Requesting Entity: National Irrigation Administration (NIA) – Regional Office No. 5

Issues Concern: Additional Requirements in the Philippine Bidding Documents (PBDs)

Details

Request for inclusion of additional requirements, i.e., Affidavit of Site Inspection and Experience Requirement, under the PBDs for the infrastructure projects of NIA.

Affidavit of Site Inspection

[T]he PBDs for infrastructure projects, specifically, Instructions to Bidders Clauses 6.3 and 6.4 thereof, requires the bidders to inspect the site in order to determine its conditions. In addition, Section 25.2 (b)(iv)(6) of the IRR requires bidders to submit a statement that it complies with its responsibilities provided in the PBDs.

[T]he suggested requirement is no longer necessary since the existing rules and provisions of the PBDs adequately cover the objective of the proposal.

Experience Requirement regardless of License Category

Section 23.5.2.5 of the IRR of RA 9184 expressly provides that contractors under Small A and Small B categories without similar experience on the contract to be bid may be allowed to participate in the bidding if the cost of such contract is not more than fifty percent (50%) of the Allowable Range of Contract Cost of their registration based on the guidelines as prescribed by the Philippine Contractors Accreditation Board. This is an exception from the technical eligibility criteria that prospective contractors, as a general rule, must have an experience of having completed, within a period of ten (10) years from the date of submission and receipt of bids, at least one (1) contract that is similar to the contract to be bid, and whose value, adjusted to current prices using the National Statistics Office consumer price indices, must be at least fifty percent (50%) of the Approved Budget for the Contract to be bid.