Software system for applying for and managing access permits to a car-free area

✓Multiple offers are not allowed; combinations must have all members sign and must be jointly and severally liable.

✓The scope of the contract is defined as a four‑year service to deliver and operate an off‑the‑shelf online web application for access permits to autoluwe zones in Bruges enforced by ANPR‑cameras.

✓Such as: a citizen/business front‑end for requesting and following up temporary, permanent, recurring and one‑off permits; a back‑office for city staff to assess, approve, refuse, suspend and manage permits; integration with the existing ANPR platform (MetaBOF by Myriade) and with Flemish and national authentic sources (MAGDA, Kruispuntbank van Ondernemingen, Mijn Burgerprofiel, eBox); and ongoing support, training and maintenance.

❓The quantities are estimated but not guaranteed: approximately 6,000 ongoing permits per year (various residents, traders, Interparking subscribers, service vehicles, etc.) and ~75,000 one‑off permits per year.

✓The implementation must deliver a working system in the months after award, with an ultimate go‑live deadline of 4 January 2027, while the underlying city policy is being fully revised around February 2027.

✓The place of performance is Brugge and its IT environment (“Groep Brugge”).

✓The award criteria and weighting are clearly set.

✓Such as: the procedure is a vereenvoudigde onderhandelingsprocedure met voorafgaande bekendmaking under the Belgian 2016 public procurement law.

✓Each qualitative criterion is scored on a 0–100% quality scale (insufficient to perfect).

✓Negotiations may occur, including BAFO, but minimum requirements and award criteria are non‑negotiable.

✓A proof‑of‑concept/demo of the real, recent software (no mock‑ups) in Dutch, at a Bruges city building, can be requested and feeds into the functional criterion.

✓Risks and special conditions are described in detail.

✓Subcontractors must be named in the offer form (scope, identity, KBO number) and may not be subject to exclusion grounds; if the bidder relies on their capacity for selection, a formal commitment and exclusion documentation is required.

✓Price revision is explicitly excluded; however, the KB Uitvoering rules on unforeseeable circumstances, tax changes, and contract imbalance still apply and can lead to term extensions, compensation or contract changes under strict thresholds.

✓There is no borgtocht (performance bond).

✓General and daily penalties apply for deficient performance under art. 45 KB Uitvoering; vertragingsboetes under art. 46 and 154 KB Uitvoering apply for late performance.

✓Social‑law‑related sanctions (e.g. wage payment issues or employment of illegally staying third‑country nationals) can lead to access bans to the site and contract termination obligations in subcontracting chains.

✓The contractor must comply with GDPR: sign the data processing agreement within 30 days of award (an essential condition for final acceptance and payment), respect confidentiality, and ensure appropriate IT‑security and NIS2‑aligned controls as set out in the separate IT‑randvoorwaarden & NIS2‑bijlage (screened staff, security certifications including for cloud providers, least‑privilege, zero‑trust, segmentation, incident management, exit and data‑return obligations).

✓Only Dutch may be used in communications; offers must be submitted electronically; KMO status can be indicated but there is no explicit turnover minimum mentioned in the excerpts.

✓Finally, the text clarifies how contradictions and corrections within the documents are handled.

✓Such as: if bidders detect errors or gaps that affect pricing or comparability, or have legal/technical doubts, they must email [email protected] at least 10 days before the offer deadline.

✓Clarifications and rectifying notices (“terrechtwijzende berichten”) are then published on e‑Procurement and become integral, binding parts of the contract; bidders are deemed to have read and considered them.

✓In case of conflicts between documents, the bestek (specification) prevails over the samenvattende opmeting/inventaris.

✓Within the IT‑randvoorwaarden bijlage versus the “hoofdovereenkomst”, the strictest regime that offers the highest protection to Groep Brugge prevails, unless explicitly stated otherwise.

✓Participation itself implies acceptance of all clauses and a waiver of the bidder’s own terms and conditions.

✓The documents also emphasise that bidders must timely raise any objections to the lawfulness or clarity of the documents; failing that, they risk losing effective legal remedies against the award decision.

Answers on the required criteria

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

✓As to securities, such as bid bonds or performance/warranty guarantees, the bestek explicitly states under the heading “BORGTOCHT (ART. 25 TOT EN MET 33 KB UITVOERING)” that no borgtocht is required.

✓This means that, for this Belgian public contract, the contractor does not need to lodge any performance bond or similar financial security as a condition of award or execution.

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

✓Subcontracting is allowed but regulated.

✓For example, in the offerteformulier the tenderer must indicate whether underaannemers will be used, specify the part of the contract to be subcontracted, and list for each subcontractor the name, address and ondernemingsnummer.

✓Furthermore, as stated under “VOORDRACHT VAN ONDERAANNEMERS (ART. 74 KB PLAATSING EN ART. 12 KB UITVOERING)”, the tenderer must disclose in the offer which portion he intends to subcontract and the identity of proposed subcontractors.

✓During contract execution, no facultative or mandatory exclusion ground may apply to a subcontractor (with reference to point 3.3.1 of the bestek).

✓The text also distinguishes between ordinary subcontracting and “beroep op draagkracht”: if the tenderer relies on the capacity of subcontractors or other entities to meet selection criteria, this must be evidenced by a formal “Verbintenis terbeschikkingstelling middelen”, and in that case the subcontractor’s involvement in execution is mandatory and the use of other subcontractors requires prior approval by the contracting authority.

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

❓Regarding site visits, the input text does not describe any mandatory plaatsbezoek or werfbezoek.

✓Instead, it sets out a “Proof of concept” / software demonstration that may be requested after opening of tenders.

❓Attendance at this demo is thus conditional on being invited; the text does not refer to any prior physical site visit to infrastructure or to a compulsory attendance requirement before submission of the offer.

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

✓With respect to language requirements, the bestek provides that the tenderer uses exclusively Dutch (“uitsluitend het Nederlands”) in all oral and written communication with the contracting authority both during the procedure and execution.

✓Offers must be prepared in Dutch; moreover, it is stated that documents available only in another language may be subject to an obligation to provide a (possibly sworn) translation upon request by the authority.

✓Such as: a foreign criminal record extract or foreign certificates must be provided, and if not in Dutch, a translation can be demanded.

✓The proof‑of‑concept demo must also be given in Dutch.

✓Thus, the formal language of the tender and supporting documentation is Dutch, and other languages are not directly accepted without translation when the authority asks for it.

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

✓On the binding period of the tender (verbintenistermijn) and deadlines for bidder questions, the bestek specifies that tenderers are bound by their offer for 90 calendar days starting the day after the deadline for receipt of tenders.

✓Any adjusted offers submitted during negotiations restart this 90‑day period each time.

✓For questions, the “VRAGEN BIJ DE OPDRACHTDOCUMENTEN” section states that any errors, gaps or ambiguities in the documents must be reported by email (to the named contact at Stad Brugge) at the latest 10 days before the final date for submission of tenders.

✓All meaningful clarifications are then published as correction notices on the e‑Procurement platform.

✓Consequently, the deadline for bidder questions is “uiterlijk 10 dagen vóór de uiterste datum voor indiening van de offerte”; with the limit date for offers indicated elsewhere as 27 November 2026 at 10:30, the last day to submit questions is 10 days prior to that date.

Further details

✓The input text is an extract from the special tender specifications (“bestek”) and IT annex for a public service contract in Belgium, more specifically placed by Stad Brugge (City of Bruges) for a software system to manage access permits to a low‑traffic city area.

✓The perspective is clearly Belgian: references are made to Belgian public procurement law (Wet Overheidsopdrachten), Belgian implementing royal decrees (KB Plaatsing, KB Uitvoering), Belgian social and tax law, and EU rules such as NIS2 and GDPR as applied in Belgium.

✓The tender follows a simplified negotiated procedure with prior publication and sets detailed conditions for participation, award and contract execution.