The standstill period is a defined period of time between the contract award decision and the award of the contract. The purpose of the standstill period is to provide unsuccessful tenderers and candidates concerned (candidates who were not notified of the outcome of the standard Selection Questionnaire (SQ) stage) with feedback on their submissions.
If unsuccessful tenderers have any concerns with regards to the process and/or its outcome, they should be raised during this period. A supplier should inform the contracting authority before approaching the court seeking any legal remedies, explaining the basis for its application to the court. The contracting authority should be aware of any legal challenge prior to the end of the mandatory standstill period.
For all public sector and utilities procurements covered by the full regime of the EU Procurement Directives, the mandatory standstill period means that a period of not less than ten calendar days must elapse between the written communication of the award decision to all tenderers and contract commencement where communication has been issued by e-mail otherwise duration increases to 15 days.
The mandatory standstill period does not apply to below threshold procurements, to procurements otherwise outside the full scope of the Directives (e.g. Social and Other Specific Services, also known as 'Light Touch Regime') or where there is only one tenderer. This includes those following the urgency provision under the negotiated procedure where single tendering takes place.
If a Contracting Authority decides to follow the standstill period on a voluntary basis, they should state that they are doing so on a voluntary basis and not because they believe that they are required to under the 2015 Regulations. If this is not made clear it may create a legitimate expectation on the part of challengers that the full procedural requirements of the Regulations should apply to the procurement.
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