chapter 71:91

Central Tenders Board Act

An Act to provide for the establishment of a Central Tenders Board for the Government of Trinidad and Tobago and certain Statutory Bodies and for matters incidental thereto.

[ 1st January 1965]

        1.  This Act may be cited as the Central Tenders Board Act.

PRELIMINARY

        2.  In this Act—

“articles” means all goods, materials, stores, vehicles, machinery, equipment and things of all kinds;

“Board” means the Central Tenders Board established under section 4 of this Act;

“Committee” means a Committee of the Board established under section 16 of this Act;

“company” includes a firm, a partnership or a statutory corporation;

“ex officio members” means the Chairman, Deputy Chairman and such other public officers as may be appointed to the Board;

“Government” means the Government of Trinidad and Tobago;

“Minister” means the Minister to whom responsibility for the Central Tenders Board is assigned;

“public officer” means the holder of any public office and includes any person appointed to act in any such office;

“project” includes any works or undertakings;

“public service” has the meaning assigned to it by section 3 of the Constitution;

“relative” means the father, mother, brother, sister, son or daughter of a person and includes the spouse of a son or a daughter of such person;

“statutory body” means any municipality, municipal council, board, commission or similar body corporate established and incorporated by an Act;

“works” means buildings and engineering works of all kinds.

        3.  (1)  This Act applies to such of the statutory bodies as are set out in the First Schedule to this Act notwith­standing any general or special power or authority vested in such statutory body either by Act or by virtue of its incorporation.

             (2)  The President may, by Order published in the Gazette, amend the First Schedule to this Act by adding thereto or deleting therefrom a statutory body.

PART I

Establishment, Functions and Procedure

of the Board

        4.  (1)  There is hereby established a Central Tenders Board which save as is provided in section 20A and in section 35 of this Act shall have the sole and exclusive authority in accordance with this Act—

                    (a)  to act for, in the name and on behalf of the Govern­ment and the statutory bodies to which this Act applies, in inviting, considering and accepting or rejecting offers for the supply of articles or for the undertaking of works or any services in connection therewith, necessary for carrying out the functions of the Government or any of the statutory bodies;

                    (b)  to dispose of surplus or unserviceable articles belonging to the Government or any of the statutory bodies.

             (2)  The Board shall have such other functions and duties as the President may by order prescribe from time to time.

        5.  (1)  The Board shall be composed of eight members consisting of—

                    (a)  at least five public officers appointed by the President, and

                    (b)  such other members at large to be appointed by the President as may be necessary to fill up the membership of the Board.

             (2)  The President shall appoint two of the ex officio members of the Board, other than the Treasury Solicitor, to hold the offices of Director of Contracts and Deputy Director of Contracts respectively.

             (3)  The Director of Contracts shall be the Chairman and the Deputy Director of Contracts shall be the Deputy Chairman of the Board.

        6.  The President may appoint such officers and other staff as may be deemed necessary for the proper carrying out of the provisions of this Act.

        7.  (1)  Subject to subsection (2), members of the Board other than the ex officio members shall hold office during the President’s pleasure.

             (2)  A member of the Board, other than an ex officio member, vacates his office—

                    (a)  automatically after he has held it for two years;

                    (b)  by written notice of resignation addressed by him to the President;

                     (c)  if he departs from Trinidad and Tobago for a period of thirty days without the leave of the President or remains out of the Territory after the expiration of his leave without the special permission of the President;

                    (d)  if he fails without reasonable excuse (the sufficiency whereof shall be determined by the President) to attend three consecutive regular meetings of the Board.

             (3)  A member of the Board who has vacated his office shall be eligible for reappointment.

        8.  The President may direct that such remuneration as he may determine shall be paid—

                    (a)  to members of the Board other than the ex officio members thereof;

                    (b)  to members of any Committee other than ex officio members and employees thereof or employees or members of boards of management of statutory bodies in respect of which such Committees are established.

        9.  Where, by reason of death, illness, absence, resignation or otherwise of a member other than an ex officio member, a vacancy occurs in the membership of the Board, the President shall appoint some other person to be a member of the Board for the unexpired term of the member whose office so becomes vacant; but so long as a quorum is present at any meeting, the Board shall be deemed to be duly constituted notwith­standing any vacancy in the membership of the Board.

      10.  (1)  The President may grant leave of absence to any member of the Board other than the ex officio members.

             (2)  Except in the case of ex officio members the President may appoint a person in the place of any member of the Board who is temporarily absent from the Territory or unable to perform his duties by reason of illness or other cause.

      11.  (1)  Meetings of the Board shall be presided over by the Chairman.

             (2)  The Deputy Chairman shall, in the absence or inability of the Chairman, perform all the functions and duties of the Chairman, and shall perform such other functions and duties as may be required of him by the Board.

      12.  (1)  The Board shall meet as often as may be necessary or expedient for transacting its business but at least once in every month.

             (2)  Except in such cases as may be determined by the Chairman, notices of meetings together with agendas shall be circulated to members at least forty-eight hours before the time fixed for such meetings.

             (3)  A member of the Board, who is a member of a company or other body, or is a partner or is in the employment of a person or a company or other body, or is married to or who is or whose husband or wife is a relative of, a person who has submitted an offer for the supply of articles or for the undertaking of works or any services in connection therewith which is the subject of consideration by the Board, shall dis­close the fact and shall not take part in the consideration or discussion of, or vote on any question relating to such offer.

           (3a)  If any person fails to comply with the provisions of subsection (3), he is guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine of five hundred dollars, unless he proves that he did not know that an offer for the supply of articles or for the undertaking of works or any services in connection therewith was the subject of consideration at the meeting.

             (4)  Minutes of each meeting in proper form shall be kept by the Board and shall be confirmed by the Board and certified by the Chairman at the next succeeding meeting.

             (5)  Copies of such minutes certified by the Chairman shall be forwarded to the Minister.

             (6)  The Board shall furnish the Minister with all informa­tion or documents which the Minister may from time to time require.

      13.  At any meeting of the Board or for the purpose of voting on papers circulated four members shall constitute a quorum.

      14.  (1)  Decisions of the Board shall be taken at meetings or, in cases where the Chairman shall so direct, by the circula­tion of papers among the members.

             (2)  Where papers are circulated among the members, the Chairman may direct that the papers shall not be circulated to any member, who through illness, interest, absence from the Territory or otherwise, is in the opinion of the Chairman, incapacitated from voting.

             (3)  The decisions of the Board shall be by a majority of votes and for that purpose the Chairman shall have both an original and a casting vote.

      15.  Any document purporting to record a decision of the Board and signed by the Chairman and any Notification in the Gazette purporting to record a decision of the Board, are admissible in evidence as prima facie proof of the decision recorded.

      16.  (1)  There shall be established for every statutory body to which this Act applies a Committee of the Board consisting of an ex officio member as Chairman and four other persons appointed by the Minister, two of such persons being nominated by the statutory body in respect of which the Committee is established.

             (2)  Any Committee so established shall consider offers for the supply of articles or the undertaking of works or services of all kinds that are made to the statutory body in respect of which the Committee is established and shall make recommendations to the Board for its acceptance or rejection of such offers.

             (3)  Subject to section 19, the Board may accept or reject any such recommendations made by a Committee or make its own decision and shall notify its decision to the statutory body in respect of which the Committee is established.

      17.  (1)  Each committee shall meet as often as is necessary or expedient for the transacting of its business.

             (2)  Section 12 (2) and (3) shall apply mutatis mutandis to meetings of Committees.

             (3)  Minutes of each meeting in proper form shall be kept by its Chairman and shall be confirmed by the Committee at the next succeeding meeting.

             (4)  Copies of such minutes certified by the Chairman shall be forwarded to the Board who shall forward copies thereof to the Minister.

      18.  (1)  At any meeting of a Committee or for the purpose of voting on papers circulated three members shall constitute a quorum.

             (2)  The provisions of section 14 relating to decisions of the Board apply to Committees thereof.

      19.  (1)  A Committee may act for the Board where the value of the articles to be supplied or the works and services to be undertaken does not exceed five hundred thousand dollars; but no Committee shall, for the purpose of purporting to give itself authority to act under this provision, sub-divide the quantity of articles to be supplied works and services to be undertaken into two or more portions so that the value of the portions is five hundred thousand dollars or less.

             (2)  Where the decision of a Committee on which an authority has been conferred under this section is unanimous, the Committee may exercise all the powers of the Board in respect of the matter being dealt with, but if the decision of the Committee is not unanimous the matter shall be referred, with the recommendation of the Committee, to the Board for decision.

      20.  (1)  Subject to section 19, whenever articles or works or any services in connection therewith are required to be supplied to or undertaken on behalf of the Government or a statutory body to which this Act applies, the Government or such statutory body shall make written request to the Board to invite on its behalf offers for the supply of those articles or for the undertaking of the works or services in connection therewith.

             (2)  The request referred to in subsection (1) shall contain a sufficient description of the articles, works or services to be supplied or undertaken.

             (3)  On the receipt of any such request, the Board shall either—

                    (a)  invite members of the public in general to make offers for the supply of such articles or for the undertaking of such works or services, as the case may be, by Notice published in the Gazette and in local or overseas newspapers, or

                    (b)  subject to the approval of the Minister, invite such bodies or persons as may be selected by the Board to make offers for the supply of such articles or for the undertaking of such works or services, as the case may be, whenever the Board considers it expedient or desirable so to do.

             (4)  The Notice shall contain:

                    (a)  a sufficient description of the articles required or of the works or services to be undertaken and shall whenever necessary also contain the place where and the time when additional information relating thereto can be obtained;

                    (b)  the form or manner in which an offer is to be made;

                     (c)  the date and time within which an offer is to be made;

                    (d)  the place where and the manner in which the offer is to be submitted; and

                     (e)  the date and time for the opening of the offers.

   20a.  (1)  Notwithstanding the provisions of section 20(1), the Government may act on its own behalf where—

                    (a)  as a result of an agreement for technical or other co-operation between it and the Government of a foreign State, the latter designates a company to supply the articles or to undertake the works or any services in connection therewith;

                    (b)  the articles or works or any services in connection therewith are to be supplied or undertaken by a company which is wholly owned or controlled by a foreign State;

                     (c)  it enters into a contract with the National Insurance Property Development Company Limited or a company which is wholly owned by the State, for the supply of articles or for the undertaking of works or services in connection therewith;

                    (d)  it enters into a contract with a company for the purchase of books for official purposes;

                     (e)  as a result of the occurrence or anticipation of flooding, hurricane, landslide, earthquake or other natural disasters, the Minister is of the opinion that an emergency situation has arisen in any part of Trinidad and Tobago, the abatement, prevention or alleviation of which necessitates the obtaining of articles or the undertaking of immediate works or services by the Government; or

                     (f)  items and services listed in the Third Schedule are approved by the Minister as being required for the purposes of the Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force or for the protective services.

             (2) The President may by Order published in the Gazette exclude from the provisions of the Act any company which, having successfully undertaken one phase of the project, has expressed a desire, and is able financially and otherwise to complete the project or any other phase thereof.

           (2a)  For the purposes of subsection (1) (f)—

                    (a)  “Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force” means the body of military forces established by section 5 of the Defence Act; and

                    (b)  “protective services” means the services listed in the Fourth Schedule.

           (2b)  The President may by Order—

                    (a)  make Rules governing the award of contracts for items and services referred to in the Third Schedule; and

                    (b)  amend the Third and Fourth Schedules.

           (2c)  Regulations made by the National Insurance Property Development Company Limited with respect to the inviting, considering and accepting or rejecting of offers for the supply of articles or for the undertaking of works or services in connection therewith, in relation to contracts entered into with the Government, shall be laid in Parliament and be subject to negative resolution of Parliament.

             (3)  The provisions of the Act shall not apply where the Government exercises the power conferred on it by subsection (1).

             (4)  Where the Government acts in pursuance of subsection (1)(e), the Minister shall report the matter to Parliament within thirty days of the Government taking the decision so to act or at the first sitting thereafter, and shall cause a report of the expenditure incurred in completion of the work necessary for the abatement, prevention and alleviation of the emergency, to be laid in Parliament within thirty days of such completion.

      21.  (1)  The Board shall keep at its office and in such other places as in the opinion of the Chairman is necessary, specially constructed boxes in which all offers shall be placed.

             (2)  Each box shall bear the inscription “Tenders Box” and shall have two independent locks. The key for one lock shall be kept by the Chairman of the Board or of the Committee as the case may be and the key for the other lock shall be kept by such other member of the Board or Committee as the Board may direct.

      22.  (1)  On the date and at the time fixed for the opening of offers, the Chairman and one other member of the Board or committee shall unlock the box and open the offers found therein and every person who made an offer shall be entitled to be present either personally or through a duly authorised representative at the opening of the Tenders Box.

             (2)  The Chairman and such other member of the Board or committee shall initial the offers so found and shall cause a note to be taken of the number of offers found and opened, the names of the persons making the offers and such further information as the Board or Committee may direct.

      23.  (1)  The Board may require any person who is desirous of making an offer to deposit with the Treasury a sum in an amount to be fixed by the Board before any offer is made.

             (2)  The Board may forfeit any sum so deposited if—

                    (a)  any person making the deposit fails to make an offer;

                    (b)  any person whose offer is accepted fails or refuses to enter into a formal contract;

                     (c)  any person to whom a contract is awarded fails to execute and fulfil the terms thereof;

                    (d)  any person makes an offer after the date and time within which an offer is to be made in accordance with the notice published in pursuance of section 19(3); or

                     (e)  any person having made an offer withdraws the same.

             (3)  After a contract is awarded the Board shall arrange for the refund of any deposits to persons whose offers have not been accepted.

   23a.  The Board shall not accept any tender unless it is accompanied by a Tax Clearance Certificate and a Clearance Certificate issued under the Income Tax Act and the Value Added Tax Act, respectively and obtained from the Board of Inland Revenue.

      24.  (1)  After the offers have been opened the Board or a Com­mittee shall, at such time or times as may be deemed necessary or expedient, consider the offers so received and, except for good reason, the sufficiency whereof is in the discretion of the Board or the Committee, shall accept the lowest offer which represents the best value.

             (2)  The Board is not bound to accept the lowest or any offer.

      25.  (1)  Where an offer has been accepted—

                    (a)  the person who has submitted the offer shall be notified by the Board of its acceptance, and the Board shall, whenever it deems it necessary so to do, inform him that he is required to enter into a formal contract with the Government or statutory body, as the case may be, at whose request offers were invited; and

                    (b)  the Government or the statutory body on whose behalf offers were invited, shall be notified by the Board of the Board’s acceptance of the offer.

             (2)  The notification referred to in subsection (1) is to be in writing and signed by the Chairman or, in his absence, by the Deputy Chairman.

      26.  (1)  Where an offer has been accepted by the Board or a committee acting for and on behalf of the Board, the Government or the statutory body at whose request the invitation to offer was issued and the person whose offer has been accepted shall enter into a formal contract for the supply of the articles or the undertaking of the works or services, as the case may be.

             (2)  A formal contract shall be in such form, and contain such terms, conditions and provisions, as the Board may determine.

             (3)  The Board shall publish in the Gazette the name of the person or body to whom the contract is awarded, the amount of the tender and the date on which the award was made.

      27.  The Board may require every person to whom any contract is awarded to provide security in such form and to such extent as the Board may determine.

PART II

Appointment of Consultants

   27a.  In this Part—

“consultant” means a person who, in the opinion of the Board is qualified to be registered for a project and includes such person who is an architectural or engineering consultant, a quantity surveyor, a marketing consultant or a technical or managerial consultant;

“project” means any proposals for the supply of articles or for the undertaking of works or for the operation of any enterprise and any services in connection therewith, necessary for carrying out functions, including the operation of any enteprise of the Government or of any of the statutory bodies to which the Act applies;

“register” means the register kept by the Board under section 27C;

“registered consultant” means a consultant registered in the register.

   27b.  (1)  For the purpose of this Act the Board shall have, subject to subsection (2), the sole and exclusive authority to act for, in the name and on behalf of, the Government and the statutory bodies to which the Act applies in appointing consultants in connection with any project.

             (2)  Registered consultants may be appointed in accordance with this Part—

                    (a)  by a Permanent Secretary where the amount of fees payable to the consultant does not exceed two hundred thousand dollars; or

                    (b)  by a Tenders Committee where the amount of fees payable to the consultant does not exceed one million dollars.

             (3)  Nothing in sections 20 to 27 shall apply where the Board exercises the functions conferred on it by this Part.

   27c.  (1)  The Board shall keep a register of each category of consultants in accordance with the section.

             (2)  The Board shall publish annually in the Gazette and in at least one daily newspaper circulating in Trinidad and Tobago an invitation to practising consultants to register with the Board for the purpose of negotiating their appointment as consultants in connection with any project.

             (3)  A person may at any time apply to the Board to be registered as a consultant but nothing in this Part shall be construed as being mandatory for the Board to register any consultant and the Board shall not register a consultant where it is satisfied that it is not in the public interest so to do.

             (4)  An application for registration shall contain such particulars as the Board may from time to time require.

   27d.  (1)  After considering the particulars of the registered consultants, their existing workload, their other commitments and such other information that it considers necessary, the Board shall invite offers on any project from at least three of the consultants in the required category; the offers shall contain such details as the Board may specify.

             (2)  Where the number of registered consultants in the required category is less than three, the Board shall invite offers from all those consultants and where there is no such consultant the Board shall invite offer, publicly and privately, from any consultant.

             (3)  Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (1), the Board may, where it is satisfied that a project requires special expertise and experience not fully possessed by a registered consultant, invite offers, publicly and privately, on such project from any consultant.

             (4)  The Board shall consider the offers submitted pursuant to its invitation and may interview any of the consultants submitting such offers and may negotiate fees and other remuneration to be paid to them.

             (5)  Upon completion of its considerations, interviews and negotiations the Board shall appoint the consultant for the project in respect of which the invitation was issued.

   27e. (1)  Fees payable to consultants may be negotiated at a fixed price or in accordance with the scale of fees drawn up by a recognised association, if any, for the particular category of consultant or on such other basis as the Board may determine.

             (2)  In negotiating the fees payable to a consultant on any project the Board may require that the fees should be based on a consolidated fee structure which would take into account consultancy fees payable in respect of all consultancy services rendered in the project.

    27f.  The Board shall submit monthly to the Minister a written report on the appointment of consultants and shall cause the report to be published in the Gazette.

      28.  (1)  Whenever the Government or a statutory body to which this Act applies determines that any article which is the property of the Government or such statutory body and which was originally valued at more than one thousand dollars is unserviceable or is surplus to the requirements of the Govern­ment or such statutory body, the Government or the statutory body concerned shall report to the Board to this effect.

             (2)  The report shall contain a full description of the articles, the quantity thereof and the places where the articles are stored.

             (3)  The Government or the statutory body shall continue to be responsible for the surplus or unserviceable articles until it surrenders the custody or control thereof to the Board.

      29.  (1)  On the receipt by the Board of a report under section 28(1), the Board may in its discretion assume the custody and control of the surplus and unserviceable articles.

             (2)  The Board shall sell and dispose of the articles by public auction or may adopt such other method of disposal as the Board may consider proper and desirable.

             (3)  A member of the Board or such officer of the Board as may be nominated by the Chairman shall attend every such sale and report to the Board the result thereof.

             (4)  The Board shall make arrangements for the deposit of the proceeds of such sale less all expenses incurred as a result thereof with the Comptroller of Accounts for the account of the Government or the statutory body concerned, as the case may be.

      30.  (1)  In the exercise of the authority vested in it under this Act, the Board or a committee may—

                    (a)  consult with any officer or officers of the Government or of a statutory body to which this Act applies or such other person or persons as the Board in its discretion may consider proper and desirable;

                    (b)  request that the services of any officer of the Government or of a statutory body to which this Act applies be made available to the Board with respect to any of the functions and duties of the Board, and the Government (or the statutory body, as the case may be) shall comply with any such request;

                     (c)  require any person who has made an offer to the Board to attend a meeting of the Board and furnish the Board within a specified time with such information with respect to that person’s finance, equipment or professional or technical qualification as the Board may require; or any other information that in the opinion of the Board is necessary for the proper assessment of the offer and the offerer’s capacity to execute the same; and

                    (d)  make inspections and arrange for the Chairman, another member or an officer of the Board, to make an inspection wherever the Board considers it desirable so to do.

             (2)  The services referred to in subsection (1)(b) include the attendance at meetings, the giving of advice and the making of reports to the Board.

      31.  Any person requested by the Board or a Committee to furnish to the Board or a Committee any information by virtue of section 30(1)(c) who wilfully furnishes the Board or a Committee with information that is false, is guilty of an offence and is liable upon summary conviction to imprisonment for a period not exceeding one year or to a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars or to both such imprisonment and such fine.

      32.  (1)  Every person having an official duty or being employed in the administration of this Act shall regard and deal with all documents and information relating to the functions of the Board as confidential.

             (2)  Save as is provided in section 12(6) every person having possession of or control over any docu­ment or information relating to the functions of the Board, who at any time communicates or attempts to communicate any information contained in such documents, to any person other than a member of the Board, is guilty of an offence and is liable upon summary conviction to imprisonment for a period not exceeding one year or to a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars or to both such imprisonment and such fine; but this provision does not apply so as to make any such person guilty of an offence where he discloses any such information in the course of his official duties.

             (3)  Any person whether he has made an offer or not who, with the intention of gaining any advantage or concession for himself or any other person, offers any member of the Board or a Committee or any officer thereof a gift of money or other thing or approaches any member of the Board, Committee or any officer thereof with respect to any matter that is before the Board or a committee or that is expected to come before the Board or Committee is, in addition to being disqualified from being awarded a contract, guilty of an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine of five hundred dollars or to imprisonment for one year or to both such fine and such imprisonment.

      33.  In the exercise of its powers and the performance of its duties, the Board shall conform with any general or special directions given to it by the Minister.

      34.  No member of the Board or of any Committee is person­ally liable for any act or omission of the Board or Committee done or omitted in good faith in the course of the operations of the Board or Committee; and any sums of money, damages or costs that are recovered against the Board or any Committee for anything done or omitted as aforesaid shall be paid out of the funds of the Territory.

      35.  (1)  The President may make such Regulations as may appear to him to be necessary or expedient for the proper carrying out of the intent and provisions of this Act and, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, may make Regulations—

                    (a)  prescribing the procedure to be adopted by the Board in the exercise of the authority vested in it by this Act;

                    (b)  prescribing the forms to be used in making offers;

                     (c)  prescribing the periods for which advertisements should be published and fixing the responsibility for the cost thereof;

                    (d)  prescribing the forms of contract to be used;

                     (e)  prescribing the financial limits within which contracts may be awarded by public officers and officers of statutory bodies and the limit of the value of articles which may be purchased by such officers without inviting tenders;

                     (f)  prescribing the procedure to be adopted in disposing of unserviceable articles or surplus stores and the limits within which they can be disposed of by prescribed officers of statutory bodies;

                    (g)  for establishing Ministerial, departmental or special committees to deal with departmental contracts or special items or services, the value of which does not exceed an amount, if any, fixed by the Regulations; and

                    (h)  prohibiting the entering into of contracts for the supply of articles or the undertaking of works or any services connected therewith with members of statutory bodies to which this Act applies or any officers thereof or with such other persons as may be specified in the Regulations.

             (2)  Regulations made under subsection (1) may provide, for the contravention thereof or non-compliance therewith, a penalty on summary conviction of a fine of five hundred dollars, or imprisonment for six months or both such fine and such imprisonment.