The Local Self-government department has relaxed existing norms and adopted World Bank’s procurement regulations for execution of works under the Kerala Solid Waste Management Project (KSWMP), being funded by the World Bank and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).
As per the terms of the local agreement, the bank’s procurement regulations are to be followed for the execution.
For public works, tender excess beyond 10% is not allowed in normal circumstances under the existing procedures. For the KSWMP, tender excess beyond the limit of prevailing norms need to be submitted to the government for concurrence.
With regard to performance guarantee, the existing norms mandate the collection of 5% of the contract value as performance security deposit, out of which 50% is in the form of treasury fixed deposit and the remaining as bank guarantee. As per the World Bank regulations, this has now been changed into bank guarantee for the entire value of the deposit.
Additional performance guarantee is mandated by government norms in cases where the bidders have quoted abnormally low bids. As per the World Bank norms, this has been done away with, except in case of unbalanced bids.
Eligibility norms
Changes will also be effected in the eligibility norms of contractors and bidders. As per the existing norms, the bidders or contractors are chosen from the government’s list, under which they are divided into classes from A to D. But, according to World Bank eligibility criteria, these works are to be procured under the National Competitive Bidding. The KSWMP Project Director will provide the guidance in fixing the criteria under this with respect to the cost and scope of work.
The existing government norms have no provision for arbitration as a means of dispute resolution, but as per the World Bank norms this has been changed to include an arbitration clause for projects beyond the technical sanction powers of the Superintending Engineer. Single bids are not accepted for public works in the first instance under government norms, but as per the latest changes, the single bid proposals can be submitted to the government for concurrence.
With regard to the retention period for performance security deposit, 2.5% of the running bills which is retained will be released along with the final bill, as per the existing norms. But, as per the World Bank norms, this retention amount will be released only after the end of the defects liability period.
Published - June 09, 2024 09:08 pm IST
