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National Public Procurement Authority Procurement Regulations
Procurement Regulations
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Regulations on Public Procurement

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Chapter 1

 1. Scope and Purpose of Regulations

        

  1.  These Regulations are promulgated in accordance with section 68 of the Sierra Leone Public Procurement Act, 2004, for the purpose of establishing detailed rules and procedures to fulfil the objectives and implement the provisions of the Law.

  2.  These Regulations apply to all procurement covered by the Law, in accordance with section 2 of the Law. Alternative or modified procurement rules may only be applied in the case of:

(a)           procurement subject to the rules of a donor or funding agency in accordance with section 1(2) of the Law; or

(b)          procurement related to national defence or national security, in accordance with section 1(3) of the Law.

  1. Compliance with these Regulations is obligatory for procuring entities and other participants in public procurement.

2. Effectiveness

  1. These Regulations are effective after publication in the Gazette.

3. Definition of terms

  1. “Authority” means the National Public Procurement Authority (NPPA) established by section 3 of the Public Procurement Act, 2004.

  2. “bid” means, according to the type of procurement method being used, a proposal or quotation given by a bidder in response to an invitation by a procuring entity.

  3. “bidder” means a natural person or a legal entity that, according to the context, is a participant or potential participant in procurement proceedings.

  4.  “bidding documents” means a document or set of documents prescribing the quantity, quality, characteristics, conditions and procedures, of the transaction prior to the actual procurement, and on the basis of which the bidders are to prepare their bids.

  5. “bid security” means the bank guarantee or other form of security submitted by a bidder together with a bid to secure the obligations of the bidder participating in a bidding proceeding, including the obligation to sign a procurement contract if the bid is accepted, in accordance with the requirements of the Law and the bidding documents.

  6.  “collusive practices” means a scheme or arrangement between two or more parties with or without the knowledge of the procuring entity, designed to establish prices at artificial, non-competitive levels.

  7. “consultant” means the provider of intellectual services, including consultants’ services

  8.  “consultants’ services” refers to activities of an intellectual and immaterial nature that do not lead to a measurable physical output. They include design, supervision, training, advisory, auditing, software development, and similar services.

  9. “contract” means the written agreement of the parties’ will, on the basis of which rights and obligations of the parties are determined.

  10. “corrupt practice” means the offering, giving, receiving, directly or indirectly, of anything of value to influence the action of a public officer in the selection process or in contract execution.

  11. “fraudulent practice” means a misrepresentation or omission of facts in order to influence a selection process or the execution of a contract.

  12. “goods” means objects of every kind and description, including commodities, raw materials, products and equipment, and objects in solid, liquid or gaseous form, and electricity, as well as services incidental to the supply of the goods if the value of those incidental services does not exceed that of the goods themselves.

  13. “head of procuring entity” means the chief executive officer of the entity such as the Minister of a Ministry or the overall head of an organisation.

  14. “intellectual services” means any activity of an intellectual nature that does not lead to a measurable physical output.

  15. “Law” means the Sierra Leone Public Procurement Act, 2004.

  16. “National Public Procurement Authority” means the central policy and monitoring unit established pursuant to section 3 of the Law.

  17. “non-consultancy services” means any object of procurement other than goods, works and consultants’ services.

  18. “open competitive bidding” means the procurement method, conducted in accordance with section 38 of the Law, in which any interested bidder may submit an bid on the basis of the technical specifications and other requirements set forth in the bidding documents.

  19. “performance security” means the bank guarantee or other form of security submitted by the supplier, contractor or consultant to secure their obligations under the procurement contract, in accordance with the requirements in the bidding documents.

  20. “procurement” means the acquisition by any contractual means of goods, works, intellectual services or other services.

  21. “procurement committee” means the group within the procuring entity, comprising officials within and outside of the entity established under section 18 of the Law to act as an award authority and conduct other procurement approval functions in accordance with the Law.

  22. “procurement contract” means the written agreement of the parties’ will, regarding the procurement, of the agreed goods, works or services, on the basis of which rights and obligations of the parties are determined.

  23. “procuring entity” means any organ of the State or regional and local authorities as well as statutory bodies, public sector corporations which are majority owned by the Government, public utilities using revenue collected by the sale of public services, as well as any other physical or juridical person to whom public funds have been allocated for use in public procurement.

  24. “procurement unit” means the department formally established within the procuring entity to carry out the procurement activities of that entity in accordance with the functions set out in section 19 of the Law.

  25. “public funds” means any monetary resources of the State budget, or aid and credits under agreement with foreign donors, or extra-budgetary resources of procuring entities, used in public procurement.

  26. “public office” means an office of emolument in the public service.

  27. “public officer” means a person holding or acting in a public office, and includes the members and office-holders in a local council.

  28. “regulations” means these Regulations on Public Procurement issued by the National Public Procurement Authority under section 68 of the Law.

  29. “request for quotations” means the simplified procurement method used to carry out low-value procurement of standard goods or routine works or services, in accordance with section 44 of the Law.

  30. “request for proposals” is the method to be utilised for procurement of consultants’ and other intellectual services, in accordance with section 43 of the Law.

  31. “restricted bidding” means the procurement method, conducted in accordance with section 41 of the Law, in which the invitation to bid is extended to a limited number of bidders.

  32. “Independent Procurement Review Panel” means the three-person Panel appointed by the Minister of Finance under section 20 of the Law for the purposes of considering and deciding upon individual applications by bidders for administrative review.

  33. “securities” means the money or the bank guarantee that the bidder provides to secure his obligations in the bidding proceedings or in contract performance. The procuring entity cannot claim any property right over it, unless the bidder or supplier, as the case may be, defaults in those obligations.

  34. “services” means any services other than intellectual services.

  35. “sole-source procurement” refers to the method of procurement, conducted in accordance with sections 46 of the Law, by which the procuring entity awards the procurement contract directly, without holding a competitive proceeding;

  36. “solicitation document” means bidding documents, request for proposals documents, request for quotations documents and any other document inviting bidders to submit a bid for the supply of goods, works or services.

  37. “supplier” means a physical or juridical person under contract with a procuring entity to supply goods, construct works or provide intellectual and other services.

  38. “two-stage bidding” is the variant of bidding proceedings in which, in accordance with section 58 of the Law, the procuring entity holds consultations with bidders following a first stage on the basis of preliminary bidding documents with a view to considering various possible technical and contractual solutions to its procurement need; thereafter, in the second stage, a bidding proceeding is held on the basis of revised bidding documents.

  39. “vote controller” means the Permanent Secretary of a Government Ministry, Chief Administrator of a local council, managing Director or a General Manager, Executive Director or other head of a State-owned enterprise, or head of a Government department, agency or commission.

  40. “works” means all works associated with the construction, reconstruction, demolition, repair or renovation of a building, structure or works, such as site preparation, excavation, erection, building, installation of equipment or materials, decoration and finishing, as well as services incidental to construction such as drilling, mapping, satellite photography, seismic investigations and similar services provided pursuant to the contract, if the value of those services does not exceed that of the construction itself.