Art. 195. Tender procedure for the general contractor

1. The choice to grant an award by means of an award to the general contractor must be justified by the contracting authority based on complexity and other needs, in order to guarantee a high level of quality, safety and cost effectiveness. The contracting authorities cannot, however, proceed with an award to the general contractor if the amount of the award is equal to or greater than 100 million Euro.

2. For an award to the general contractor, the final project shall be sued as the basis for the tender.

3. The contracting authorities can establish and indicate in the call to tender, in relation to the importance and complexity of the works to be realized, the minimum and maximum number of tenderers who shall be invited to present tenders. If the applications for participation exceed the above maximum number, the contracting authorities shall determine which parties to invite, preparing a merit ranking based on objective, nondiscriminatory criteria that are relevant to the object of the contract, which shall be predefined in the call to tender. In any case, the minimum number to be invited may not be less than five, if there are that number of qualified parties. In any case, the number of candidates invited must be sufficient to ensure effective competition.

4. The award of the contracts set forth in paragraph 1 shall be made according to the criterion of the most economically advantageous offer, chosen, in addition to being based on the criteria set forth in Article 95, by also taking account of:

a) the technical and aesthetic value of the variants;

b) the greater amount of the pre-financing that the candidate is able to offer with respect to that envisaged by the call to tender;

c) any further elements identified in relation to the specific nature of the works to be realized.

5. The provisions of Part II, Title VI shall apply, to the extent not provided for by this Article, to the contracting authorities in the sectors provided for in Articles 115 through 121.

6. The provisions of Part II, Titles I, II, III and IV shall apply to all other contracting authorities, to the extent not provided for by this Article.