What are regulations on timeframes in the process of contractor selection in Vietnam?

What are regulations on timeframes in the process of contractor selection in Vietnam? (Illustrative Image)

Decree 95/2020/ND-CP specifies the timeframes in the process of contractor selection concerning procurement bidding under the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.

1. The time for approving the contractor selection plan is a maximum of 05 working days from the date of receiving the appraisal report.

2. For wide bidding with a short-list selection, the time to prepare the expression of interest or prequalification documents is a minimum of 25 days from the date of the publication of the invitation for expression of interest or prequalification notice to the bid closing time. In urgent cases where the procuring entity can demonstrate that the above time is impractical, the time to prepare the expression of interest or prequalification documents is a minimum of 10 days.

3. The time to prepare the bidding documents is a minimum of 30 days from the date of publication of the invitation for bids (for wide bidding without short-list selection) or sending the invitation for bids to the contractors on the short-list (for wide bidding with short-list selection) to the bid closing time. If the procuring entity accepts online submission of bidding documents, the time to prepare these documents is a minimum of 25 days.

4. The time to prepare the bidding documents is a minimum of 10 days if it falls under any of the following cases:

- Urgent cases where the procuring entity can demonstrate that the time to prepare the bidding documents as stipulated in Clause 3 of this Article is impractical;

- Packages for common, standardized goods readily available on the market with equivalent technical specifications and a package price not exceeding 10 billion VND;

- Non-consulting service packages commonly provided in the commercial market and typically purchased by organizations or individuals who are not government agencies and not for public purposes.

5. The time for approving each content relating to the invitation for expression of interest, prequalification invitation, and tender invitation is a maximum of 10 days from the date of receiving the submission for approval of the invitation for expression of interest, prequalification invitation, and tender invitation from the inviting entity or the appraisal report in case appraisal is required.

6. The publication time for amending the tender invitation documents is a minimum of 15 days before the bid closing date; for amending the invitation for expression of interest and prequalification documents, it is a minimum of 03 working days before the bid closing date; for package amendments, the publication time is a minimum of 05 working days before the bid closing date. If the publication time for amendments doesn't meet these regulations, the inviting entity must extend the bid closing date accordingly to ensure the amended document submission timeframe.

7. The time to evaluate the expression of interest, prequalification documents is a maximum of 30 days, the proposal documents a maximum of 40 days, and the bidding documents a maximum of 60 days from the bid closing date to the date the inviting entity submits the contractor selection results to the investor for approval. If necessary, the evaluation time for prequalification and expression of interest documents can be extended by up to 10 days, and the evaluation time for bidding and proposal documents can be extended by up to 20 days, ensuring project progress.

8. The validity period of the bidding and proposal documents is a maximum of 180 days from the bid closing date; for large-scale and complex packages or those bidding in a two-stage process, the validity period of the bidding documents is a maximum of 210 days from the bid closing date. Extensions can be requested if necessary but must ensure project progress.

9. The appraisal time is a maximum of 20 days for each appraisal content: contractor selection plan, invitation for expression of interest, prequalification invitation, tender invitation, request documents, and contractor selection results, from the date of receiving the complete submission for appraisal.

10. The time for approval or response to the contractor selection results is a maximum of 10 days from the date of receiving the submission for approval of the contractor selection results from the inviting entity or the appraisal report in case appraisal is required.

11. If the Prime Minister assigns the Ministry of Planning and Investment to appraise or comment on any package, the appraisal time is a maximum of 30 days, and the commenting time is a maximum of 20 days from the date of receiving the complete dossier submission.

Details can be found in Decree 95/2020/ND-CP effective August 24, 2020.

Ty Na

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