Revision of the Swiss public procurement law
After the federal parliament passed the new Federal Act on Public Procurement (Bundesgesetz über das öffentlichen Beschaffungswesen - BöB) before the summer holidays, the cantons have now followed suit with the revision of the Intercantonal Agreement on Public Procurement (Interkantonale Vereinbarung über das öffentliche Beschaffungswesen - IVöB). On 15 November 2019, the cantons adopted the revised IVöB.
The revised legal bases will harmonise procurement law in Switzerland and streamline many rules. However, different thresholds will continue to apply in the future for awarding contracts by federal contracting authorities and by cantonal and municipal contracting authorities.
Important amendments include i.a. the following
- The possibility of conducting a dialogue in tenders for complex, intellectual or innovative services. This makes it possible to develop the subject matter of the tender in an iterative procedure together with the bidders;
- The delegation of public services and the award of concessions will be subject to public procurement law;
- The appeal period for cantonal and municipal awards will be extended to 20 days;
- Negotiations at the federal level will only be possible to a limited extent; pure price negotiations will no longer be permitted.
In contrast to the Federal Parliament in the BöB, the cantons have refrained from including in the IVöB the consideration of different price levels in the countries in which the service is provided as an award criterion. Such criterion will not only be difficult to implement in practice. It is also hardly compatible with superordinate international treaties.
The new BöB will presumably enter into force on 1 January 2021. At the cantonal level, the cantons must first incorporate IVöB into their cantonal law.
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