Architektonischer Auftrag für die Planung und den Bau einer Kinderkrippe „Kleine Welt“

As far as the scope of the assignment is concerned, it is an integrated design service for the realization of a nursery with four living groups, each suitable for 18 child places, in Flanders, under the application of VIPA criteria and Flemish regulations regarding environmental permit and spatial planning. The contractor-architect supervises the entire process: preparation of permit files (environmental permit, VIPA grant), development of the final design, preparation and compilation of a complete tender file for the works (architecture and stability plans, technical studies, measurement statements, specifications, safety and health plan, model tender form, etc.), guidance of the tender procedure for one general contractor (consideration and ranking of offers, draft award report, zero measurement statement), site monitoring (weekly meetings, monitoring of implementation, airtightness tests, adjustments to implementation file, budget and planning control) and completions and guarantee period (preliminary and final acceptance, EPB reporting, as-built certificate and file, monitoring of energy performance and comfort in the first two years of use). The period of execution of the architectural contract shall be determined by mutual agreement after the conclusion of the contract; the contractor must be able to start up immediately after the award. The closing date and time for the submission of tenders are explicitly stated (05.11.2026 before 15h30), with the date on the platform prevailing in case of discrepancy between cover page and PublicProcurement platform.

The award criteria and their weighting are clearly defined. The contract will be awarded to the most economically advantageous regular tender on the basis of three substantive criteria: (1) general vision and image quality plan (40/100), for which the tenderer must draw up a note on its architectural, spatial, functional and image quality vision, with reference images and explanations aimed at the young public; (2) planning, process orientation and readiness (30/100), with an indicative timeline for design, authorisation, procurement and implementation, and a note on cooperation, participation, feedback, willingness to adapt and support the Contracting Authority in the VIPA process; (3) fees and cost control (30/100), where the tenderer specifies a rate of fees between 8% and 10% (applied to the contractor's award amount and then flat-rated) plus a note on budget monitoring, communication and interventions in case of cost overruns. The assessment is done with qualitative scales (Excellent, Good, Moderate, Bad with associated point percentages). In doing so, the contracting authority retains the possibility to negotiate in a simplified negotiated procedure with prior publication, possibly in several rounds and with a limitation of the number of participants on the basis of the award criteria, and then requests a BAFO via public procurement. Under Article 76 of the Royal Decree on the placing of tenders, the public authorities may have certain substantially irregular tenders regularised, but this is not the tenderer’s right, and late tenders can never be regularised.

As regards risks and special conditions, the tender specifications contain detailed provisions on liability, insurance, fines, price revision, subcontracting, suretyship, early termination, data protection, on-site visits, time limits for enquiries and the period of validity of the tender. The architect bears full liability for errors in studies, plans, calculations and documents, applying the ten-year liability (Articles 1792 and 2270 old Dutch Civil Code), starting with provisional acceptance, and must take out compulsory insurance for ten-year civil liability of contractors and professional liability in the construction sector (with certificates within 30 days after conclusion of the contract and notification of policy changes 15 days in advance by the insurer). No bail is requested given the limited size and phased payments. Price revision of the flat-rate fee can be done once a year after 12 months on the expiry date of the agreement via a CPI index formula cpi/CPI. For delay and defective execution, general fines (0.07% one-off or 0.02% per day of the original assignment amount, within certain minimum and maximum amounts) plus special penalties (100 euros per claim statement in case of late approval, in addition to any delay penalty) and delay penalties in accordance with Article 154 KB Execution, without notice of default and without prejudice to liability for damage to third parties. The contractor remains fully liable for the performance of subcontractors and must comply with GDPR obligations through a processing agreement. Tenderers are bound by their bids for 90 calendar days from the closing date for submission of tenders; in the case of revised or final offers (BAFO), this commitment period starts again and again. Questions about ambiguities or errors in the contract documents must be asked no later than 15 calendar days before the submission deadline; questions will then no longer be answered and the tenderer will no longer be able to rely on ambiguities. A site visit is not mandatory but quite possible after an appointment with the contact person of the Contracting Authority.

Finally, the file provides rules for contradictions and corrections: the tenderer has a duty to report alleged ambiguities, omissions or errors in the contract documents within the prescribed deadline; in the absence of notification, the documents are presumed to be clear and the Contracting Authority’s interpretation applies. In the event of any discrepancies between the limit date on the cover page of the specifications and the date on the PublicProcurement platform, it is explicitly stated that the date on the platform takes precedence. In the event of differences between permit plans and implementation, a regularisation file or as-built certificate must be drawn up; if the deviation results from errors or changes at the request of the contractor, he shall bear the costs of regularisation. If the budget is exceeded for reasons related to the contractor's assignment, corrective measures and any rework of files must be carried out without additional fees, for example in the event of adjustments imposed by environmental permit or established contradictions / discrepancies in the implementation file. In the event of premature termination by the Contracting Authority, the contractor will only receive the fees for services already delivered; in the event of termination beyond the control of the government (no permit, loss of rights on the site, serious pollution), no termination fee is due and all documents are transferred so that another contractor can continue to work on the basis of the existing file.