Act No. 1 of 2015

1 BILLANACTto provide for public procurement , and for theretention and disposal of public property, inaccordance with the principles of good governance,namely accountability, transparency, integrity andvalue for money, the establishment of the Office ofProcurement Regulation, the repeal of the CentralTenders Board Act, Chap. 71:91 and relatedmatters[Assented to 14th January, 2015]WHEREASit is enacted by section 13(1) of theConstitution that an Act of Parliament to which thatsection applies may expressly declare that it shall havePreambleFifth Session Tenth Parliament Republic of Trinidad and TobagoREPUBLIC OF TRINIDAD AND TOBAGOAct No. 1 of 2015[ ]Legal Supplement Part A to the Trinidad and Tobago Gazette , Vol. 54,No. 4, 15th January, 2015effect even though inconsistent with sections 4 and 5 ofthe Constitution and, if any Act does so declare, it shallhave effect accordingly:And whereas it is provided in section 13(2) of theConstitution that an Act of Parliament to which thatsection applies is one the Bill for which has been passedby both Houses of Parliament and at the final votethereon in each House has been supported by the votesof not less than three-fifths of all the members of thatHouse:And whereas it is necessary and expedient that theprovisions of this Act shall have effect even thoughinconsistent with sections 4 and 5 of the Constitution:ENACTEDby the Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago asfollows.

2 PART Act may be cited as the Public Procurementand Disposal of Public Property Act, Act comes into operation on such date as isfixed by the President by Proclamation. Act shall have effect even thoughinconsistent with sections 4 and 5 of the this Act bid rigging means collusion between personsfor the purpose of manipulating theproceedings; Board means the Board established undersection 10; classified information means information thatis exempted from disclosure under this Act,the Freedom of Information Act or any otherwritten law;Act inconsistentwith ConstitutionEnactmentShort titleCommencementInterpretationChap. 22:022No. 1 Public procurement and Disposal of Public Property2015 committee means a committee appointed undersection 16; disposal of public property includes thetransfer without value, sale, lease,concession, or other alienation of propertythat is owned by a public body; document includes an electronic document; electronic means means the use of electronicequipment for the processing, includingdigital compression, and storage of datawhich is transmitted, conveyed and receivedby wire or radio or by optical,electromagnetic or any other means.

3 Electronic reverse auction means an online realtime purchasing technique utilized by aprocuring entity to select the successfulsubmission, which involves the presentationby suppliers or contractors of successivelylowered bids during a scheduled period oftime and the automatic evaluation oftenders; framework agreement means an agreement orother arrangement between one or moreprocuring entities and one or morecontractors or suppliers which establishesthe terms, in particular the terms as to priceand, where appropriate, quantity, underwhich the contractor or supplier will enterinto one or more contracts with the procuringentity during the period in which theframework agreement or arrangementapplies; local content means the local value added togoods, works or services measured as theamount of money or percentage of each dollarof expenditure remaining in Trinidad andTobago after the production of the good or theperformance of the work or service; No.

4 1 Public procurement and Disposal of Public Property20153 local industry development includes thoseactivities that serve to enhance local capacityand competitiveness by involvement andparticipation of local persons, firms andcapital market and knowledge transferduring the conduct of the programme ofgoods, works or services that are beingprocured; member means a member of the Board; Minister means the Minister withresponsibility for finance; pre-qualification means the procedure toidentify, prior to solicitation, suppliers orcontractors who are qualified; pre-selection means the procedure to identify,prior to solicitation, a limited number ofsuppliers or contractors who best meet thequalification criteria for the procurementconcerned; private party means an individual, a bodycorporate or an unincorporated entity, otherthan a public body; procurement or public procurement meansthe acquisition of goods, works or servicesinvolving the use of public money; procurement contract means a contractconcluded between a procuring entity and asupplier or a contractor; procurement involving classified information means procurement in which a procuringentity may be authorized under this Act orany other written law to take measures andimpose requirements for the protection ofclassified information;4No.

5 1 Public procurement and Disposal of Public Property2015 procuring entity means a public body engagedin procurement proceedings; procurement proceedings , in relation to publicprocurement, includes the process ofprocurement from the planning stage,soliciting of tenders, awarding of contracts,and contract management to the formalacknowledgement of completion of thecontract; public body means (a)the Office of the President;(b)the Parliament;(c)the Judiciary;(d)a Ministry or a department ordivision of a Ministry;(e)the Tobago House of Assembly, or adivision of the Tobago House ofAssembly;(f)a Municipal Corporation establishedunder the Municipal CorporationsAct;(g)a Regional Health Authorityestablished under the RegionalHealth Authorities Act;(h)a statutory body, responsibility forwhich is assigned to a Minister ofGovernment;(i)a State-controlled enterprise;(j)a Service Commission establishedunder the Constitution or otherwritten law; orChap.

6 25:04 Chap. 29:05No. 1 Public procurement and Disposal of Public Property20155(k)a body corporate or unincorporatedentity (i) in relation to any functionwhich it exercises on behalf ofthe State; or(ii) which is established by virtueof the President s prerogative,by a Minister of Governmentin his capacity as such or byanother public authority; or(l)a body corporate or unincorporatedentity in relation to any function,project, scheme or arrangementwhich involves the use by it, of publicmoney; public money means money that is (a)received or receivable by a publicbody;(b)raised by an instrument from whichit can be reasonably inferred that theState accepts ultimate liability in thecase of default;(c)spent or committed for futureexpenditure, by a public body;(d)distributed by a public body to aperson;(e)raised in accordance with a writtenlaw, for a public purpose; or(f)appropriated by Parliament; public-private partnership arrangement includes an arrangement between a publicbody and a private party under which (a)the private party undertakes toperform a public function or provide aservice on behalf of the public body;6No.

7 1 Public procurement and Disposal of Public Property2015(b)the private party receives a benefitfor performing the function orproviding the service, either by wayof (i) compensation from a publicfund;(ii) charges or fees collected bythe private party from theusers of a service provided tothem; or(iii) a combination of suchcompensation and suchcharges or fees; and(c)the private party is generally liablefor the risks arising from theperformance of the function or theprovision of the service depending onthe terms of the arrangement; public property means real or personalproperty owned by a public body; Regulations means regulations made undersection 63; Regulator means the person referred to insection 10(1)(a); services means any objects of procurement ordisposal other than goods and works andincludes professional, non-professional andcommercial services as well as goods andworks which are incidental to, but notexceeding, the value of those services ; socio-economic policies means environmental,social, economic and other policies ofTrinidad and Tobago authorized or requiredby the Regulations or other provisions of thelaws of Trinidad and Tobago to be taken intoaccount by a procuring entity in procurementproceedings;No.

8 1 Public procurement and Disposal of Public Property20157 solicitation means an invitation to tender,present submissions or participate inrequest-for-proposals proceedings or anelectronic reverse auction; solicitation document means a documentissued by, or on behalf of a procuring entity,including any amendments thereto, that setsout the terms and conditions of theprocurement; standstill period means the period from thedispatch of a notice as required bysection 35(2), during which a procuringentity cannot accept the successfulsubmission and suppliers or contractors canchallenge the decision so notified; State-controlled enterprise means (a)a company incorporated under thelaws of Trinidad and Tobago which isowned or controlled by the State;(b)a company incorporated under thelaws of Trinidad and Tobago which isowned or controlled by a companyreferred to in paragraph (a); or(c)a body corporate or unincorporatedentity which is supported, directly orindirectly, by public money and overwhich the State, a statutory body or acompany referred to in paragraph (a)or (b)is in a position to exercisecontrol directly or indirectly; submission means a tender, a proposal, anoffer, a quotation or a bid referred tocollectively or generically, including, wherethe context so requires, an initial orindicative submission;8No.

9 1 Public procurement and Disposal of Public Property2015 supplier or contractor means, according tothe context, any party or potential party toprocurement proceedings with a procuringentity; sustainable procurement means a processwhereby public bodies meet their needs forgoods, works or services in a way thatachieves value for money on a long-termbasis in terms of generating benefits not onlyto the public body, but also to the economyand the wider society, whilst minimisingdamage to the environment; tender security means a security required fromsuppliers or contractors by a procuring entityand provided to a procuring entity to securethe fulfilment of an obligation and includessuch arrangements as bank guarantees,indemnities, surety bonds, standby letters ofcredit, cheques for which a bank isprimarily liable, cash deposits, promissorynotes, bills of exchange and other likeinstruments; Tobago House of Assembly means the TobagoHouse of Assembly established bysection 141 Aof the Constitution; unfulfilled contract includes a contract that isincomplete, terminated or delayed; value for money includes the value derivedfrom the optimal balance of outcomes andinput costs on the basis of the total cost ofsupply, maintenance and sustainable use.

10 Works includes construction and engineeringworks of all 1 Public procurement and Disposal of Public Property201595.(1) The objects of this Act are to promote (a)the principles of accountability, integrity,transparency and value for money;(b)efficiency, fairness, equity and publicconfidence; and(c)local industry development, sustainableprocurement and sustainable development,in public procurement and the disposal of publicproperty.(2) A public body shall carry out publicprocurement and the disposal of public property in amanner that is consistent with the objects of this (1) Subject to subsection (2), any procurement ofgoods, works or services or retention or disposal ofpublic property that is not done in accordance with thisAct and any procurement contract or agreement that isnot entered into in accordance with this Act shall bevoid and illegal.