Article 172. Single reports on procurement procedures.

1. Contracting authorities or granting bodies shall retain appropriate information relating to each contract or framework agreement governed by the code and whenever a dynamic purchasing system is established. This information is sufficient to allow them, at a subsequent stage, to justify decisions regarding: a) the qualification and selection of economic operators and the award of contracts; b) the use of negotiated procedures not preceded by a tender pursuant to Article 76; c) failure to apply the provisions on techniques and tools for procurement and digital and aggregate tools and the provisions on carrying out the procedures for choosing the contractor of this code, by virtue of the exceptions provided therein; d) if applicable, the reasons why means of communication other than digital means were used for the digital transmission. 2. If the contract award notice drawn up in accordance with Article 111 or Article 127, paragraph 3, contains the information required by paragraph 1, the contracting authorities or granting bodies may refer to this notice. 3. The contracting authorities or granting bodies document the performance of all award procedures, independently whether they are conducted with digital means or not. To this end, they shall ensure the preservation of sufficient documentation to justify decisions taken at all stages of the procurement procedure, in particular documentation relating to communications with economic operators and internal deliberations, the preparation of tender documents, the dialogue or negotiation if applicable, selection and awarding of the contract. The documentation is kept for at least five years starting from the date of award of the contract, or, in the event of a pending dispute, until the relevant ruling becomes final. 4. The information or documentation or the main elements are communicated to the Control Room referred to in Article 221, for any subsequent communication to the European Commission or to the competent authorities, bodies or structures. EFFECTIVE FROM: 1 July 2023