An evolving law, Contract Law Public Sector Summary

Since it was adopted in 2007, Law 30/2007 on public sector contracts has undergone several changes that require a commitment of public employees responsible for the processing of records.

Since the adoption in 2007, the Law on public sector contracts has undergone several modifications that require a significant commitment of public employees responsible for the processing of records. Since the Regulations of the Act, to complete some of the less developed in the same, even small changes, such as threshold variation in the amounts of contracts have been a continual coming and going in the requirements for carry out the contracts and keep the parameters of perfection that the European Directive on Contracts posed at the outset.

With the approval of the new Law 34/2010, of August 5, is substantially modified some sections on the Law 30/2007 on Public Sector Contracts and Law 31/2007 on the procurement procedures in the areas of water, energy, transport and postal services.

The motivation to pass a new law related to procurement in our country, is the need to adapt the rules of existing contracts with the European Directive of Appeal and, thus, remedy defects, so far, records recruitment have been presented in the regulation of special resources.

Among the shortcomings identified by the State Council of April 29, 2010, highlights the impossibility of challenging acts subsequent to the interim award, the limited places available Unsuccessful tenderers to appeal and the lack of an independent body to Contracting Authority to be able to present resources. Considering the above mentioned, there is a reform of the law whose purpose is to allow bidders participating in the procurement procedure, have more chances of getting a resolution to the effective and transparent appeals.

Law 34/2010, of October 5, amending previous laws to achieve the reform mentioned above, directly affects the selection of suppliers, which in the special recourse terms, ie the allocation and the formalization of contracts and the deadlines associated with these actions.

On the other hand, affects the disability scheme of contracts and what brings eGovernment in the processing of cases.

The reform raises a significant change in the award of contracts; recover those processing steps that existed before the advent of Law 30/2007, ie the provisional award disappears, merging the provisional and the final one act. With this change, it prevents the acts occurred between the provisional and the final award are outside the scope of the special resource procurement. This action may be brought subsequent to the award, once known the exclusion or disposal by the tenderers. Notifications of award will extend its content so that they contain all the information necessary for the bidder excluded or dismissed has the ability to lodge an appeal with the highest possible ground against the award decision.

By conflating the two acts of adjudication in a single act, it also transforms of the contract. If the above definition of the law, the execution of the contract is achieved with the final award, it is perfected by its formalization. So far, the implementation of the contracts could begin without having formalized the same, going only to the verbal agreement with the Administration. To solve the contradiction inherent act in this manner with the formalism that defends the European Directive, is matched with a contract from its execution, preventing, and start the execution of the contract without first formalized, except in the processing of emergency.

In addition to unify the actions of award, the new law extends the deadline for tenderers rejected or discarded to present their resources once awarded the contract, which affects the time allocated to their conclusion, which will vary depending on whether or not such resources or whether the contract is likely to open a period for bringing them.

Another paragraph has been changed with the reform of the law, is the rate of invalidity of the contracts, are retouched some aspects of the general and special cases incorporate new contracts null and void.

In addition to those described so far, the Law 34/2010 also born with a special predisposition to boost Electronic Public Procurement and thus the overall e-Government in promoting the use of electronic media in the processing of procurement records. We highlight, among others, the requirement for tenderers to submit an email address to contact for management to make appropriate notifications, the possibility that the certificates to be current with the Social Security and the electronic AEAT , computer or data transmission; the publication, in any case, adjudications and formalization of contracts in the Contracting profile public body or the use of electronic notifications between the different organs or administrations, whenever possible.

The adaptations that the reform raises, from the technological point of view, will be determined by changes in case management: changes in the sequence of the award procedure, including additional information in the notification of award and information fields of the record , adjustments in the new period of formalization or changes in the supply of publications by Contractor Profile or official publication platforms, such as the State Procurement Platform.

Thus, the changes that the reform of the law poses have impact on e-Procurement technology solutions currently being implemented in the various public bodies to mark the time of administration modernization in which we live. This circumstance requires these solutions to be prepared to adapt to the continuous changes taking place in the Act on public sector contracts to ensure excellence in processing, considering the changes approved and which may arise in the future.

Luis Tornel