BS EN 17371-1:2021 pdf download.Provision of services Part 1: Service procurement – Guidance for the assessment of the capacity of service providers and evaluation of service proposals.
This document provides guidance for the assessment of the capacity of service providers and the evaluation of service proposals in order to improve and facilitate the process of procuring services.
This document is applicable to:
a) Service buyers and service providers regardless of type, size or the nature of the services;
b) Service providers who may be inside or outside the service buyers’ organization; and
c) Any interested parties who are directly or indirectly involved in or affected by a procurement process.
This document is not applicable to business-to-consumer (B2C) service contracts or for works contracts. NOTE I Works contracts” are contracts that have as their object the execution, or both the design and execution. of a work are not covered in this document. Contracts having as their object only the design of a work are covered.
NOTE 2 “Work” means the outcome of building or civil engineering works taken as a whole which is sufficient in itself to fulfil an economic or technical function.
2 Normative references
There are no normative references in this document.
3 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions apply.
ISO and IEC maintain terminological databases for use in standardization at the following addresses:
— IEC Elect ropedia: available at http://www.electropedia.orgJ
— ISO Online browsing platform: available at https://www.isoorg/obp
3.1 interested party person or organization that can affect, be affected by, or perceive themselves to he affected by service procurement
3.2 procurement activity of acquiring services from providers which could he public procurement or any other form of procurement
3.3 public procurement any procurement regulated by public procurement rules (international, EU, national, regional)
4 Service procurement process
4.1 General
This clause describes the elements of the service procurement process prior to signing a contract.
Organizations may schedule these elements in any order. Some elements may not be applicable in particular cases.
The service procurement process includes consideration of human resources, material, equipment and infrastructure resources as relevant to the service to be provided.
These considerations should be embedded in a wider strategic approach (sometimes called sourcing) that considers the whole cycle from initial planning and identification of needs until the end of service contract (See Annex A).
The buyer shall determine whether public procurement legislation applies. If this is the case, the normative clauses marked public procurement shall be applicable.
4.2 Drafting of the technical specification
In order to develop a good invitation to tender it is necessary to provide to potential bidders a clear statement of what the buyer wishes to procure.
The buyer should determine the service and the service provider requirements including statutory and regulatory requirements and requirements of the end user, for example:
— cost/price;
— on-time delivery;
— reporting;
— quality criteria;
— service provider sustainability (e.g. environmental, social aspects);
— accessibility;
It may specify required minimum performance levels for each requirement.
A pre-requisite is that the buyer understands what services are currently being delivered and at what cost. The buyer then needs to have a clear understanding of which services it wishes to procure and how they are to be delivered. Only then may a clear statement be provided to bidders which will, in due course, form a major part of the evaluation of tenders prior to the award of a contract.
The specification of service requirement is a vital component in a good procurement of services and will form the basis of the services to be procured and their delivery.
The service buyer should also determine the relative importance of the requirements in order to prioritize them. This makes the further steps of the process of service procurement more effective and improves the service delivered.
Any conflicting requirements should be identified and resolved at the beginning of the process. A comprehensive list of prioritized requirements on the service and service provider should be the result. The buyer should consider any risks such as the use of outdated information (e.g. standards) and opportunities (e.g. evaluation from former tenders).
In determining requirements related to end users, organizations should consider the extent to which the service can be accessed, understood and used by the widest range of users, including persons with disabilities.
In the European Union and its CEN member countries, there are statutory and/or regulatory requirements related to accessibility that shall be reflected in requirements and specifications, where relevant.
4.3 Methodology for gathering information
Methods of gathering information for the determination of the service provider requirements include:
— consulting internal interested parties, e.g. managers of the relevant functions;
— consulting external interested parties, e.g. end users, qualification and certification bodies, regulation bodies, trade associations and trade unions;
— market research and analysis;
— reviewing available documented internal information, e.g. lessons learned and known experience from previous projects, market research and analysis.BS EN 17371-1 pdf download.