Requesting Entity: Department of Public Works and Highways
Issues Concern: Certificate Required for the Single Largest Completed Contracts
Details
Clarification on the definition of “Completion of Projects” and “Acceptance of Projects”, and which should be considered in the processing of eligibility for civil works contracts.
The term “completion” in the case of infrastructure projects is generally understood as the fulfillment by the contractor of all the required works as evidenced by the certificate of completion issued by the owner. It means then that “completed contract” refers to a contract where a certificate of completion has been issued by the owner. It would thus appear that for purposes of a bidder’s compliance with the SLCC requirement, the procuring entity may consider contracts the corresponding certificate of completion for which was issued within ten (10) years from the date of submission and receipt of bids.
However, it should be stressed that the rationale for the SLCC requirement is to ensure that the procuring entity will deal with bidders that have adequate experience to fulfill its contractual obligations through a showing of at least one (1) contract that has been fulfilled, not just completely, but satisfactorily. It is in this wise that Section 23.5.2.4 of the IRR requires that the Constructors Performance Evaluation System (CPES) rating and/or certificate of completion and owner’s acceptance of the contract must be satisfactory.
In this light, it can be inferred that apart from having completed a project, the contractor should have performed all its contractual obligations satisfactorily and that the same has been accepted by the owner.
As such, while a certificate of completion may establish the completion of a contract for the purpose of considering it for the SLCC requirement, such contract must also be supported by a satisfactory CPES rating and/or an owner’s certificate of acceptance in order that the bidder may be considered fully compliant with the eligibility criteria of the IRR.