Section V. Special Conditions of Contract (SCC)

Section V. Special Conditions of Contract (SCC)

Notes on preparing the Special Conditions of Contract (SCC)

As for the BDS, illustrative sample text and explanatory notes are provided for each Special Condition to assist the Purchaser in preparing more appropriate and focused SCC. Much of the sample text may be adopted directly. The Purchaser may have to modify or expand the suggested text, however, to accommodate the specific circumstances of the Purchaser, the Purchaser’s Country and/or the System the Purchaser wishes to procure. In particular, the Purchaser must ensure that the SCC clearly and completely specify:

(a) all the Contract-specific information that the GCC explicitly state will be specified in the SCC (e.g., governing law and language, names of the Purchaser and the Supplier, currency(ies) of payment);

(b) any modifications to the GCC that are required so that the Contract fits the specific circumstances of the System (e.g., details of the operational acceptance tests that will be carried out or the specific nature of any maintenance service obligations that the Supplier will have to carry out);

(c) any GCC clause, sub-clause that is non-applicable and should be deleted; and

(d) any additional Contract conditions called for by the specific nature of the procurement and the risks associated with it, which are not adequately covered by the standard GCC.

Since the SCC complete, complement, and extend the GCC, the structure of the SCC presented here is designed to mirror that of the GCC themselves. For ease of use, most, if not all SCC clauses should be explicitly linked to specific standard GCC clauses and sub-clauses and be presented in the same sequence. The Purchaser should take great care to maintain and verify the accuracy of all cross references used linking the two sections. Also, in preparing the SCC, the Purchaser should avoid at all costs introducing duplications and/or contradictions between the SCC and the GCC. When such contradictions occur, the SCC prevail over the GCC, but in the process they create ambiguity and confusion that can undermine the Purchaser’s ability to exercise its rights under the Contract. In addition to maintaining the harmony between the SCC and the GCC, the Purchaser should also ensure that the Technical Requirements (and the Implementation Schedule that is part of the Technical Requirements) and the SCC remain internally consistent.

These SBD are written so that a single Contract can cover, if needed, all the supply and service responsibilities potentially required throughout the life-cycle of a typical Information System, including:

(a) The period covering the supply, Delivery, Pre-commissioning, Installation, Commissioning, and Operational Acceptance of the System;

(b) The Warranty Period, following Operational Acceptance, during which the System is in use and the Supplier remains liable for the repair of any defects that are discovered in the System, and to provide any other Services specified in these SCC; and

(c) The Post-Warranty Services Period, during which the Supplier is obligated to provide those Goods and Services that were: (i) identified in the Recurrent Cost Sub-Table and (ii) specified in Clause 7.3 of the SCC as obligations of the Supplier. These obligations may include, for example: providing software licenses annually, emergency repair and other technical support, hardware and software maintenance, etc.

To the extent that the items in the Post-Warranty Services Period can be classified as normal recurrent operational costs of the Purchaser (as compared with one-time costs associated with the Contract), the ability of the World Bank to finance them may be affected, since normally such costs are the responsibility of the Borrower. Provided, however, the World Bank has established so-called Country Financing Parameters with the country of the Purchaser, an enlarged scope might exist for financing recurrent costs by the World Bank in accordance with the Financing Guidelines of April 2004. In order to reduce the administrative complexity of contracts, recurrent and other cost items not financed by the World Bank but taken into consideration in the Evaluated Bid Price should be acquired under separate, free-standing contract(s) between the Purchaser and the Supplier (or other suppliers). These contracts are either self-financed or financed by other lenders. However such costs are financed, it is in the Purchaser’s interest to carefully identify the key recurrent cost items that are likely to be required in the Bidding Documents and invite Bidders to quote for them in competition, because more economic prices are likely to result.

In addition to specifying these items in the Recurrent Cost Sub-Table of the Bidding Document and incorporating them into the bid evaluation process specified in the ITB and BDS, the Purchaser must also specify the technical and other features of these recurrent obligations in the Technical Requirements and/or the SCC. For example, the coverage period, the required response times, and how the maintenance services are carried out all need to be defined.

Table of Clauses

The following Special Conditions of Contract (SCC) shall supplement or amend the General Conditions of Contract (GCC). Whenever there is a conflict, the provisions of the SCC shall prevail over those in the General Conditions of Contract. For the purposes of clarity, any referenced GCC clause numbers are indicated in the left column of the SCC.

A. Contract and Interpretation

7. Scope of the System (GCC Clause 7)

11. Contract Price (GCC Clause 11)