A.  Introduction

General: The UN invites sealed bids for the cleaning and landscaping at the UN House premises situated at UN road, Maseru.

Eligible Bidders: The invitation applies to all local and international companies with local representation/agents who have the requisite experience in cleaning services.

Cost of Bid: The Bidder shall bear all costs associated with the preparation and submission of the Bid, and the contracting UN entity will in no case be responsible or liable for those costs, regardless of the conduct or outcome of the solicitation.

Compulsory inspection of the cleaning areas will be on: 30 June 2011 and 04 July 2011, from 11:00 -12:00

B   Preparation of Bids:

Language of the Bid: The Bid prepared by the Bidder and all correspondence and documents relating to the Bid exchanged by the Bidder and the procuring entity shall be written in English.

C.  Documents Comprising the Bid:

1. The Bid must comprise the following documents:

(a)  Bid/proposal

(b)  Price Schedule

(c)  Company profile 

(d)  Proof of registration

(e)  Copy of Tax clearance certificate

(f)  Names of companies the bidder provided service for as reference

Documents Establishing Bidder’s Eligibility and Qualifications: 

The Bidder shall furnish evidence of its status as qualified Service provider.  The documentary evidence of the Bidder’s qualifications to perform the contract if its Bid is accepted shall be established to the contracting entity satisfaction:

(a)  That, the bidder has the financial and technical capacity to perform.

Documents Establishing Goods’ Conformity to Bidding Documents:

The Bidder shall also furnish as part of its Bid, documents establishing the conformity to the Bidding Documents of all goods and related services which the Bidder proposes to provide under the contract.

The documentary evidence of conformity to the Bidding Documents shall consist of:

(a) A detailed description of the essential technical and performance characteristic of cleaning.

(b) A list giving full particulars, including available sources and current prices of spare parts necessary for the proper and continuing cleaning service for the period to be specified in the contract.

Bid Currencies/Bid Prices: All prices shall be quoted in Maloti/Rands. The Bidder shall indicate on the appropriate Price Schedule the unit prices (where applicable) and total Bid Price of the service it proposes to provide under the contract.

Period of Validity of Bids: Bids shall remain valid for 120 days after the date of Bid Submission prescribed by the contracting UN entity. A bid valid for a shorter period may be rejected as non-responsive.

D.  Submission of Bids

Format and Signing of Bid: The Bidder shall prepare a copy of the Bid, clearly marking cleaning service bid for the UN House. The copies of the Bid shall be typed or written in indelible ink and shall be signed by the Bidder or a person or persons duly authorized to bind the Bidder to the contract. A Bid shall contain no interlineations, erasures, or overwriting except, as necessary to correct errors made by the Bidder, in which case the person or persons signing the bid shall initial such corrections.

Sealing and Marking of Bids:

15.1 The Bidder shall seal the Bid, in an envelope. The envelope shall then be sealed in an outer envelope.

15.2 The inner and outer envelope shall be addressed to UN address given in the solicitation documents and make reference to cleaning services.

15.4 If the outer envelope is not sealed and marked as required by “D” of the Instructions to Bidders, the contracting entity will assume no responsibility for the Bid’s misplacement or premature opening.

Deadline for Submission of Bids/Late Bids:

16.1 Bids must be delivered to the office on or before 08 July 2011 at 10:00am.

16.2 The contracting UN entity may, at its discretion, extend this deadline for the submission of the bids by amending the Bidding Documents in which case all the rights and obligations of the bidders previously subjected to the deadline will thereafter be subject to the deadline as extended.

16 3 Any Bid received by the Purchaser after the Deadline for Submission of Bids will be rejected and returned unopened to the Bidder.

Modification and Withdrawal of Bids: The Bidder may withdraw its Bid after submission, provided that written notice of the withdrawal is received by the contracting UN entity prior to the deadline for submission. No Bid may be modified after passing of the Deadline for Submission of Bids. No Bid may be withdrawn in the interval between the Deadline for Submission of Bids and the expiration of the Period of Bid Validity.

E.  Opening and Evaluation of Bids

Opening of Bids:

18.1 All bids will be opened in the presence of Bidders’ Representatives who choose to attend at the UN Conference Hall at 10:00hrs on 08 July 2011. The Bidders’ Representatives who are present shall sign a register evidencing their attendance.

18.2 The bidders' names, Bid Modifications or withdrawals, bid prices, and the presence or absence of requisite documents comprising bids will be announced at the opening.

18.3  Bids (and modifications sent pursuant to clause 18.2 of Instructions to Bidders) that are not opened and read out at Bid Opening shall not be considered further for evaluation, irrespective of the circumstances.  Withdrawn Bids will be returned unopened to Bidders.

Clarification of Bids: To assist in the examination, evaluation and comparison of Bids the contracting UN entity may at its discretion ask the Bidder for clarification of its Bid. The request for clarification and the response shall be in writing and no change in price or substance of the Bid shall be sought, offered or permitted.

Preliminary Examination:

20.1 Prior to the detailed evaluation, the Purchaser will determine the substantial responsiveness of each Bid to the Invitation to Bid (ITB). A substantially responsive Bid is one which conforms to all the terms and conditions of the ITB without material deviations.

20.2 The Purchaser will examine the bids to determine whether they are complete, whether any computational errors have been made, whether the documents have been properly signed, and whether the bids are generally in order.

20.3 Arithmetical errors will be rectified on the following basis: If there is a discrepancy between the unit price and the total price that is obtained by multiplying the unit price and quantity, the unit price shall prevail and the total price shall be corrected. If the Bidder does not accept the correction of errors, its Bid will be rejected. If there is a discrepancy between words and figures the amount in words will prevail. 

20.4 A Bid determined as not substantially responsive will be rejected by the Purchaser and may not subsequently be made responsive by the Bidder by correction of the non-conformity.

Evaluation of Bids: Determination of compliance with the Solicitation Documents is based on the content of the Bid itself.

F.  Award of Contract

23. Award Criteria: The procuring UN entity will Issue the contract to the lowest priced technically qualified Bidder. The Purchaser reserves the right to accept or reject any Bid, to annul the solicitation process and reject all Bids at any time prior to award of purchase order, without thereby incurring any liability to the affected Bidder(s) or any obligation to provide information on the grounds for the purchaser’s action.

24. Purchaser’s Right to Vary Requirements at Time of Award: The Purchaser reserves the right at the time of making the award of contract to increase or decrease by up to 15 % the quantity of goods specified in the Schedule of Requirements without any change in unit price or other terms and conditions.

25. Notification of Award: Prior to the expiration of the period of Bid Validity, the Purchaser will send the successful Bidder the Purchase Order. The Purchase Order may only be accepted by the Supplier’s signing and returning an acknowledgement copy of it or by timely delivery of the goods in accordance with the terms of this purchase order, as herein specified. Acceptance of this Purchase Order shall effect a contract between the parties under which the rights and obligations of the parties shall be governed solely by the terms and conditions of this purchase order.

26. Signing of the Purchase Order: Within 5 days of receipt of the Purchase Order the successful Bidder shall sign, date and return it to the purchaser.