CAIS EOP – frequently asked questions
Project with registration number BG05SFOP001 – 1.003 – 0002 – C01 / 15.06.2017 and name “Development, implementation and maintenance of a unified national electronic web-based platform: Centralized automated information system” Electronic Public Procurement ” , funded by the Operational Program “Good Governance”, co-funded by the European Union through the European Social Fund.
I. Registration. Users Profile
1. Is registration possible without a qualified digital signature?
A qualified digital signature is required whenever a contracting authority/entity, an economic operator or a physical person would like to register by using the public page of CAIS EOP. The registered organization’s administrator sends by e-mail invitations to organization’s employees in order to register. A qualified digital signature is not required in this case.
2. When a legal entity is at the same time a contracting authority/entity and an economic operator, in what role should it first register?
Registration is done once. The body should register only as a contracting authority/entity while CAIS EOP has got a functionality that allows the body to participate in public procurements as an economic operator.
3. How do employees join the organization?
Date of publication 02.03.2020
From section „Employees“, the organization’s administrator sends to the person’s email address (business or personal) an invitation to join. The invitation is valid for two months, after that time it can be renewed by resending (from the active menu button to the invitation). The invitee receives an e-mail link to the homepage, from where he can log in, if he is a registered user or to register accordingly, without electronic signature being required for such registration.
4. What could be the reasons for a missing message in the email for a confirmation of the profile activation?
Date of publication 02.03.2020
The reasons may be as follows:
1. The e-mail that is specified is wrong (incl. when the e-mail specified in QES -qualified electronic signature is no longer supported);
2. Time limit of 24 hours for а confirmation is expired;
3. The message has gone to Spam;
4. The mail server of the user’s e-mail has security and/or special settings set on.
5. Why one person has got different profiles – as a user and as an employee?
A user is a person, registered in CAIS EOP with a username and a password. An employee is a user who has got access to the profile (working space) of a specific organization.
6. Can one user register in different organizations?
One user can be added as an employee of more than one organization without the necessity to register several times. He/she always enters the platform with one username and one password and then chooses the working space among all the organizations to which he/she is added as an employee.
7. How do divisions register? Does it matter what registers first – the division or the headquarter?
Divisions register the same way as headquarters do. It does not matter whether the headquarter or the division registers first. CAIS EOP recognizes the unique identification code (UIC) of the division/headquarter and when a registered headquarter/division is present, it automatically creates a division-headquarter connection, respectively a headquarter-division connection.
8. How do we transfer administrative rights in case the Administrator of the organization has left the company and there is not another person added to it as an administrator?
Updated on 02.03.2020
In this case, the organization concerned is required to send a formal letter to the PPA indicating an e-mail of the new administrator that has been stated. When the letter is electronically signed, it has to be sent to an e-mail address: [email protected]. Upon receiving the request, the PPA sends a join invitation to unregistered user and grants administrative rights to the person stated in the letter, who must after registering to block the administrator that left.
9. When the organization is registered with a wrong role, what should be done?
Date of publication 02.03.2020
In this case, it is necessary the organization concerned to send a formal letter to the PPA with a request for a change in the role of the organization. When the letter is electronically signed, it has to be sent to an e-mail address: [email protected]. The letter must state the name of the organization and the UIC / BULSTAT code, as well as in which part of the System it is registered – test or production.
10. Where should the digital signature be attached in the System?
Last update – 07.07.2020
The signing of documents in CAIS EOP requires that the electronic signature be registered in the account from which the signing will take place. In case the person is signing as an employee of a specific organization, the digital signature should be registered in the profile of the employee in the respective organization. If the user signs as an individual, the signature should be registered in his personal profile. It is recommended a “Signature Test” to be carried out before starting work with the CAIS EOP.
11. How is QES with expired validity replaced in the System?
Date of publication 02.03.2020
From menu “Edit” of the person’s profile the expired signature is deleted and the new one is applied. The same action is performed in the employee’s profile from section “Employees”.
12. Can be verified the validity of the digital signature which the ESPD is signed with?
Date of publication 07.05.2020
CAIS EOP provides information for the person who has signed the ESPD and the validity of the digital signature which the ESDP is signed with in the system.
13. Is it correct to edit/replace the information in an employee’s profile who is not part of the concrete organization anymore?
Date of publication 04.08.2021
No. The information about the employee’s profile should not be changed. The data in user profile are associated to the employee’s identity as an individual. If it is necessary to add a new employee to the organization, the administrator of the organization has to block the profile of the employee who is not part of the organization anymore and to send an invitation for joining the organization to the email address of the new employee.
14. In which cases it is necessary to register an organization by the “My Organizations” section in the user profile?
Date of publication 04.08.2021
Only in case that the person who registers the new organization has already a created user profile in the system.
15. Is it possible to delete a profile of employee who is not part of the concrete organization anymore?
Date of publication 04.08.2021
No. The user profile of this employee can’t be deleted since it is linked to an information about user’s actions, which are already performed in the system. Such profiles have to be blocked by the administrator of the organization.
II. PREPARATION OF PUBLIC PROCUREMENTS. CONTRACTING AUTHORITY/ENTITY’S TEAM
1. Can the organization’s administrator see a specific public procurement?
Last update – 04.03.2020
The administrator has got the right to see all procurements of the organization
2. Is it possible to add employees to procurement’s team at any time?
Yes, CAIS EOP allows it. However, as far as the contracting authority/entity’s team includes groups of employees with different roles and rights (persons in charge, chairman and members of the commission), the inclusion or exclusion of employees depends on the procedure stage and the legally defined opportunities.
3. Do all employees, part of the procurement team, have access to messages?
Access to messages have only employees with an activated right “Has the right to see procurement messages”.
4. What could be the reasons for a failed attempt to accept an invitation to join the procurement team?
Date of publication – 18.11.2020
In order to successfully accept invitation to join procurement the user should make sure that he has logged into his personal account within the organization that the link, received by an e-mail, refers to.
5. Does the system allow the attachment of scanned documents signed on paper or electronically signed documents outside it?
Yes, the System allows the attachment of any documents, including scanned ones, as long as they are in the acceptable format and do not exceed the maximum allowable size.
6. Where should the procurement documentation be uploaded?
Date of publication 04.03.2020
Option 1: In section “Settings” – “Name and Description” visible to participants;
Option 2: In section “Requirements”
7. Is the use of the templates, regarding the procurement requirements, that the System suggests, mandatory or they are recommendatory?
Date of publication 04.03.2020
The templates are recommendatory. They aim to assist the contracting authorities/entities by showing them how they could structure the requirements into a single procurement. The contracting authorities/entities can edit the available ones as well as create and use their own templates.
8. How are the templates created?
Date of publication 04.03.2020
A new template is created in section “Library/Templates with requirements/Create a Template. This functionality is available only to users with the right to manage templates. On the other hand, every employ in the contracting authority`s/entity`s organization, who has the right to create procurements can save as a template the content of the requirements created for a specific procurement. This is done by using “Save as a Template” option, available in the active menu in section “Requirements”.
9. When after the procurement has been published, it is found that a mistake has been made is it possible to correct it and will it be noted somewhere that a correction has been made?
Updated on 04.03.2020
After the procurement has been published, correction can be made by publishing a “Corrigendum” in compliance with the legal requirements. Every correction is also visible on the public page of the procurement.
10. How is a procedure, which contains classified information announced (under art. 39a, para. 5 of the PPA)?
Date of publication 04.03.2020
In these cases, the regulation of art. 39a, para. 5 of the PPA requires the contracting authorities/entities to provide publicity of the decisions under art. 22, para. 1, p. 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6 and of the notice under art. 156. Exchange of information and documents, that contain classified information is done outside the platform in compliance with the requirements of The Protection of Classified Information Act.
11. How is an invitation to a specific person send in CAIS EOP when awarding procurement under art. 20, para.3 and 7 of PPA?
Date of publication 04.03.2020
By using section “Interested persons” in the working space of the procurement and pressing the “Invite” button. Important: Invitations are not sent, using the “Message” module.
12. What should be done in case the invitation for participate/tender has expired?
Last update – 18.11.2020
In case the time limit for submission of requests to participate/tenders has not expired, the contracting authority/entity should send the invitation again.
13. How can the contracting authority make a change to the terms of the procedure?
Date of publication – 04.03.2020
Changes in the conditions of the procedure are made by creating a “Draft” of the parameters of the public procurement or a specific item. In the “Order status management” section, select the “Start with changes” button. More information is contained in the Guide of the Assignor.
14. How to terminate a public procurement in CAIS EOP?
Date of publication 18.11.2020
1. In case of termination of the public procurement procedure, the contracting authority/entity shall issue and publish a decision for termination of the procedure. When the legally set term for appeal of the decision has expired the contracting authority/entity publishes Contract award notice where it states that the contract has not been awarded.
2. in case a public procurement procedure awarded by collection of tenders with a notice or invitation to certain persons to tender is terminated the contracting authority /entity publishes a Contract award notice of value under Art. 20, para. 3 or 7 of the Public Procurement Act, where it motivates the need for termination.
Important: After publishing the Contract award notice, the user terminates the procedure in CAIS EOP by pushing the “Cancel” button from “Settings” section.
15. How should the “Market Consultations” information be published in CAIS EOP?
Date of publication 18.11.2020
The user selects the business process “Conducted market consultations” and fills in a name in the “Settings” section in the menu. The user published the information in the Public Procurement Register (PPR) through “Publication” section. The contracting authority/entity conducts market consultations outside the platform and publishes the necessary information in the Buyer’s Profile through the “Messages and clarifications” section. In case the contracting authority/entity has published the results of the market consultations in CAIS EOP and wants to link the information to a certain procedure, it needs to choose “Generate link” button in section “Settings” in the context of the respective market consultation and selects the specific procedure it wants to connect it to. More then one procedures can be linked.
16. Where should the opinion for control performed by Public Procurement Agency (PPA) be published
Date of publication 18.11.2020
The PPA opinions from the first stage of the control, which is perform on the draft decisions, notices, technical specifications and methods for defining the complex assessment of the tender (where applicable), are preliminary and the contracting authority/entity is not obligated to publish them. After the procedure opening, the contracting authority/entity publish the PPA definitive opinion from the performed preliminary control through a message in the Buyer’s Profile in “Messages and clarifications” section.
17. Can I create a draft decision without creating a public procurement in CAIS EOP? Date of publication – 07.05.2020
To be able to. In order to create a draft decision, it is necessary to start the relevant business process.
18. Is it possible to deleted the “Price” question concerning the proposed total value for implementation of the contract?
Date of publication 18.11.2020
No. The System allows question editing from additional question Settings. Contracting authority/entity can instruct the economic operators not to fill in the question as well as remove the option for obligatory exclusion.
III. Keys and decryption
1. What can be done if the key encrypting the tender is lost?
Losing or damaging the key is an irreversible action in regard to the documents for participation. The following options are possible depending on when the key is lost:
Option 1: If the key is lost at the stage of preparation of applications/tenders everything prepared and saved in the System will be irretrievably lost. The system provides functionality for issuing a new key, but the participant will begin preparing his tender from the beginning.
Option 2: The key is lost after the deadline for submission of requests/tenders. The submitted request/tender is kept in the System, but there is no technical possibility to decrypt its. In this case the participant/tenderer has to be excluded.
2. Do participants/tenderers have to follow the entire process of opening of requests/tenders in order to provide decryption in a timely manner?
After the deadline for submission of requests/tenders expires CAIS EOP sends a notification to the persons to provide the private key for decryption. This does not exclude the responsibility of persons to follow the expiry of the relevant time limits, insofar as they are legally obliged to provide the keys and set the period within which they can do so. The consequences of non-fulfillment of this obligation are also regulated by law (Article 107, item 5 of the Public Procurement Law and Article 9l, paragraph 4 of the RIPPL).
3. Does the system send a message to decrypt the price proposals to the excluded participants?
Date of publication- 18.11.2020
The contracting authority/entity is obliged to indicate the date and time for opening of the price proposals in the procurement schedule. This information becomes public on the public page of the procurement in the Public Procurement Register (PPR). The System sends a notification to the persons to provide the private key for decryption. CAIS EOP does not send a message/notification to the participants excluded at a previous stage, if the necessary technical actions in the system for their exclusion have been performed. This does not exclude the participants’ responsibility to watch the expiration of respective time limits, so far as such an obligation has been established by law.
4. In applying the order of art. 104, para. 2 of the PPL (opening technical and price bids first) will prices be seen with the first decryption?
In these cases, the System does not encrypt the technical and the price bids separately, so the entire content of the tender becomes viable at the time of the first (and the only one) decryption.
5. Where is the generated key pair stored?
Date of publication – 09/03/2020
It depends on the settings of the particular browser, which is used. Most often – in folder Downloads.
6. How can the generated keys be shared with other team members?
Date of publication- 18.11.2020
The generated key pair can be provided by recording to USB memory, sent using the System via the “Messages” module, as well as using e-mail, mobile device, etc. It is recommended that the key is archived as a zip file before sending, as some domains and emails may change it and it will not be possible to apply it.
7.How do CAIS EOP notify for a submitted tender offer for the procurement?
Date of publication – 09/03/2020
CAIS EOP sends an e-mail with a message for a submission of an application /a tender offer and at the same time the notification icon (the bell) on the user’s profile is displaying a notification. In the workspace of the procurement, in section “Offers” is displayed the submission of an application /a tender with the text “Submitted” and the exact time of the submission, certified by time stamp.
IV. ESPD and Lots
1. Where the candidate/tenderer is a consortia, will the System generate different ESPDs for each consortia member?
Preparation and submission of requests and tenders is done via the user’s profile of one of the consortia members, who must indicate in the ESPD the rest of its members. System generates an ESPD only for the economic operator, submitting tender documentation. ESPDs for the rest of the consortia members can be filled in by generating a new ESPD in the System and changing the data of the economic operator or as attached files of ESPDs filled in via the ESPD filling and reuse System, available on espd.eop.bg.
2. When it is necessary to submit a new ESPD, what are the deadlines and how is it provided?
Updated: 09/03/2020
The request for a submission of a new ESPD is sent via “Messages”. The time limit is set in accordance with Public Procurement Act and is specified in the message. The participant fills in a new ESPD using the System for filling in and reusing ESPD, available at espd.eop.bg. The new ESPD is saved in PDF format and is resubmitted via “Messages” as a response to the request received.
3. Can signed documents be attached to the ESPD?
Yes, the System allows it, as where it is necessary to attach documents proving that the economic operator has taken measures to demonstrate reliability the candidates/participants would have to be able to do so.
4. When the contract includes lots, where do the selection criteria should be described?
CAIS EOP allows each lot to have specific selection criteria, relevant only to it, incl. ESPD.
5. Can each lot has its own separate schedule or they all have to end together? How do you proceed when one of the lots needs to be terminated?
During preparation of a contract with lots, CAIS EOP does not allow setting different schedules for each lot. At the time of publication of contract notice, all lots have individually synchronized schedules. After this, the System allows for divergence of schedules so that each of them will live a life on its own (e.g. to be suspended or terminated) without affecting the other lots in the contract.
6. How changes to the ESPD upon contracting authority request are made? – Published on 11/19/2019
In order to make the necessary changes to the ESPD, the economic operator needs to follow the steps, listed:
1. Аccess filed and submitted with the tender or the request to participate ESPD;
2. Select the option “Save Answer as XML” from the three-point menu;
3. Open through the browser the System for filling and reusing ESPD at: espd.eop.bg;
4. As an economic operator, select the option “You want to: Upload an ESPD file”;
5. Save the new ESPD in both formats after making the appropriate adjustments;
6. Sign the file in PDF format;
7. Send ESPD as an attachment through the section „Messages“.
7. Is it possible more than one person to sign a single ESPD?
Date of publication – 09/03/2020
Yes. The system allows multiple electronic signatures to be applied to a single ESPD.
8. Is it possible a single ESPD to be signed by a person who is not registered in the System?
Date of Publication – 09/03/2020
Signing ESPD is possible only by a person who is registered in the System. Alternatively, the ESPD is signed electronically outside the System and is attached as a file to the specific procurement.
9. Do we have to simultaneously submit tenders for all lots in the procurement, that we intend to participate for?
Published on – 09.03.2020
Yes. When submitting a tender you must select all lots you intend to bid for. Where you have submitted tenders for one or several lots and subsequently are interested in bidding for another lot, part of the same procurement, you need to withdraw the tender already submitted and resubmit it by selecting all lots you wish to bid for.
10. When preparing a procurement with lots, where should the requirements that they have in common be placed?
Published on – 09.03.2020
Requirements, valid for all lots incl. ESPD must be placed in the main part of the procurement in “General requirements”, whereas in section “Requirements” of each lot only the technical and the price specifications are to be placed.
11. Can a certain lot be awarded to more than one contractor?
Date of publication – 18.11.2020
System technically allows the selection of more than one contractor for a certain lot, but as far as the law does not allow participation for a part of a lot, а certain lot should not be awarded to more than one contractor.
12. Is it possible to partially terminate a certain lot?
Date of publication – 18.11.2020
No, it is impossible.
13. In case a participant is selected as a contractor for more than one lots, is it possible to fill in the information for all lots in the Contract Award Notice at once? Date of publication – 18.11.2020
Yes, it is possible to fill in section V. for the contract with this contractor at once in the Contract award notice, such the lots numbers awarded to this contractor shall be pointed out in the field “Lot No”.
V. Evaluation Committee
1. How to nominate an evaluation committee in CAIS EOP?
When creating a contract workspace, two roles are automatically created in the section “Employees” – “Chairman of the Evaluation Committee” and “Members of the Evaluation Committee”. Employees added to these roles received corresponding rights.
2. Where should the appointment order for the evaluation committee and the declarations for conflict of interest be uploaded?
Date of publication – 18.11.2020
In the section “Evaluation team workspace”, “Decision for evaluation team”. Declarations may be uploaded in this section or in the ” Evaluation documents ” section.
3. Is there an opportunity to change the members of the evaluation committee?
CAIS EOP provides for such opportunity, yet the relevant actions need to correspond to the requirements of the PPL.
4. Can an officer in charge of the procurement participate in the evaluation committee?
As a rule, there are no obstacles a person, participating in the preparation of the contract, to be included in the evaluation committee. This principle is also implemented in the CAIS EOP.
5. Do all committee members need to be registered in CAIS EOP? If the organization has a large number of employees, isn`t there a danger of running out of usernames?
At this stage at least the chairman of the evaluating committee needs to be registered in order to decrypts the requests/tenders submitted and open them. After “Evaluation” module is completed all committee members will have to be registered in CAIS EOP. Given that the System allows the username to be an email, there is no danger users to be left without a username.
6. Can a committee member sign documents with a personal and not with an officiant QES?
Insofar as the findings in the minutes and the report of the committee reflect the wills of its members as individuals, it does not matter whether their signatures are personal or held by the respective organization, i.e. in these cases it is important who is the author of the signature.
7. Is it necessary committee members to be logged in when opening the bids in parallel with the committee chairman?
It is enough the committee chairman to be logged into CAIS EOP.
8. From what point onwards do evaluation committee members have access to the tenders after they have been decrypted by the committee chairman?
Content of the tenders becomes available to the registered in the CAIS EOP evaluation committee members, soon as they are decrypted.
9. Is it publicly visible when the chairman of the evaluation committee has decrypted the tenders?
Published on – 09.03.2020
Exact time of decryption of requests to participate and tenders is visible only for the contracting authority`s/ contracting entity`s staff members and is not visualized in byer`s profile. Upon decryption of the requests to participate or the tenders in the public profile of the procurement the economic operators, who have submitted requests to participate or tenders as well as the exact time of submission are visualized.
10. Do tenderers really see when price proposals are opened?
Tenderers see the date on which the System will unlock the opportunity for the evaluation committee chairman to decrypt the price proposals. After decryption by the committee, the price proposals are displayed on the public page of the procurement in the RPP.
11. Can participants see the price proposal opening in real time?
Date of publication – 18.11.2020
Participants see the date and time when the System will unlock the possibility for the chairman of the evaluation committee to decrypt the price proposals. The prices become public in Public Procurement Register (PPR) after their decryption. Important: The contracting authority/entity should not require .provision of personal data in the price proposal form as this information becomes visible in the public file of a procurement after decryption.
12. Why does the System send a message to decrypt the price proposal to a participant who has been excluded?
Date of publication – 18.11.2020
This happens when the necessary technical actions for the participant removal has not been performed in CAIS EOP. For more information, see the instructions published in “CAIS EOP up-to-date” section on Public Procurement Portal.
13. How does the evaluation committee proceed to open the participants’ price proposals?
Date of publication – 18.11.2020
It is necessary to set the date and time for price proposals opening in the schedule of the procurement. Chairman of the evaluation committee should push the “Toward the prices opening” button from “Evaluation” section.
14. Is drawing of lots mandatory done in the System?
Date of publication – 18.11.2020
No, the drawing of lots can be held outside the system.
VI. Time limits and communication between contracting authorities/entities and economic operators
1. Is it mandatory dates on the procedure schedule (deadline for receipt of tenders or requests to participate and their opening) to be set before filling in the notice?
Last update: 17.03.2020
Yes. When creating procurement, it is mandatory to initially fill in the name, description, parameters, requirements, schedule, etc. in the procedure workspace, and as a last step to prepare the notice. The system automatically retrieves the information of the procurement and fills it in the notice.
2. Where is the price bids opening message published?
Last update: 17.03.2020
The information about the date and time of the price bids opening is displayed on the public page of the procurement.
3. How can a foreign economic operator ask questions in the Bulgarian System?
Published on –16.03.2020
Users interface of the System is bilingual – it uses Bulgarian and English. Procurements, tenders, as well as communication, incl. clarifications are a content that the System does not translates. They retain the original language they were created in and do not change when switching between language versions.
4. How will the samples be submitted?
The order for the submission of samples is defined in the Rules for the implementation of the Public Procurement Law (Art. 47, para. 9 and para.10). The place and deadline for the submission of the samples are to be specified by the contracting authority/entity in the requirements of the procurement.
5. When samples are accepted, there are two terms – first in the record keeping system, second in the CAIS EOP? Will both terms be noted?
In such cases applies Art. 28, para. 4 of the Rules for the Implementation of the Public Procurement Law, as for the samples the first sentence will apply and for the other documents – the second sentence. The contracting authority/entity is to indicate in the procurement documents its work time (open hours for acceptance of samples). The system allows the deadline for submition samples to be specified in the procurement schedule.
6. Is a decision considered served when it is sent to the participant/tenderer, but there is no information in the System, that the message has been read?
Service of the contracting authority’s/entity`s decisions is regulated in Art. 22, para. 10 of the PPL (in force as of November 1, 2019). According to the provision, the decision is considered served upon its arrival on the participant’s profile, irrespective of whether it has been read or not. Time of reception of the message is certified by the platform with electronic time stamp.
7. How should justification request made? What should be done in case there are questions about the technical proposal?
Date of publication – 18.11.2020
“Messages and clarifications” section in the procurement workspace is used in both cases.
8. How the participants will submit their technical proposals?
Depending on the requirements set by the contracting authority. It may be as an archived .ZIP file containing the technical proposal. It may be as a structured questionnaire with specific questions for the participant to answer with “Yes / No”, to choose from options, to attach document (s), to introduce a specific value, to describe the answer in free text. The second way is recommended because after the implementation of module „Evaluation”, the System will be able to (semi-)automatically rank the participants based on the provided answers to the questions, related to the evaluation criterion.
9. What is the way to deliver clarification about conditions of the procedure in CAIS EOP?
Last update: 17.03.2020
Clarifications are provided by the contracting authority/entity through the Buyer’s Profile from the “Messages and Clarifications” section, pressing the “Create” button, and selecting the “Buyer Profile Message”.
10. How the time limits running in CAIS EOP?
Last update: 17.03.2020
The terms are sat by the contracting authority/entity in compliance with Art. 28 of the Rules for the implementation of the Public Procurement Law. In the case of exchange of information through the platform, the last day of the time limit period shall expire at the end of the twenty-fourth hour. This does not apply to the provision of samples and models (mock-ups) when the deadline expires with the end of the working time of the contracting authority/entity on the appointed day.
VII. Tenders and invoicing
1. How is the public procurement contract published?
Date of publication – 18.11.2020
Contract is published in the public file of the procurement from “Messages and clarifications” section, through the button “New” and selecting the “Public Announcement” option.
2. Is the system related to the so-called prohibition list (economic operators with infringements) in order to prevent the same stakeholders to submit tenders?
CAIS EOP is not intended to automatically indicate that a participant in the procedure is included in the economic operators infringements list’s.
3. Will the contracting authority/entity be informed that a tender has been submitted before the time for opening the tenders has come?
This information becomes visible to the contracting authority/entity after the deadline for receipt of requests for participation/ tenders.
4. Does CAIS EOP provide for an option to fully withdraw a request for participation or tender and resubmit the latter again?
Until the deadline for their submission, any request for participation or tender may be withdrawn and resubmitted again.
5. Are the withdrawn tenders visible to the contracting authority/entity?
Prior to the expiry of the deadline for receipt of requests for participation/tenders, the contracting authority/entity does not see any submitted or withdrawn ones.
6. Can tenders and price proposals be opened at the same time?
Only in case of the reverse order (under Article 104, para 2 PPL). In other cases, the tender and price proposal opening take place at different points in time.
7. Is the information in invoice automatically filled in when a contract award notice is created?
Such functionality is not provided.
8. Is there a possibility to prepare preliminary invoices in the CAIS EOP?
Last update: 17.03.2020
No, such functionality is not provided. An invoice is being created after contract concluding in procedure, which was started in the System.
9. Is it possible to prepare proforma invoices in CAIS EOP?
Such functionality is not provided.
10. Do I have to sign my technical and price bid before I uploaded them into the System?
Published on– 17.03.2020
The technical and price bids should not be signed separately, since the submission of a tender requires the electronic signature of the economic operator.
11. How can I stop receiving notifications for a procurement I have shown interest in, but have not submitted an application/tender?
Published on– 17.03.2020
In case you want to stop receiving notifications for procurements you have shown interest in, it is necessary to select “Leave the procurement ” from the active menu of the relevant procurement. The procurement could be left only if an application/tender is not submitted.
12. When extending the deadline for submission of applications/tenders for a procurement for which the economic operator has provided a private key for decryption, is it necessary to apply a key over again after the extending?
Date of publication – 07.07.2020
In case the offer is not recall/amendment or supplemented in the extended deadline, the System does not require re-application of a private key for decryption.
VIII. Review procedures and control
1. How will the documents be presented, within a review procedure? How the control bodies will see the procurements in CAIS EOP?
Updated on – 17.03.2020
Option 1: By rendering access to the procurement onto the relevant bodies.
Option 2: By exporting the dossier of the procurement and saving it to an electronic carrier.
In a review procedure before CPC it is acceptable to present e-documents from the System on a paper carrier as a transcript certified by the party. Upon request the party is obligated to present the documents on an electronic carrier (cf. Art. 208, para. 3 of PPA in connection to Art. 184 of the Civil procedure code).
2. What should be done when at discretion of the contracting authority/contracting entity or pursuant to ruling of the CPC procedure needs to be returned to the evaluation stage?
Return of the procedure to a previous stage is done be use of the respective functional button from the work field of the procurement procedure.
IX. General questions/OBS
1. Which browsers does the CAIS EOP work with?
CAIS EOP works whit the last two versions of all basal browsers incl. Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, MS Internet Explorer, MS Edge, Opera, Safari. As far as MS Internet Explorer is concerned the use of 11TH version is recommended.
2. Is there a limit to the size of files that can be uploaded to CAIS EOP?
Last update – 07.07.2020
The maximum size of each file that can be attached to the System is up to 2 GB, independently of its format.
3. Are there any restrictions on the file formats supported by CAIS EOP?
CAIS EOP supports the following formats: .txt, .rtf, .doc, .docx, .xls, .xlsx, .ppt, .pptx, .pdf, .bmp, .jpg, .jpeg, .webp, .gif, .png, .zip, .avi, .gww, .xml, .rsu, .dwg, .rar, .eps, .mpp, .mht, .mhtml, .bak, .tif, .odt, .ods, .odg, .odp, .odf, .rsx, .kml, .zsu, .nsu, .nsx, .zsx, .stp, .bst, .xlsm, .ldt, .dlx, .dxf, .csv, .psd, .7z, .msg, .nmx, .met, .p7s, .p7m, .cer, .crt.
4. Is there a possibility for integration with a record keeping system?
No integration with record keeping systems is envisaged at the moment, as the systems used by the organizations are different.
5. Do users need to update the version of the standard form notices they work with?
Updates to the standard form notes is made automatically in the System. There is no necessity users to install new versions.
6. Will there be a mobile version of CAIS EOP available?
CAIS EOP ‘s architecture and design are optimized for mobile devices.
7. How CAIS EOP renders time into account?
CAIS EOP server time is synchronized with that of an approved time server. When there is a discrepancy between the time of the System’s servers and that of the user computer, the System indicates the discrepancy by means of a special “attention” sign, placed next to the information on the current time of the System (in the upper left corner of the user interface).
8. Does the system record all events?
Every event is recorded in CAIS EOP logs.
9. Who accesses the Reference and Reports module?
The module is publicly available for both registered and not registered users, with the exception of specialized reports for the PAPAs needs.
10. Is the users interface for both contracting authority/entity and the economic operator the same?
The users interface is similar, but contracting authorities/entities have access to more functionality.
11. How are procurement, published in Official Journal of the European Union (OJ of EU) indicated?
Updated on 04.03.2020
Publications in OJ of EU are indicated with a special icon on the public page of the procurement in the PPR, which is a link to the notice in OJ of EU.
12. How to create search templates in CAIS EOP?
Last update – 07.07.2020
Search templates can be created in the System from unregistered users by “Reports” at https://app.eop.bg today / reporting / search. Select “Advanced Search”, set the required search criteria, then select “Save the search form as template”. An e-mail address should be pointed and the template is saved using the “Save” button. Option “Send periodically” allows to activate an automatic subscription to receive information from the PPA Registry. In case the search templates are created by a registered user’s profile, the System also provides an opportunity for their management (see the CAIS EOP Buyers Manual – item 5.8.5. and the CAIS EOP Economic Operators Manual – item 5.6.4.).
13. Is it possible to save the CAIS EOP Manuals to a workstation and send them to others?
Published on– 17.03.2020
It is recommended that Manuals are accessed via the System as they are periodically renewed. They are accessible without any registration and can be used freely and free of charge by any interested party. If necessary they can be saved as a pdf fail.