Kuwait CTC reorganizing procedures and rules for general contractors

KUWAIT CITY - The Central Tenders Committee (CTC) issued the necessary conditions to reorganize the rules, procedures and criteria for classifying general contractors, as part of a circular issued by the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the agency Abdullah Saud Al-Abdulrazzaq, and will be implemented from the date of its publication in the official gazette (Kuwait Today) next week, reports Al-Anba daily.

Circular No.1 of 2020 stated that the contractors are divided into four segments, according to the main specializations, citing infrastructure works, building works, mechanical works, and finally electrical. General contracting contractors are divided into four categories through the classification committee of general contractors.

It classifies applicants into four categories, each according to its financial and technical position, and previous work. The first category includes contractors who are able to carry out major projects or those at the global professional level whose initial estimates exceed 10 million dinars. The second category includes contractors with technical and financial capacity. They may participate in tenders whose estimates are no less than 5 million dinars or exceeding more than 100 million dinars.

Also, the third category includes contractors who are allowed to participate in tenders estimated at one million dinars and not exceeding 10 million dinars.

The fourth category includes contractors who are allowed to participate in tenders worth a minimum of two million dinars. It’s not permissible for the general contractors to participate in tenders if the value of works exceeds the maximum limit determined for them.

The circular specified the necessary procedures, conditions and technical standards, and that the individual company must have been established or practicing the activity for 3 years.

The company’s budget for those three years should be submitted for auditing by an audit office and approved by competent government agencies for the technical staff of the company or individuals specialized in the required classification work.

It stated the company or individual must have participated in or implemented governmental projects inside Kuwait in his field of specialization through the agency or other government agencies, provided that he brings a copy of the building permits.

The agency will submit these works and consider their sufficiency as to whether to grant the applicant the classification category or not. Among the conditions, the capital of the company or assets owned by the individual should not be less than 10 million dinars for the first category, the second category 5 million dinars, the third category one million dinars and the fourth category 100,000 dinars. In the event of submitting subcontracts, a letter issued by the authority concerned with the main contract must include an approval to assign this work to the applicant as a subcontractor.

On the technical criteria for classification, the Central Agency for Public Tenders circular specified a number of criteria that must be met at the minimum, which include: the technical staff, support apparatus, previous experience, quality management systems, occupational health and safety, project management, and finally, the financial situation. Regarding the required documents, the Tenders Authority stipulated that companies or individuals applying for the classification the first time or raising the classification category must submit the following documents; registration certificate issued by the agency, a copy of the commercial license, certificate from the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, a copy of the commercial registration of the company or individual, copy of the company incorporation contract, and any amendment made therein.

Articles of the association of jointstock companies, image of the organizational structure, a list of equipment and mechanisms owned by the contractor, a copy of the contract for the implemented projects, and certificate for the level of performance of government projects, indicating their full implementation.

The aforementioned documents and papers must be attached in Arabic language. As for foreign companies, all documents and papers must be notarized and approved by the Kuwaiti embassy in the country where the company’s head office is located, and certified according to the procedures followed in this regard. With regard to deciding on classification requests, the Central Agency for Public Tenders specified that classification requests are submitted during the first week of every month, provided that the applicant determines the category in which he is requesting to be classified. The classification committee takes over the application submitted to assess the applicant’s financial and technical position, then the committee issues the classification decision within a month from the date of submitting the application, indicating every application for which no decision was issued during this period is considered rejected.

Any person concerned may file a grievance against the decision issued by the Classification Committee within two weeks from the date of notification and the Classification Committee will issue its decision on the grievance with reasons within two weeks.

The complainant, in the event of rejection, may file a grievance before the Council within a week from the date of its notification.The validity period of the classification certificate is three years The Central Agency for Public Tenders stated the classification of contractors is reconsidered periodically, noting that general contractors who were previously classified according to the provisions of canceled Law No. 37 of 1964 apply for re-evaluation in preparation for their classification, according to the category compatible with their financial and technical position, their previous works, and contracts completed during the 10 years prior to the issuance of this circular. The classified general contractors must notify the Agency of any legal, financial or other changes related to the procedures, conditions and technical standards mentioned in the law concerning its executive regulations and provisions of the circular.