CONTRACTING OF CONSULTING SERVICES
GENERAL POLICY
The Bank and its borrowers/beneficiaries select consulting firms and
professional consultants exclusively on the basis of their Competence
and Suitability for providing the services required.
Consulting services will be selected and engaged following Transparent
procedures without price-based competitive bidding.
Contracts for consulting services will be negotiated at Fair and
Reasonable Prices for the types of services and technical qualifications
required.
BASIC GUIDELINES
Individual consultants and consulting firms will be Selected
through a competition, with the use of objective analyses to evaluate
the relative merits of interested parties. Consideration will be given
to the terms of reference for the work to be performed, the professional
qualifications of candidates or technical capacity of firms, evaluations
of work previously performed for the Bank, and capacity to carry out
the work in a timely and satisfactory manner.
For the selection of consulting firms on the basis of technical proposals,
from three to six firms must be considered in order to establish a broad
basis for comparison.
In exceptional circumstances, selection of consulting services through
open competition based strictly on the merits of the technical proposals
may be waived, where the comparative technical advantage of a given
firm or specialized agency can be justified, in accordance with previously-determined
criteria.
The Terms of Reference for consulting services should be clear
and detailed, carefully stipulating the consulting activities involved,
to facilitate their monitoring and supervision and allow for an objective
evaluation of performance and results.
Only firms and professional consultants who are nationals or bona fide
permanent residents of a member country of the Bank are Eligible
for contracts financed by Bank funds.
All individual consultants hired by the Bank must sign a Certificate
of Eligibility that will form part of the contract.
Only firms that are nationals of Bank member countries will be engaged,
unless the Board of Executive Directors has decided otherwise with respect
to a program in general or a specific agreement involving funds that
the Bank administers.
Negotiation of a service contract begins with the individual
or firm that ranked first in order of merit. Should an agreement not
be reached, negotiations will be held with the second-placed individual
or firm, and thus successively until a satisfactory agreement is reached.
Evaluation of the services provided forms an integral part of
the process of hiring and administering consulting services.
Disputes between the Bank and an individual consultant regarding
alleged nonperformance of a contract will be settled by arbitration,
as stipulated in the respected service contract.
Protests lodged by a consulting firm or specialized agency will
be examined and recommendations will be submitted to the competent authorities
at Headquarters for a final decision.
Contracts with individual consultants, consulting firms, and specialized
agencies may be Extended in exceptional cases, subject to specific
conditions such as the requirement that the work to be performed be
consistent with the objectives of the operation, funds are available,
the services currently being provided are satisfactory, and the like.
No extensions will be allowed for Lump Sum contracts.
FEES
Fees for services will reflect the complexity of the work, the degree
of responsibility, professional experience, and the academic qualifications
required.
In determining the fees for individual local consultants, account will
be taken of local market conditions, the salary history of the consultant,
and the Bank's professional salary range in the country.
Local consultants will be paid only in local currency.
RESPONSIBILITY OF THE BORROWER OR BENEFICIARY
For consulting services funded from a Bank loan or a line of credit
under the Project Preparation Facility, the borrower or the beneficiary
of the operation will be responsible for selecting and hiring consultants,
subject to stipulations agreed upon in advance with the Bank.
Under exceptional circumstances and upon the Written Request
of the borrower or beneficiary, the Bank may directly select and contract
the necessary consulting services.
The loan contract or agreement between the Bank and the borrower or
beneficiary will include the terms of reference for the consulting services
needed for the operation, which will be used as the basis for negotiating
the service contract.
When the selection of consulting services is based on the submission
of technical proposals, the Bank will approve in advance the list of
firms or consortia invited to submit proposals.
Prior to signature of the consulting contract, a statement of nonobjection
to the individual consultant or approval of the selected firm must be
obtained from the Bank.
INTERNATIONAL COMPETITIVE BIDDING
This procedure will be used in contracting consulting services costing
more than a threshold defined by the Board of Executive Directors.
The public Notice must include a description of the services
required and comply with the rules on publicity set out in OP-502.
CONTRACTING FOR CONSULTING SERVICES FOR PROJECTS IN EMERGENCY SITUATION
In order to hire consulting services for projects declared under emergency,
in amounts above the threshold for international competitive selection
in the borrowing country, the Bank may authorize the Executing Agency
to use the simplified international competitive selection procedures
described in Section GS-601 of the Procurement Manual.
NORMS
The specific guidelines on the selection, contracting, and administration
of consulting services and associated responsibilities are set out in
the Procurement of Goods and Services Manual.
___________________________________________
Prevailing Prevailing Reference
Documents:
Working Group on Consulting Services Report,
August 1990
GP-92-15 Annex A, December 1998
*
The operational policies of the Inter-American Development Bank are
intended to provide operational guidance to staff in assisting the Bank's
borrowing member countries. Over the course of the Bank's more than 40 years of
operations, the approach to developing operational policies has taken
various forms, ranging from the preparation of detailed guidelines to
broad statements of principle and intent. Many policies have not been
updated since they were originally issued, and a few reflect emphases
and approaches of earlier years which have been superseded by specific
mandates of the Bank's Governors, the most recent being the
Eighth Replenishment mandates of 1994.
In
accordance with the Bank's information disclosure policy, the Bank is
making all of its operational policies available to the public through
the Public Information Center. Users please note that the Bank's operational
policies are under a process of continuous review. This review process
includes preparation of best practice papers summarizing experience
at the Bank and other similar institutions, and sector strategy papers.
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2007 Inter-American Development Bank. All rights reserved. Terms
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