Cloud-based Central Monitoring System (SaaS)

✓The solution must be functionally compatible with ITG’s extensive existing sensor and transmitter infrastructure (listed in a later paragraph 6.3.2), meaning it must be able to receive and process data from current equipment and preserve or make accessible existing historical data and alarm configurations, whether natively or via gateways/middleware.

✓The initial contract term is 4 years from provisional acceptance, with up to four one‑year renewals (maximum total 8 years), entirely at the discretion of the contracting authority and without any right for the contractor to claim renewal or compensation if ITG decides not to renew; renewals, if any, are notified by registered mail at least three months before expiry.

✓On award criteria and weighting, the text clarifies the procedure but leaves the detailed criteria to a later document.

✓Such as, the placement is a “mededingingsprocedure met onderhandeling” under article 38, §1, 1°, f) of the Belgian Overheidsopdrachtenwet.

✓First there is a selection phase based on the above selection criteria; selected candidates then receive the full specifications and are invited to submit initial offers.

✓ITG may negotiate with one or more tenderers, in successive phases, potentially reducing the number of participants by applying the award criteria.

✓The contract will be awarded to the economically most advantageous tender, based on the best price‑quality ratio, but the precise award criteria and their weighting will only be communicated in the second phase (the bestek after selection), and therefore are not yet specified in the current text.

✓Such as, bids must be submitted electronically via the Belgian e‑Procurement platform, and completion must be confirmed by pressing the “Verzenden” button; otherwise the offer will not be received.

✓All questions must be submitted via the e‑Procurement forum no later than 10 days before the deadline for receipt of offers; messages on that forum form an integral part of the contract.

✓Communication must be in Dutch or English, but the Dutch documents are the only legally binding version; in case of discrepancy, the Dutch text prevails.

✓The contract term of up to 8 years is justified by the critical nature of the laboratory infrastructure and the high operational and compliance switch costs; this long term increases dependency risk for the contractor but also creates long‑term obligations to maintain compatibility and service levels.

✓When a bidder relies on the capacity of other entities, those entities must not be subject to exclusion grounds and must actually perform the services for which their capacity is used; replacing them requires prior consent of ITG.

❓There is mention of the general Belgian “KB Uitvoering” as the source of contractual execution rules (typically including penalties and guarantees), but detailed penalties, performance guarantees, insurance requirements or site‑visit obligations are not described in the provided excerpts and would presumably appear in the later bestek issued only to selected candidates.

✓Concerning contradictions or corrections, the text itself resolves at least one potential conflict: language versions.

✓Such as, it explicitly states that any English translation is purely informative and that in case of errors, contradictions or interpretative differences between the Dutch and translated versions, the Dutch original always prevails; ITG cannot be held liable for translation errors.

✓There is no internal contradiction about the contract duration: section 1.5 states a base term of 4 years plus four one‑year renewals (total maximum 8 years), and section 6 repeats that the maximum duration is 8 years and explains the rationale; these statements are consistent.

✓Award criteria are deliberately left unspecified at this stage, but this is described clearly as a matter for the second phase rather than a discrepancy.

✓Where instructions in different places overlap (e.g. the list of required documents in chapter 3 and the same list recast as Stuk 1–8 in chapter 4), they are consistent, with chapter 4 functioning as a practical checklist rather than changing earlier requirements.

Answers on the required criteria

Must securities be provided (bid bond, performance or warranty guarantee)? If so: which, in what amount and by when?

❓Such as regards securities (bid bond, performance or warranty guarantees), the provided text does not mention any requirement for the submission of a bid bond or performance/warranty guarantees in the selection phase.

❓If securities are required, they would have to be specified later in the full tender documents (“bestek”) provided only to selected candidates; they are not described in the excerpts given.

Is subcontracting allowed? If so: with which limits and which disclosure duties?

✓Such as regards subcontracting, the text explains the concept of “beroep op draagkracht” (reliance on the capacity of other entities).

✓Candidates may rely on the economic/financial or technical/professional capacity of other entrepreneurs, including under‑contractors, to meet selection criteria.

✓In that case, they must submit a “Verbintenis terbeschikkingstelling middelen” (commitment to make resources available) for each such entity, and those entities must not fall under exclusion grounds and must actually perform the parts of the services linked to the capacity relied upon.

✓It is explicitly stated that the use of other subcontractors without relying on their capacity remains possible both during the award and execution of the contract; this is allowed but not further regulated in these excerpts beyond the duty to seek prior permission if they replace entities whose capacity was used for selection.

Is there a site visit, and is attendance mandatory? If so: when?

❓Such as concerns site visits, the input text does not mention any visit to the site of the contracting authority, nor does it state any obligation to attend a site visit.

❓The described procedure covers application to participate, selection, invitation to submit initial offers, and possible negotiations, but no site meeting or inspection requirement is referenced in the sections provided.

In which language must the tender and the supporting documents be submitted, and are documents in other languages accepted?

✓Such as regards language of tenders and supporting documents, the text states that the tender documents are drawn up in Dutch and that this Dutch version is the only legally binding version.

✓It further clarifies that tenderers must use exclusively Dutch or English in their oral and written communications with the contracting authority.

✓An English translation of the documents can be supplied on request but is only informative and may contain inaccuracies; in case of discrepancies, the original Dutch document prevails.

How long is the bidder bound by the tender (validity period), and is there a deadline for bidder questions? If so: until when?

✓Such as concerns the validity period of tenders and the deadline for bidder questions, the excerpts specify a clear questions deadline: all questions relating to the contract must be submitted via the e‑Procurement forum no later than 10 days before the final deadline for receipt of tenders; after that, no further questions can be asked.

✓The text also states that the initial phase is an “aanvraag tot deelneming” submitted via e‑Procurement and that questions and clarifications posted on the forum form an integral part of the contract.

❓However, the validity period (how long bidders are bound by their tender) is not explicitly provided in the sections shown and would presumably be set out later in the full “bestek” sent to selected candidates.

Further details

✓The input text concerns a public procurement procedure in Belgium by the Instituut voor Tropische Geneeskunde (Institute of Tropical Medicine) in Antwerp for a cloud‑based Central Monitoring System (CMS) delivered as SaaS.

✓It is a selection guideline (“selectieleidraad”) for a competitive negotiated procedure under Belgian public procurement law (Wet Overheidsopdrachten, KB Plaatsing, KB Uitvoering).

✓The perspective is clearly that of a Belgian contracting authority operating under EU‑member‑state procurement rules, and the text also refers to obligations of foreign (non‑Belgian) candidates within this framework.

✓The focus is on exclusion grounds, financial capacity (minimum average annual turnover of €200,000 over the last three years), technical and professional capacity, and certifications (ISO 9001 and ISO 27001 or equivalent).