Annex II.4 Qualification of contracting authorities and central purchasing bodies.

(Article 62)

PART I

SCOPES AND QUALIFICATION LEVELS

Article 1.

1.   This annex identifies the requirements necessary for the qualification of contracting authorities and central purchasing bodies, the information necessary to demonstrate possession of the same, and the methods for collecting this information for the functioning of the qualification system.

2.   The qualification of contracting authorities and purchasing centers attests to their ability to directly manage, according to criteria of quality, efficiency and professionalism, and in compliance with the principles of economy, effectiveness, timeliness and correctness, the activities that characterize the process of acquiring a good, a service or a job and concerns at least one of the following areas:

a) technical-administrative planning and assignment of procedures;

b) execution of contracts.

3. The central purchasing bodies are qualified at least in the areas referred to in letter a) of paragraph 2.

Article 2.

Scope.

1.   Qualification is necessary for the assignment of works of an amount equal to or greater than 500 thousand euros and for the acquisition of services and supplies of an amount equal to or greater than the thresholds established for direct assignments. Qualification is not necessary to place orders using purchasing instruments made available by purchasing centers and aggregators.

2.   Without prejudice to the provisions of article 62, paragraph 17, of the code, this annex does not apply to contracting entities that are not contracting authorities and to private entities required to comply with the provisions of the code.

3.   At the time of first application, the contracting authorities of the unions of municipalities established in the forms provided for by the law, of the provinces and metropolitan cities, provincial capitals and regions.

< b>QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS

Article 3.

Levels of qualification for the design and awarding of works for contracting authorities

1. For the design and awarding of works with a tender amount equal to or greater than 500 thousand euros, the contracting authorities are qualified in one of the following levels:

a) first level qualification (L3) for amounts up to 1,000,000 euros;

b) second level qualification (L2) for amounts up to the thresholds of European relevance;

c) third level qualification (L1) without limits on amount.

2. In order to be qualified in one of the levels referred to in paragraph 1, contracting authorities must possess the requirements referred to in article 4, paragraph 1 and must obtain an overall score for the requirements referred to in article 4, paragraph 2, equal to or higher than:

a) L3 level: thirty points;

b) L2 level: forty points;

c) L1 level: fifty points.

3. Each contracting authority or central purchasing body can carry out the procedures corresponding to the qualification level possessed and those lower. Until 30 June 2024, qualification in the levels referred to in paragraph 1 can also be obtained with a score lower than ten points for the L3 level and five points for the L1 and L2 levels.

4. The contracting authorities and central purchasing bodies, qualified for the works, but not qualified for the services and supplies, may nevertheless proceed with the acquisition of services relating to architecture and engineering of a value equal to or greater than the thresholds established for the direct assignments, if in possession of the qualification corresponding to the estimated amount of the works based on the tender for which the aforementioned services are requested.

5. For the purposes of awarding and executing concession and public-private partnership contracts of any amount, contracting authorities must possess at least an L2 level qualification and guarantee the presence of at least one individual with three years' experience in the management of economic plans. and financial and risk.

6. Until 30 June 2024, judicial offices not in possession of the qualification requirements referred to in this article can plan and entrust extraordinary maintenance works or those aimed at guaranteeing the safety of the workplace by making use of an RUP with technical expertise in the matter. of engineering or architecture. In the absence of this professional figure, the tasks of the RUP, limited to the mandatory interventions referred to in the first period, can be attributed to the manager of the service to which the work to be carried out pertains.

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Article 4.

Requirements for qualification relating to the design and awarding of works for contracting authorities.

1. In order to be admitted to the qualification procedure for the design and awarding of works, contracting authorities must possess the following requirements:

a) registration in the Single Registry of Contracting Authorities (AUSA) of which to article 33-ter of the legislative decree of 18 October 2012 n. 179, converted, with amendments, by law 17 December 2012, n. 221;

b) presence in its organization chart of an office or structure permanently dedicated to the planning and assignment of works;

c) availability of digital procurement platforms referred to in articles 25 and 26 of the code.

2. In addition to the mandatory requirements referred to in paragraph 1, the contracting authority obtains a score according to the degree of possession of the requirements set out in Table A attached to this annex.

3. The indicators for assigning scores are described in Table C attached to this annex.

4. For the purposes of qualification, for the evaluation of the requirement relating to the number of tenders carried out, all tenders carried out up to 30 June 2023 are considered. After the aforementioned date, for tenders of a value higher than those identified by article 43 of the code, consider for the evaluation of the requirement relating to the number of tenders carried out only those whose tender notices and notices comply with the provisions on the use of electronic modeling methods and tools for construction and infrastructure, referred to in Annex I.9 to the code.

5. The requirement referred to in paragraph 1, letter c), is required starting from 1 January 2024. Until 31 December 2023, contracting authorities may be awarded, in addition to the requirements referred to in paragraph 2, a score of ten points due to the experience gained in the use of electronic platforms in the three years preceding the date of application for qualification. After the deadline referred to in the first period, the weight of this requirement can also be attributed to the rewarding requirements referred to in article 11, paragraph 2.

Article 5.

Levels of qualification relating to the design and awarding of services and supplies for contracting authorities.

1. For services and supplies with a tender amount equal to or greater than the thresholds established for direct assignments, the contracting authorities are qualified in one of the following levels:

a) first level qualification (SF3) for amounts up to 750,000 euros;

b) second level qualification (SF2) for amounts up to 5,000,000 euros;

c) third level qualification (SF1) without limits on amount.

2. In order to be qualified in one of the levels referred to in paragraph 1, it is necessary to possess the requirements referred to in article 6, paragraph 1 and obtain an overall score for the requirements referred to in article 6, paragraph 2, equal to or higher than :

a) SF3 level: thirty points;

b) SF2 level: forty points;

c) SF1 level: fifty points.

3. Each contracting authority or central purchasing body can carry out the procedures corresponding to the qualification level possessed and lower ones.

4. Until 30 June 2024, qualification in the levels referred to in paragraph 1 can also be obtained with a score lower than ten points for the SF3 level and five points for the SF1 and SF2 levels.

5. For the purposes of awarding and executing concession and public-private partnership contracts of any amount, contracting authorities must possess at least an SF2 level qualification and guarantee the presence of a person with three years' experience in the management of economic plans and financial and risk.

Article 6.

Requirements for the qualification relating to the design and awarding of services and supplies for contracting authorities.

1. In order to be admitted to the qualification procedure for the design and awarding of services and supplies, the contracting authorities must possess the following requirements:

a) registration with the AUSA;

b) presence in its organization chart of an office or structure permanently dedicated to the planning and assignment of services and supplies;

c) availability of digital procurement platforms referred to in articles 25 and 26 of the code.

2. In addition to the mandatory requirements referred to in paragraph 1, the contracting authority obtains a score according to the degree of possession of the requirements referred to in table B attached to this annex.

3 . The indicators for assigning scores are described in Table C attached to this annex.

4. The requirement referred to in paragraph 1, letter c), is required starting from 1 January 2024. Until 31 December 2023, contracting authorities may be awarded, in addition to the requirements referred to in paragraph 2, a score of ten points due to the experience gained in the use of electronic platforms in the three years preceding the date of application for qualification. After the deadline referred to in the first period, the weight of this requirement can also be attributed to the rewarding requirements referred to in article 11, paragraph 2.

Article 7.

Requirements for the qualification relating to the assignment for central purchasing bodies.

1. Central purchasing bodies qualify for at least L2 level for works and SF2 for services and supplies.

2. To be qualified for the works, the purchasing centers must possess the requirements referred to in Article 4, paragraph 1 and for services and supplies the requirements referred to in Article 6, paragraph 1.

3. For central purchasing bodies, the scores referred to in article 4 for works and in article 6 for services and supplies are reduced by 20 percent. The attribution of the aforementioned percentage of points is determined on the basis of the number of contracting authorities. Furthermore, the purchasing centers must have an overall score of at least ten points for the requirements relating to the presence in the organizational structure of employees with specific skills in the field of public contracts and digital systems and the staff training and updating system.

Article 8.

Qualification of contracting authorities and central purchasing bodies for execution.

1. The contracting authorities and purchasing centers qualified for the design and awarding of works, services and supplies or both types of contracts are also qualified until 31 December 2024 for the execution of works, services and supplies respectively. or both types of contracts even for levels higher than those of qualification.

2. After the deadline referred to in paragraph 1, the possibility of executing the contract for levels higher than the qualification levels is assessed on the basis of the following requirements, relating to contracts executed in the five-year period preceding the qualification application:

a ) compliance with the deadlines for payments to companies and suppliers;

b) fulfillment of the obligations of communicating data on public contracts that feed the databases held or managed by ANAC;

c) fulfillment of the obligations referred to in articles 1 and 2 of the legislative decree of 29 December 2011, n. 229.

3. Contracting authorities not qualified for the design and awarding of works, services and supplies or both types of contracts can, until 31 December 2024, execute the contracts if they are registered with the AUSA and have a qualified technical figure. able to carry out the functions of RUP.

4. After the deadline referred to in paragraph 3, the possibility of executing the contract is assessed on the basis of the following requirements:

a) presence in the organizational structure of employees with specific skills in the field of public contracts and digital systems;

b) staff training and updating system;

c) contracts executed in the five-year period preceding the qualification application;

d) compliance with the deadlines for payments to companies and suppliers;

e) fulfillment of the obligations of communicating data on public contracts that feed the databases held or managed by ANAC;

f) fulfillment of the obligations referred to in articles 1 and 2 of the legislative decree of 29 December 2011, n. 229.

Article 9.

Qualification with reservation and deadline of the transitional period.

1. Without prejudice to the provisions of article 7, paragraph 1, the qualification with reservation of the contracting authorities of the unions of municipalities established in the forms provided for by the regulations, of the provinces and metropolitan cities, of the provincial capital municipalities and of the regions referred to in article 63, paragraph 4, second sentence, guarantees the achievement of L1 and SF1 levels. The conditional qualification lasts no longer than 30 June 2024.

2. The contracting stations referred to in paragraph 1 submit an application for registration with reservation in the lists of contracting stations and qualified purchasing centers starting from 1 July 2023. The submission of the application for registration allows the exercise of purchasing activities in favor of other contracting authorities.

3. Starting from 1 January 2024, the contracting authorities referred to in paragraph 1 shall submit an application for registration in the lists of qualified contracting authorities and central purchasing bodies.

< b>REGISTRATION IN THE LIST OF QUALIFIED CONTRACTING ORGANIZATIONS AND PURCHASING CENTRALS AND SANCTIONS

Article 10.

Registration application.

1. The contracting stations and central purchasing bodies submit an application for registration in the lists of qualified contracting stations and central purchasing bodies starting from 1 July 2023 through the specific section of the AUSA and the transmission of the information and data requested by the ANAC to verify qualification requirements. Submission of the application is a necessary condition for qualification.

2. The ANAC, on the basis of the information and data present in the national database of public contracts or in any case acquired by it, without prejudice to the provisions of paragraph 3, attributes the level of qualification for the design, award and execution.

3. ANAC carries out checks, including random checks, on the information and data provided by the contracting authorities and central purchasing bodies for the purposes of checking their veracity and confirming the level of qualification.

4. Registration in the lists of contracting authorities and qualified central purchasing bodies lasts two years. The qualification review is carried out in accordance with Article 11.

Article 11.

Qualification review.

1. The qualifying score is updated every two years. Within three months of the deadline, qualified contracting authorities access the AUSA and update or provide the information and data necessary for qualification review.

2. For the review of the qualification, the ANAC can also evaluate the following rewarding requirements:

a) the availability to be included in the list referred to in article 62, paragraph 10, of the code and carrying out assignments for account of non-qualified contracting authorities;

b) the aggregation of contracting authorities for the joint performance of assignments and execution.

3. The applications submitted pursuant to this article are verified by the ANAC in the manner referred to in article 10, paragraph 3.

4. If the checks conducted reveal a decrease in the score obtained which would bring the contracting authority or central purchasing body to a lower level, it maintains the same qualification level for one year if the new score is higher than that necessary for the level qualification lower, increased by at least 5 percent.

Article 12.

Sanctions for misleading or untruthful information .

1. If the checks referred to in articles 10, paragraph 3 and 11, paragraph 3 ascertain violations of the provisions of the code regarding the qualification of central purchasing bodies and contracting authorities, ANAC may activate, in the cases and within the terms provided for in the article 63, paragraph 11, of the code, with the methods provided for in its regulations, the sanctioning power towards the legal representative of the contracting authority and the central purchasing body.

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PART IV

COMPETENCE OF THE ANAC

Article 13.

Competence of the ANAC.

1. ANAC establishes the requirements and implementation methods of the qualification system, indicating, in addition to the percentage relevance of the individual requirements, the methods with which:

a) the contracting authorities demonstrate possession of the qualification requirements envisaged by the code;

b) the qualification is issued;

c) the contracting station can achieve a higher level qualification;

d) it can be attributed to the station temporarily contracting a qualification level lower than the level previously obtained in the event of application of pecuniary sanctions pursuant to article 222 of the code;

e) the qualification levels are maintained.

Table A - Requirements referring to article 4, paragraph 2.

Table B - Requirements referring to article 6, paragraph 2

Table C - Qualification requirements, elementary indicators and weights