

separate ESPD forms, cf. ESPD Part II, Section A.

Please note that if it is considered necessary in order to ensure competition or to respect

the principle of equal treatment, the Contracting Authority is entitled to decline a tender

from a consortium, where one or more of the participating companies also participate in

other consortia requesting to participate.

5.11.4. Sub-suppliers

The tenderer may use sub-suppliers without limitations. For that reason the tenderer is

not required to fill in the ESPD Part II, Section D.

5.11.5. Consequence of not providing documentation

Tenders which do not include documentation as set out in clauses 6.3 may be deemed

non-conforming.

7 Specifications for the layout of the tender

The tenderer is obliged to submit a separate tender per lot. Consequently if a tenderer

submits a tender for more than one lot, one e-mail, including all relevant documents,

must be submitted per lot. This applies even in events where the same document is

relevant under more lots.

7.13 Appendix 1 – Bid Schedule

The Bid Schedule is divided into the following sections:

Section 1: Details of the tenderer's name, address and contact person.

Section 2: Information on the lot for which a tender is submitted

Section 3: Service concept

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Section 4: Support concept

7.14 Appendix 2 – Categories / lots

This appendix contains the Contracting Authority’s description of the lots. This

document should not be submitted as part of the tender.

7.15 Appendix 3 – Price list including discounts

In Appendix 3 the tenderer must provide a price list with relevant discount reductions

based on the discounts offered under this tender procedure.

The price list must contain prices on the following items

•

• Apparatus and accessories below the mini-tender limit in each lot

• Apparatus and accessories above the mini-tender limit in each lot

The tenderer must offer its full range of products on a given lot. The tenderer is

not entitled to keep certain products out of the range offered to the Contracting

Authority.

The offered products should be classified into brands.

The tenderer must provide the following information for all products listed in Appendix

3:

• The tenderer’s article number

• Tenderer's product description

• The brand name of the product

• The size of the sales unit of the product

• The generally applicable price for the sales unit including all costs as set out in the

Framework Agreement, but exclusive of VAT

• The discounts offered for the product

• The price including the discount deduction

Each of the above points must be included in seven separate rows in the Appendix.

The discounts offered may differ for each product. The discounts shall apply during the

entire term of the Framework Agreement.

The offered prices must include all costs including costs incidental to shipment, handling

and customs, if any. Prices must be exclusive of VAT.

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The Contracting Authority will before the award conduct a control of the prices to

verify whether there is a general price increase compared to historical purchases of the

same products. If this is the case the Contracting Authority reserves the right to annul

the tender procedure.

7.16 Template A (Reservations)

Any reservations (provisos) to the tender must be specified by filling out Template A.

As the framwork agreements will be awarded based on other criteria than price it will

not be possible for the Contracting Authority to set a price to any reservations. This in

turn means that the Contracting Authority will be obliged to reject all tenders containing

reservations with any economic value even where such reservations would not normally

be considered reservations regarding basic elements of the tender.

In the event that any requirements or contractual terms are unacceptable to a tenderer it

is recommended that a question (or comment) to that end is submtited to the

Contracting Authority. The Contracting Authority will then consider whether to

maintain that requirement or term or to make appropriate changes.

Any tender including reservations regarding the contractual terms will almost certainly

be deemed unacceptable as the contractual terms (ie. the terms set out in the Framework

Agreement) are likely to be considered material parts of the tender or to have an

economic value.

8 Lots

Tenders for one or more lot(s) will be accepted.

9 Variants

Variants are not accepted.

10 Tender verification

Verification of conformity

The Contracting Authority will check that the tender is in conformity with the tender

conditions, i.e. that it complies with the following requirements:

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• That none of the grounds for exclusions exist and that all documentation has been

submitted with the tender.

• That the tender is submitted within the deadline, cf. clause 5.2.

• That the tender is forwarded to the right address, cf. clause 5-3.

• That the tender complies with all requirements as to form and procedure, cf. clause

5.

• That the tender does not contain reservations with an economic value.

• That the bid schedule (Appendix 1) is completed fully and correctly.

11 Award criterion

The tenders will be evaluated separately for each lot.

It is noted that the tenderers are only entitled to deliver products to the Contracting

Authority under the lot(s) where the tenderer has been awarded a Framework

Agreement.

Tenders will be evaluated on the basis of the award criterion "the most economically

advantageous tender", based on a best price-quality ratio.

Tenders received will be evaluated against the sub-criteria set out below. All tenders will

be awarded a number of points according to the degree of fulfilment of each sub-

criterion.

The sub-criteria of the award criterion and the sub-criteria are identical for all lots.

11.13 Sub-criteria

The 5-10 most economically advantageous tenders will be identified on the basis of the

sub-criterias below:

Sub-criteria Weighting

Service concept 60 %

Support concept 40 %

11.14 100-point scale

All tenders will be awarded a number of points for all of the above sub-criteria on a scale

from 0-100, where 0 is the lowest possible score and 100 is the maximum.

The criteria will be evaluated as set out below:

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Grading - degree of wish fulfillment

Degree of wish fulfillment Grading Elaboration

Very high degree

100

The proposed solution fulfills

our wishes in extremely high

degree

90

The proposed solution fulfills

to our wishes a very high

degree, although certain

weaknesses identified

High degree

80 The proposed solution fulfills

to our wishes a very high

degree, but identified several

weaknesses

70 The proposed solution fulfills

our wishes largely /

reasonable degree, but

identified a number of

weaknesses

Neutral

60 There are positive elements

but also several weaknesses in

the proposed solution,

including an inadequate /

unclear description hereof

50 There are positive elements

but also several weaknesses in

the proposed solution,

including an inadequate /

unclear description hereof.

The weaknesses are most

pertinent

Low degree

40 The proposed solution fulfills

our wishes in a low degree

30 The proposed solution fulfills

our wishes in very low degree

Not at all

20 The proposed solution does

not meet our wishes

10 The proposed solution fulfills

not at all our wishes

11.15 Service concept

The evaluation of this criterion will consist of an evaluation of the following elements

listed in order of priority:

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• The tenderers webpage

• Service offered within the product price

• The tenderers return policy

The tenderers webpage:

The tenderers must give a detailed description of their webpage. The Contracting

Authority will take the layout and ease of use of the tenderers webpage into

consideration. Furthermore the possibility of finding manuals and user guides will be

taken into consideration, as well as whether expected delivery date and stock (number of

items in stock) appear on the site.

The tenderer must provide a link to the webpage and include any necessary passwords in

order for the Contracting Authority to test the webpage and its functions online.

If a password is needed in order for the Contracting Authority to test the webpage, and

the tenderer has not provided the Contracting Authority with such, the tenderer will be

awarded 0 points in the evaluation of the criteria “the tenderers webpage”.

Service offered within the product price:

The tenderers must give a detailed description and, to the extent possible, document the

degree of service offered within the product price. Supplementary service offered against

separate payment will thus not be taken into consideration in connection with the

evaluation of this sub-criterion.

The tenderers return policy:

The tenderer must describe their return policy. The general return conditions, the time

aspects of return and the costs of return (who bears the cost) will be taken into

consideration when evaluating this criterion.

*****

A tender that fully complies with what the Contracting Authority (beforehand) has

defined as an optimal tender will receive 100 points. All other tenders will receive

between 0 and 100 points assessed in relation to this optimum. This means that two

tenders, although not equal, may in theory receive the same number of points.

Furthermore it means that it is possible that no tender will receive 100 points.

The description of what is offered under this sub-criterion must be given in Appendix 1

section 3 and cannot exceed a maximum of 5 pages. Only the text in Appendix 1 will be

taken into consideration when evaluating the tender.

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11.16 Support concept

The evaluation of this criterion will consist of an evaluation of the following elements

listed in order of priority:

• Competence profile on key account manager

• Telephone support

• E-mail support

Competence profile on key account manager:

The tenderer must provide information on the key account manager that will assist the

Contracting Authority after purchase of a product. The key account manager mentioned

should be the Contracting Authority’s permanent contact person. The tenderer must

include the competence profile of one key account manager per lot. The experience

(business and number of years), the competences and the educational background of the

key account manager within the lot in question will be taken into consideration.

Key account manager/solid contact - must be able to speak Danish or English. He/she

must be able to resolve all problems during the contract.

Telephone support:

The tenderer should provide information on whether telephone support is offered,

including the response times warranted by or averagely applicable to the relevant

tenderer along with the opening hours of the tenderer's telephone support department,

if any.

E-mail support:

The tenderer should provide information on whether e-mail support is offered,

including the response times warranted by or averagely applicable to the relevant

tenderer.

*****

A tender that fully complies with what the Contracting Authority (beforehand) has

defined as an optimal tender will receive 100 points. All other tenders will receive

between 0 and 100 points assessed in relation to this optimum. This means that two

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tenders, although not equal, may in theory receive the same number of points.

Furthermore it means that it is possible that no tender will receive 100 points.

The description of what is offered under this sub-criterion must be given in Appendix 1

section 4 and cannot exceed a maximum of 2 pages (excl. the competence profile of the

key account manager). Only the text in Appendix 1 will be taken into consideration when

evaluating the tender.

12 No negotiations

It is emphasised that negotiations between the Contracting Authority and tenderers

concerning the tenders submitted are not permitted.

However, in exceptional cases, the technical contents of a tender may be clarified.

If the Contracting Authority requests for clarification or supplementary information, the

individual tenderer will be contacted for the purpose of providing such supplementary

information, in which case the Contracting Authority will ensure that the principles of

transparency and equal treatment are complied with.

13 Questions regarding the tender documents

Questions and replies

Questions concerning this invitation to tender must be submitted no later than on

January 20, 2017, cf. however, below.

Questions must be sent to the following e-mail address:

Aarhus University

Attn.: Lasse Krongaard

Email: udbud@au.dk

All questions submitted must be marked "Tender of small basic apparatus and

instruments”.

All questions must be in English. Replies will be made in English.

All questions must start with a clear reference to the sections of the tender

documentation referred to.

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All questions and replies will be available to all tenderers in anonymous form at:

www.au.dk/udbud.

Replies to any questions raised will be published on January 25, 2017 at the latest.

The Contracting Authority has set the deadline for questions to January 20, 2017, as it

may be expected that the process of replying may involve a certain amount of work. If,

after expiry of the deadline, but before January 25, 2017 at 14 am, questions are received

which the Contracting Authority is capable of answering by January 25, 2017 these

questions will be replied to and published on the Contracting Authority's website.

Tenderers can only be sure to receive a reply if the deadline for questions of January 20,

2017 is complied with.

Information meeting

It is not the intention of the Contracting Authority to hold any information meeting.

Should this be changed information will be published on www.au.dk/udbud.

Additional information to the tender documentation

If relevant, additional information to the tender documentation will be published up to 6

(six) days before the deadline for submission of the tender.

In the event of changes to the original tender documentation, the changed documents

will also be made available at www.au.dk/udbud.

The tenderers should check the Contracting Authority's website regularly.

14 Practicalities

Opening of tenders

Tenders will not be opened until after expiry of the deadline for submission. Tenderers

are not entitled to attend the opening of the tenders or otherwise to receive information

about the content.

Notification of the result

All tenderers will be advised concurrently and in writing of the result of the tender

procedure.

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Notification to the winning tenderer that the tender has been successful will not

necessarily mean awarding of the Framework Agreement. No binding Framework

Agreement or promise on this matter will apply until the Framework Agreement has

been signed by the Contracting Authority.

Notification of the result of the tender procedure will be published in the Official

Journal of the European Union in accordance with the applicable rules.

Confidentiality

The Contracting Authority undertakes to observe confidentiality with respect to any

information supplied by tenderers involving business secrets.

This confidentiality undertaking will not apply where the Contracting Authority is

required by law or ordered by a competent authority to disclose information to a third

party.

Any information submitted which the tenderer deems to be particularly competition

sensitive should be clearly marked to this effect in the tender. The Contracting Authority

will then seek to prevent the disclosure of such information.

The Contracting Auhority reserves the right to inform all tenderers of the characteristics

of each tender including the quality score and product range of the winning tenderers on

each lot.

Strict confidentiality for the tenderer

The tenderer as well as the tenderer's staff, sub-suppliers and advisors must observe

strict confidentiality with respect to any information about the Contracting Authority

which they may receive in connection with the submission of a tender.

15 Timetable for the tender procedure

The following timetable shows the most important milestones in the tender procedure:

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Timetable for the tender procedure

Date Milestones

19, December, 2016 Publication of the Contract Notice

January 20, 2017 Final deadline for receipt of written questions to the tender

documents

January 25, 2017 Replies to written questions

February 2, 2017 Final deadline for receipt of tender

February 2017 Expected announcement of winners of the invitation to

tender and commencement of stand-still period

February 2017 Expected signing of Framework Agreement

Marts 15, 2017 Expected commencement of deliveries and mini-tenders

16 List of tender documentation

The following lists the tender documents to be included in the tender:

• Appendix 1, Bid Schedule, must be enclosed in signed completed form with all

relevant documentation.

• Appendix 2, Contents of the lots.

• Appendix 3, Price list including the discounts offered under this tender.

• Template A, Statement regarding provisos, must be enclosed in completed form if

relevant.