Article 70. Selection procedures and related conditions.

1. For the award of public contracts, contracting authorities use the open procedure, the restricted procedure, the competitive procedure with negotiation, the competitive dialogue and the partnership for innovation. 2. Only in the cases provided for by article 76 the contracting authorities may use the negotiated procedure without publication of a tender notice. 3. Contracting authorities use the competitive procedure with negotiation or competitive dialogue: a) for the awarding of contracts for works, supplies or services in the presence of one or more of the following conditions: 1) when the needs of the contracting authority pursued with the contract cannot be satisfied with other procedures; 2) when the needs of the contracting authority imply innovative solutions or projects; 3) when the the contract cannot be awarded without prior negotiations due to particular circumstances in relation to the nature, complexity or financial and legal setting of the subject of the contract or due to the risks connected to it; 4) when the technical specifications cannot be established with sufficient precision by the contracting authority with reference to a standard, a European technical assessment, a common technical specification or a technical reference in accordance with numbers 2) to 5) of Part I of Annex II.5. Upon first application of the code, Annex II.5 is repealed from the date of entry into force of a corresponding regulation adopted pursuant to Article 17, paragraph 3, of Law no. of 23 August 1988. 400, with decree of the Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, which replaces it entirely also as an annex to the code; b) for the awarding of contracts for works, supplies or services for which, following an open procedure or restricted, only inadmissible bids pursuant to paragraph 4 were submitted. In this case the contracting authority is not required to publish a tender notice if it admits to the further procedure all, and only, the bidders in possession of the requirements set out in the articles from 94 to 105 who, in the previous open or restricted procedure, submitted offers compliant with the formal requirements of the procurement procedure. 4. Offers are inadmissible: a) not compliant with the tender documents; b) received after the deadlines indicated in the notice or invitation with which the tender is announced; c) in relation to which there is evidence of corruption or collusion; d) considered abnormally low; e) presented by bidders who do not possess the necessary qualification; f) whose price exceeds the amount used as the basis for the tender, established and documented before the start of the procurement procedure. 5. Contracting authorities may use the innovation partnership when the need to develop innovative products, services or works and to subsequently purchase the resulting supplies, services or works cannot be satisfied by using solutions already available on the market, provided that the supplies, services or the resulting works correspond to the performance levels and maximum costs agreed between the contracting authorities and the participants. 6. In restricted procedures, in competitive procedures with negotiation, in competitive dialogue and innovation partnership procedures, the contracting authorities, applying the objective and non-discriminatory criteria or rules indicated in the tender notice or in the invitation to confirm interest, may limit the number of candidates, who satisfy the selection criteria, to be invited to submit a tender, to negotiate or participate in the dialogue, in compliance with the principle of competition and the minimum number of candidates to be invited indicated in the tender notice or in the invitation to confirm interest. In any case, the minimum number of candidates cannot be less than five in restricted procedures and three in other procedures. The contracting authority cannot admit to the same procedure other economic operators who have not asked to participate or candidates who do not have the required capabilities. 7. In the competitive procedure with negotiation, in the competitive dialogue and in the partnership for innovation, during the negotiations and during dialogue, the contracting authorities guarantee equal treatment of all participants; do not provide information in a discriminatory manner that may give some participants an advantage over others; in accordance with Article 35, do not reveal the proposed solutions or other confidential information communicated by a candidate or tenderer participating in the negotiations or dialogue, unless expressly consented to by the latter and in relation only to the specific information expressly indicated. In relation to the partnership for innovation, contracting authorities shall define in the tender documents the regime applicable to intellectual property rights and, in the case of a partnership with multiple economic operators, shall not reveal to the other economic operators, in accordance with Article 35, the solutions proposals or other confidential information communicated by an economic operator, in the framework of the partnership, unless expressly consented to by the latter and in relation only to the specific information expressly indicated. EFFECTIVE FROM: 1 July 2023