Answers to questions raised to the tender
OSHA/NS/2010/T1
Welcome to the ‘answers to questions’ section* related with the Open Call for tender: OSHA/NS/2009/T1- Provision of services (interpretation, technical equipment and meeting rooms) for Network meetings of the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work.
We invite you to consult it regularly.
- QUESTION:
Please state the total number of meetings throughout the year, and clarify the difference between meeting, seminar, plenary session and group session.
Are all the meetings held at the same time or in different dates?
Parallel sessions: is it 3 parallel meetings with the equipment for the plenary sessions and other 2 equipments or is it 4 parallel meetings? Are these sessions held on the occasion of the Board meeting?
Are Board and Bureau meetings held at the same time?
ANSWER:
The approximate number of events (including meetings and seminars) to be held throughout the year is as follows:
2 Board meetings(up to 120 people)+ 1 seminar (up to 150people)+ 4Bureau meetings (up to 25 people)= 7 events (this is an estimate and the final number of events can be subject to change)
Bureau meetings (aprox. 4 per year) are usually scheduled for two half days, as follows:
- Day 1(15:00-18:00) and Day 2 (9:30-13:00).
Board meetings consist of “plenary sessions” (all members are present) and “interest group sessions” (the members split in three groups). Board meetings are usually scheduled as follows:
- Plenary session: Day1 (9:30-10:30) and Day 2 (9:30-13:30)
- Interest Group session (3 groups): Day 1: 11:00-13:30and14:30-18:00 (one of the groups could stay in the plenary meeting room)
Board and Bureau meetings are usually held on different days, but it can happen that they are held on the same day, one after the other. Sessions of the interest groups will be held simultaneously. The timetables shown in the Technical Specifications are approximate and are subject to change depending on the requirements of each meeting.
- QUESTION:
Regarding the number of booths, it is mentioned in the Technical Specifications that meeting rooms will have sufficient space for up to 5 double booths for interpretation. However, taking into account the languages required, it could be enough to have 4 double booths, having Spanish as a common language in this case.
ANSWER:
For the Board plenary sessionsEU-OSHA will require simultaneous interpretation in pure booths, therefore it will be required that there is enough space in the room to fit 5 double booths.
- QUESTION:
I cannot find the Spanish version of the Annexes to the Technical Specifications.
ANSWER:
The Annexes to the Technical Specifications are available only in English, and can be downloaded from:
- QUESTION:
Can the tenderer send bids applying for one or two services, or is it mandatory to bid for the three services together?
ANSWER:
Bids must include the three services required: provision of meeting rooms, provision of interpretation and provision of audiovisual/interpretation equipment and technical support. Bids will only be eligible as far as they include all the services.
- QUESTION:
Will the seminar require interpretation? Which is the timetable, duration, requirements for equipment or booths?
ANSWER:
The tenderer will have to fill in the Price Tables of the Technical Specifications, annexI. The number of meetings, as well as details of each meeting will be specified on the occasion of each event, by means of a Specific Contract referring to the prices indicated by the tenderer.
- QUESTION:
When you mention a list of meeting rooms available, do you mean a list of rooms to choose from? or do you mean that there will be several different meetings throughout the year, some of them held simultaneously?
ANSWER:
EU-OSHA will organise several meetings throughout the year, and some of them could be held simultaneously.
- QUESTION:
Can you confirm that the Bureau meeting is held at the Agency and there is no need to provide meeting rooms or booths?
ANSWER:
Bureau meetings are not held necessarily at the premises of EU-OSHA, and the linguistic services required can be different for each session. Thedetails of each meeting will be specified on the occasion of each event, by means of a Specific Contract referring to the prices indicated by the tenderer.
- QUESTION:
Could you provide with a real example of the meetings held last year?
ANSWER:
EU-OSHA cannot provide tenderers with this information. The tenderer will have to fill in the Price Tables of the Technical Specifications, annex I. The number of meetings, as well as details of each meeting will be specified on the occasion of each event, by means of a Specific Contract referring to the prices indicated by the tenderer.
- QUESTION:
Regarding Bureau meetings, which is the final number of attendees, 25 or 40? Must the tables be equipped with one microphone per participant? How many booths (pure or mixed) will be required?
ANSWER:
The usual number of attendees to Bureau meetings is 25 but this is subject to change, therefore the tenderer will be able to provide rooms with enough space to hold the maximum number of possible attendees (40).
As stated in the Technical Specifications, page 5, “one gooseneck microphone […] should be installed for every two delegates.
The tendererwill have to fill in the Price Tables of the Technical Specifications, annex I, in this case the price of simultaneous interpretation to and from English, Spanish, French, German and Italian, in pure booths and in mixed booths. The number of meetings, as well as details of each meeting will be specified on the occasion of each event, by means of a Specific Contract referring to the prices indicated by the tenderer.
- QUESTION:
In page 2 of the Technical Specifications it says “one meeting room with capacity of up to 120 participants sitting in U-shaped + rectangular table”, however in the annex I SERVICE 1 TABLE 1 it says “Meeting room with capacity of up to 125 participants sitting in school/classroom”. Which type of arrangements will this meeting room require?
ANSWER:
In Annex I, Price Tables, when it says "school/classroom” it should say "U-shaped + rectangular table”.
- QUESTION
As stated in Section 3 of the Tender Specification, the tender must be presented inside two sealed envelopes. The inner envelope must contain two sealed envelopes, one containing the technical offer and the other containing the financial offer.
Which envelope must contain the Administrative Information and the Annexes?
ANSWER:
Administrative Information and Annexes should be included in the inner envelope containing the technical offer.
- QUESTION
Can a Consortium of Companies submit the offer?
ANSWER:
Consortia of Companies can submit offers.
- QUESTION
In the Technical Specifications, in Service 1, you ask for a list of available rooms in the centre of Bilbao. Which perimeter is considered as “centre of Bilbao”?
ANSWER:
For the purposes of this call for tender, the “centre of Bilbao” will be considered to be the geographical area so-called “Distric 6 Abando”. See official website of the Town Council of Bilbao:
- QUESTION
Can the tenderers submit bids in Spanish?
ANSWER:
Bids can be submitted in Spanish.
- QUESTION
It is stated In the Technical Specifications that subcontracting is possible with the prior agreement of the EU-OSHA. In case of subcontracting, is it necessary to send a contract to EU-OSHA? When and how can this agreement be requested?
ANSWER:
As stated in the tender specifications,sub-contracting is possible with the prior written agreement from EU-OSHA. In some cases a general written agreement on subcontracting with the contractor may be agreed. In most cases it will not be necessary to send the contract with the sub-contractor to the Agency.
- QUESTION
In the list of meeting rooms to be provided by the tenderer, there is one room with capacity of up to 150 people with sufficient space for up to 5 double booths for interpretation. As there is no specification about the room set-up, is there a preferred set-up for this room?
ANSWER:
There is no preferred set-up for this meeting room. However, tenderers are invited to check the section 4.4 “Award criteria” to be aware of the aspects which will be considered.
- QUESTION
In the Technical Specifications, point 3.3 section II Technical Offer, there is a reference to point 5.3, which does not exist. Also in section III Financial Offer, there is a reference to point 3.5, which does not exist. Is this an error?
ANSWER:
Where it says 5.3 it should say 4.3. Where it says 3.5 it should say 2.8.
- QUESTION
In point 3.3 Section I “Administrative information” tenderers are requested to provide copies of several certificates. Should we submit copies or certified copies?
ANSWER:
A copy will be enough at this stage. In case the tenderer is awarded with the contract, EU-OSHA may request the relevant original documents.
- QUESTION
One of the requested document is the certificate of enrolment in the professional or trade register. Is it acceptable for EU-OSHA the Register of Contractors?
ANSWER:
Since this is a register acknowledged by the Basque Government, pursuant to the legislation of Spain, EU-OSHA will accept this document.
- QUESTION
In the Technical Specifications point 3.3 there is a reference to points 5.2, 5.3, and 5.4, but these points do not exist.
ANSWER:
Where it says 5.2, 5.3 and 5.4, it should say 4.2, 4.3 and 4.4.
- QUESTION
Our interpreters are free-lancers who work for us on a regular basis. Do they need to fill in the subcontractors form each one of them?
ANSWER:
EU-OSHA recommends filling in the subcontractors form when the subcontracting represents a significant percentage of the total of the service. In any case, EU-OSHA could ask for the forms before signing the contract if we consider it is necessary.
- QUESTION
For the meetings with 120 participants, the request is for a U-shaped table plus a rectangular table. Would this be a U-shaped closed forming a rectangle? Would it be acceptable two U-shaped tables, one inside the other, if we find limitations in the meeting rooms available in the area of Bilbao specified in the tender documents?
ANSWER:
Yes, it would be acceptable to have two U-shaped tables, one inside the other. It could be open or closed, depending on the number of attendees as well as the characteristics of the room.
- QUESTION
In case of subcontracting, the tenderers are requested to certify that the subcontractors are not in conflict with any of the points described under 4.2 Exclusion criteria. Do we need to attach the form “EXCLUSION CRITERIA DECLARATION” signed by them, or will it suffice to state this fact in the proposal?
ANSWER:
The “exclusion criteria declaration” should be signed by the subcontracted enterprises and attached to the tender.
- QUESTION
Annex II -Reference price: in Service 3 table there is a provision for 13 booths, whereas in the previous explanation the request is for 5 booths for the Board meetings, 5 booths for the seminars and 4 booths for the Bureau Meetings – wouldn’t that be 14 booths?
ANSWER:
The numbers stated in Annex II constitute an indication for EU-OSHA to calculate the reference price, but in no case they are an indication of the amount of rooms, booths, or equipment which will be requested with occasion of the meetings.
- QUESTION
Regarding the technical equipment prices, we see that there is no provision for the costs of setting up and dismantling the equipment- where can we include this?
ANSWER:
We can consider this as part of the provision of technical services, service 3.
- QUESTION
Where is the accommodation for the participants arranged?
ANSWER:
The accommodation for the participants would be arranged in hotels in the centre of Bilbao. For the purposes of this call for tender, the “centre of Bilbao” will be considered to be the geographical area so-called “Distric 6 Abando”. See official website of the Town Council of Bilbao:
*Contact between EU-OSHA and tenderers during the contract award procedure may take place, by way of exception, under the following conditions:
Before the closing date for the submission of tenders the EU-OSHA may:
a. at the request of tenderers, communicate additional information solely for the purpose of clarifying the nature of the contract, such information to be communicated on the same date to all tenderers who have asked for the specifications. Requests have to be sent in writing (fax, letter, or e-mail) to the address mentioned in point 3.2 of the Technical Specifications.
b. at its own instance, if it discovers an error, a lack of precision, an omission or any other type of clerical defect in the text of the contract notice, invitation to tender or specifications, inform the persons concerned on the same date and in a manner identical with that applicable in respect of the original invitation to tender.
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