Requesting Entity: Aztek Construction Firm

Issues Concern: Payment of Bidding Documents and Requirement for Certificate of Registration and License for Shipyard and Ship Repair Yards

Details

Whether it is valid for the Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) to require your company to pay anew for the Bidding Documents in the rebidding of the same project.

The preparation and development of the revised Bidding Documents may entail upon the procuring entity another set of costs and expenses. Based on these costs and expenses, procuring entities may deem it necessary to charge bidders anew for the purpose of recovering the costs for its development and preparation.

In this regard, we wish to stress that the decision in charging fees for Bidding Documents, whether for the first bidding or any subsequent re-bidding, depends upon the discretion of the procuring entity, taking into account the need to recover the cost of its preparation and development vis-a-vis the effects on competition and participation of bidders.

Whether the Certificate of Registration and License for Shipyard and Ship Repair Yards from the Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA) may be required instead of the Philippine Contractors Accreditation Board (PCAB) License and Registration required under Section 23.5.2 of the revised Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Republic Act (RA) 9184.

[T]he eligibility requirements specified in Section 23.1 of the IRR of RA 9184 are absolute and exclusive. This means that procuring entities cannot delete or replace any of the requirements that are applicable to the category of their procurement activity. As such, the submission of a PCAB License and Registration cannot be dispensed with in the procurement of infrastructure projects.

The eligibility requirement for a PCAB License and Registration cannot be dispensed with and substituted by a Certificate of Registration and License for Shipyard and Ship Repair Yards from MARINA, although these documents may be required as additional legal requirements under Section 34.2 of the IRR of RA 9184.