Legal Workshop

Tendering Documents

• A RFP/RFB has to be issued in direct

engagements/single source in accordance with
Article (50) of the Tender Law unless approval is
granted by the Tender Board [Note: How long does
this take?]

• Obtaining such exemptions/approvals are not as

standard practice and should only be sought in
exceptional circumstances

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Contracts Documents

• Final RFP, RFB’s and any other contract documents must be

provided with the appropriate filled out contract prior to legal
conducting its review

• This would include any revisions, addendums or negotiations

• The process begins with the relevant sector team/department,

then passes to procurement, then legal

• A streamlined process avoids duplicity effects in reviewing

documentation

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TENDER BOARD APPROVAL

• Legal requires a copy of all tender board

communications and approvals in order to carry out
its review of the contract

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Advance payment

• It is best practice and EDB’s policy not to provide

any advance payments without a guarantee

• Finance is required to pre-approve any advance

payment in accordance with the Finance Manual

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GENERAL PAYMENT TERMS

• Best practice in relation payment provisions:

 Payment to be made in milestones that

correspond with the services/deliverables

 Payment shall be made in regards to the work

completed, and to EDB’s satisfaction

 Breakdown to be provided, if applicable

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SERVICES/GOODS REQUIRED

• Clarity, comprehensiveness and specifics are all requirements of

Article (35) D, (36) and (37) of the Tender Law Implementing
Regulations

• As such, Services/Goods as set out in the contract must be identical to

the tendering documents, proposal, or any related correspondences
indicating the negotiated position as generally required by Article (33)
Tender Law

• However, there are exceptions to this requirement that is dependent on

the selected tendering process; this includes simultaneous
negotiations, consecutive negotiations, tender in two phases and/or
whether alternative proposals can be submitted as generally required
by Article (42) Tender Law and Article (45), (70) and (71) of the Tender
Law Implementing Regulations

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LLOC

• Circumstances when LLOC is required to be involved:

 Contracts above BD 300,000 need to be reviewed by LLOC

after it has been finalized internally

 Departments are to take into account that LLOC review

takes approximately 1 month

 LLOC law Article 2 states:

“No government entity may enter into a contract exceeding
BD 300,000 prior to LLOC’s review”
NO EXEMPTIONS

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Contract Date & Start Date: Backdating

• Contract to be signed prior to their effective date

• Contracts shall be dated upon signature

• Backdating shall not be permitted under any

circumstances

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The Program - Schedule (C)

• The Program is to include all milestones

corresponding to the services and deliverables
required in accordance with the best practice

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COMPLETED CONTRACT

• Concerned department is to fill out all required

information under the contract before sending it to
Legal

• Any revised additions to be incorporated in track

changes to assist in swift review of the highlighted
changes

• Always be transparent and clear in the changes made

and them to the attention of the reviewer

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Legal’s internal comments

• Legal’s initial comments must be addressed internally

by the respective department prior to sending the
contract to the other part

• Forwarding the contract as is alerts the other side to

our confidential interval discussions and exposes the
EDB

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Government to government contracts

• Matters between government entities do not require a

contract

• However, the initiative/transaction will still require to

be documented in a Memorandum of Understanding,
Letter of Engagement/Intent etc…

• This is important as it evidences all of the parties

obligations and responsibilities and provides
adequate protection to the EDB

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Signature And approval

• A contract should never be signed by either Party

before final approval from all departments. Doing so
puts the EDB at risk

• Final approval is evidenced by a complete EDB

contract approval sheet, which contains the
signatures of the reviewers and head’s of all
concerned departments

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CONTRACT Requirement

• Entering into contracts means EDB is required by law to

undertake what has been set out in the contract document

• Issues noted above stresses the need to abide by the Tender

Law and not just best practice

• Contracts helps protect the EDB

• Not abiding by the above places the EDB at risk

• Early involvement of the legal team is discussions and

correspondence helps avoids issues and delays materialising
further down the line

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 Legal’s Role in the
Tendering Process
Marketing Specific Issues
• DETAILS REQUIREMENT
 Contracts must be detailed, all specs must be included in the tendering
documents and contracts
 Detail Requirements are essential as in accordance with Article (35) D, (36)
and (37) of the Tender Law Implementing Regulations

• NO ASSUMPTIONS – CLARITY AND TRANSPARENCY IS A REQUIREMENT

 Do not assume just because Marketing has dealt with a company previously,
that they do not require the same detailed level of information that is required
in all tendering documents and contracts

• COMPETITIVENESS
 Ensure process is competitive and transparent
 Do not negotiate with a bidder prior to issuing an RFP, which would insinuate
that the tendering process is uncompetitive and thus compromised
Legal’s Role in the
Tendering Process
Event Specific Issues
• SPONSORSHIP CONTRACTS
 EDB generic template to be used for efficient and quick turnaround
 Legal team can review sponsorship contract from the other side if
required on exceptional circumstances such as Euromoney, however this
will require additional time for a full review to be carried out

• PROPOSALS REQUIRED
 Always provide the proposal/package

• PERFORMANCE BOND
 Sponsorship Contracts are subject to the Tender Laws, as such a
performance bond is required
 A waiver may be obtained by Procurement from the Tender Board or Internal
Procurement Committee.
 A request must be put in writing to the finance/procurement team
• ADVANCE PAYMENTS IN SPONSORSHIP CONTRACTS

 This is subject to the EDB’s Finance Manual as noted above and is a finance
related issue

 Section 3.1 states

“ advance payments should not be made unless it is part of an approved contract”

 A waiver ma be requested

 Approval to be sought from CS heads

Legal’s Role in the
Tendering Process
SOC Specific Issues
• EARLY PREPARATION
 All SOC contracts work hand in hand, therefore the best approach would be to
finalise the artist/group contract as early as possible, to be able to initiate and
complete other SOC contracts

• INSURANCE CANCELLATION POLICY

 Insurance cancellation policy must be singed prior to the event start date

• ACCURACY
 Contracts need to be filled out accurately by SOC
Thank you

CONTACT

Legal Enquiries:
LegalAdvisor@bahrainedb.com

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