Competitive Dialogue

The competitive dialogue procedure is recommended for complex procurements and only where certain conditions are met.

Namely, where:

• technical specifications of the works, services or supplies cannot be established with sufficient precision;
• the contracting authority’s needs cannot be met without the adaptation of readily available solutions;
• the works, services or supplies include design or innovative solutions; and/or
• specific circumstances relating to the nature of the contract, complexities/legals/financials or risks attaching to them

Any interested party may express an interest in tendering but only those successfully meeting the selection criteria will be invited to ‘participate in dialogue’. Provided that there are a sufficient number of candidates to do so, a minimum of 3 bidders must be invited to participate in the dialogue.

At the dialogue, bidders are able to discuss all aspects of the procurement with the authority. Solutions are devised in dialogue on the basis of the proposals submitted by that bidder. ‘Cherry-picking’ is prohibited; the authority may not pursue the best parts of different solutions, except with consent.

Once the authority has identified potential solutions through dialogue, participating bidders are invited to submit a final tender based on their proposals.

Those final tenders may be clarified, specified, and optimised at the request of the contracting authority. However, such clarification must not alter the essential aspects of the tender or the procurement. The best tender is then selected, with limited negotiations permitted to confirm financial commitments or to finalise the terms of the contract, again provided that this does not alter the essential aspects of the tender or the procurement.

Please find our procedure flowchart below, setting out the various stages, requirements, and timescales for the competitive dialogue procedure.