Support for VET Sector in the Republic of Moldova EuropeAid/133700/C/SER/MD/12 REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA SUPPORT FOR VET SECTOR IN THE REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA EUROPEAID/133700/C/SER/MD/12 Mission Report No 1 Marian Nenita Start: 18 May 2015 Finish: 29 May 2015 1. Results of previous missions National Non-key Procurement Expert AO: 32 Working Days 10 Per diems 0 Mission 1: Chisinau, Moldova, Inception Mission Mission 2: 1. Description of the Mission 1 Mission Objectives: In cooperation with the MoE, CoE’s and the SSTE Civil Engineer (AO12) elaborate a draft Public Procurement Plan for minimum 10 Centres of Excellence and capital investments under the VET 2020 strategy; Assist the MoE elaborate Terms of Reference, organise tenders and evaluation processes for upgrading of minimum 5 Centres of Excellence; In cooperation with the MoE and the SSTE Civil Engineer (AO12) elaborate Terms of Reference, organise tenders and evaluation process for refurbishment of dormitories and supply of equipment and furniture for specialisation of fields in 3 Centres of Excellence Activities / Meetings Date 1 May 2015 2 May 2015 3 May 2015 Not activity 4 May 2015 Not activity 5 May 2015 Not activity 6 May 2015 Not activity 7 May 2015 Not activity 8 May 2015 9 May 2015 10 May 2015 11 May 2015 12 May 2015 13 May 2015 14 May 2015 15 May 2015 16 May 2015 17 May 2015 Activity /meeting Not activity Not activity Not activity Not activity Not activity 1 Support for VET Sector in the Republic of Moldova EuropeAid/133700/C/SER/MD/12 18 May 2015 19 May 2015 20 May 2015 21 May 2015 22 May 2015 23 May 2015 24 May 2015 25 May 2015 26 May 2015 27 May 2015 28 May 2015 29 May 2015 Met the Project team and held some introductory discussions with the project management and other staff. Examined the project documents. Examined the equipment lists scheduled for procurement, from 4 colleges; prepared a summary table with comments; sent findings to the team for reference. Examined national legislation on architectural design and works. Worked on the list of questions to be discussed with the Project Team and with the Civil Engineer. Discussed with the office manager on the meetings and arrangements. Discussed with the civil engineer and scheduled a meeting. Examined draft Terms of Reference prepared for 2 Centers of Excellence’ architectural design; prepared a list of questions. Met with the representatives of the National Agency of Public Procurement and discussed the requirements and conditions for tendering services for architectural design, as well as other issues. Examined draft Terms of Reference prepared for the Construction College's CE architectural design; prepared a list of questions. Met with project staff and discussed the findings on the 3 ToRs for design services for the 3 CEs, as well as issues related to equipment lists. Met with the Civil Engineers who worked on the 3 ToRs and discussed the issues / findings/ plans. Met with the representative of the MoE (Silviu Gincu) on the design and construction plans. Sent a detailed comment to Civil Engineer for finalizing the current 3 draft ToRs for CEs. Prepared a list of issues to be discussed at the MoE in relation to the design services for 5 CEs. Met with the MoE procurement and technical staff, discussed the pending activities, plans, way of collaboration, responsibilities, expectations etc. Discussed with the Project Key Expert on the outcome of the meeting and agreed on further actions to focus upon. Worked on the Tender Documents for the design services. Correspondence with the Engineer on the format of Terms of Reference for the design services. Visited the College No.1 with the engineer and the project expert to see the list of required works, held discussions on the matter. Worked on the format of specifications for different types of equipment and sent to all 4 colleges for reference in finalizing their lists and specs. Discussed with the project staff on the situation with the equipment lists, agreed on the work plan for the next week. Discussed with the engineer and agreed on the soonest submission of the ToRs for design services (6 centers of excellence). Sent a request for clarification to Public Procurement Agency on the standard bidding document for construction design. Discussion with the project colleagues regarding the equipment lists and the way to handle them through ME or directly. Examined the documents sent by the Engineer in relation to the design services. Correspondence. Met the Engineer and discussed about the qualification requirements and their quantification, for the Bidding Document for design services (6 centers of excellence), as well as on other issues. Discussed with the Public Procurement Agency on some bidding requirements. Studied the terms of reference’ formats used by other contracting authorities for the repair works design services. Worked on the Bidding Document for design services required for rehabilitation of 6 centers of excellence. Discussed with the Public Procurement Agency on some bidding requirements, in line with the Regulation #352 on the Design Services for the Construction Works. Participated in the visit to the Construction College Chisinau, having a meeting and discussions with the representatives of main stakeholders over the investment plans, works and equipment. Examined the revised Terms of Reference prepared and submitted by the Engineer after repeated discussions. Discussed with the project staff on the results of the visit to the Construction College. Finalized the first draft of the Bidding Documents for procurement of design services for 2 Support for VET Sector in the Republic of Moldova EuropeAid/133700/C/SER/MD/12 construction works at the 6 colleges and professional schools. Agreed with the project staff and the engineer on the way to finalized the terms of reference for all 6 schools and integrate them into the bidding documents during my absence (mission 1 ends May 29). Prepared the timesheet for the Mission 1 and submitted to the project management. 30 May 2015 31 May 2015 2. Results achieved The draft bidding document for designing the works at 6 colleges/schools developed (Annex 1) The link between the Project and the MoE’s procurement department established The expected procurement procedures clarified The way of collaboration on procurement between the Project and the MoE agreed Few schools / colleges visited for physical inspection of the intended works The format of Terms of Reference for the design of works agreed with Engineer (Annex 2) Lists of equipment from 4 potential CoEs reviewed, summarized and commented (Annex 3) Sample technical specifications, for equipment to be procured, developed (Annex 4) 3. Problems / open questions to be addressed Accelerate the finalization of ToRs for 6 colleges/schools (currently only 1 submitted by the project’s Engineer). Try to ensure that the 6 lots for works design services set out through the bidding are distributed among firms based on their capacity and qualification (i.e. realistic volume of works for each firm taking into account the time constraint). Otherwise the risk is high that the subsequent works cannot be contracted by end of 2015. Ensure the bidding for selection of design firms for works at 5 CoEs takes place as soon as possible. Agree with the MoE on the target date for having the lists of equipment finalized for 5 CoEs Work with colleges and schools on drafting the appropriate technical specifications for the equipment and furniture. It is not clear whether the construction supervision function is delegated to the colleges and schools themselves or this will be outsourced. 4. Conclusions 1. The local practice in public procurement is to award the contracts based on least price or the MEAT criterion (simple formula), but rejecting less qualified firms (from taking more lots than they can effectively perform) through a post-qualification process is rather problematic and could generate complaints and rejection of bidding results by the Public Procurement Agency (PPA). Thus there is a problem that cheap firms could get several lots at the same time and delay the design services beyond the intended 4-month timeframe. The current draft bidding document for works design services contains recommendations on using the qualification criteria for distributing the lots among firms at the last phase of evaluation process, based on the firms’ ability and qualification, but this may not be accepted by the MoE who would rather prefer to use only the score as main criterion for award. 2. Colleges and schools are not experienced in preparing the technical specifications for the lists of equipment and furniture they are going to procure. Although the sample specification format has been provided, people who work with those tables do not have enough skills to properly elaborate the requirements (often they simply indicate the model/brand or indicate the link from 3 Support for VET Sector in the Republic of Moldova EuropeAid/133700/C/SER/MD/12 Internet to the desired item). There will be need to assist the colleges in finalizing the specs and to ensure that they approve what has been drafted by the project as the final version of specifications, especially for the specialized equipment (to avoid any misinterpretation in the future). 3. Plans seem to be not used for procurement, as many times decisions depend on budget availability, approval mechanism and other factors (even political). 4. There is need to ensure that the construction / repair works at all 6 CoEs are up to standard and compliant to the contract conditions. The beneficiaries may not have enough time, resource or even skills to observe the quality of the works. At most of CoEs the works will be scattered throughout their territories and so it will be extremely hard for the CoE to observe and monitor the works execution. 5. Recommendations 1. There is need for further discussions with the MoE and PPA on the way of “safe” application of qualification criteria in the award of multiple lots. 2. Assist the colleges and schools in developing of specifications. Further, it will be necessary to group the equipment in lots (e.g. IT, furniture, other) and procure them within a bidding or two, to the extent possible (though smaller lots of very specialized items e.g. equipment for physics classroom etc. might be even purchased through Request for Quotation, separately). 3. There is a need for procurement plans, as a reference document for the MoE in implementing their procurement, especially in connection with works. Planning the equipment to be delivered to CoEs by the end of the repair works is also crucial. 4. The issue of works’ implementation supervision should be seriously considered and planned in advance, as the practice shows the works are often below the expected standard, different materials, higher quantities claimed etc. 6. Proposals for next mission(s) 1. Assist, if necessary, with procurement planning 2. Assist, if necessary (or even possible, as MoE has their own bidding panel), with evaluation of bids for works design services 3. Assist on finalizing the lists of equipment, specifications, packaging lots etc. 4. Assist in drafting the procurement plans 5. Assist the international Procurement expert on the outstanding issues 7. Annexes Annex 1: Draft Bidding Document for Works Design Services (6 Lots) [will be provided as soon as all ToRs are submitted by the Engineer; available in Romanian] Annex 2: Terms of Reference for the Works Design Services [available only for 1 lots, in Romanian] Annex 3: Review of 4 equipment lists summary [available in Romanian] Annex 4: Sample Specifications Format distributed to colleges and schools for use in drafting their requirements [available in Romanian] 4