Southern Africa Development Community Secretariat – Procurement and Grants Policy (c) instruction to bidders explaining the evaluation processes, the evaluation and award criteria; (d) the detailed description of the technical requirements (in the form of Technical Specifications or Terms of References); (e) the General and Specific Conditions of Contract; and (f) the draft contract (including the contract annexes). Article 32. Evaluation and award criteria (1) Evaluation criteria are meant to determine the compliance of the services, goods and works offered by the bidders with the Procuring Entity’s requirements stated in the Terms of References or Technical Specifications. (2) Award criteria shall describe the methodology which will establish the successful bid among those complying with the evaluation criteria. Usually there are two types of award criteria as follows: (a) price, in this case the contract is awarded to the bidder which, while satisfying the eligibility, qualification and evaluation criteria, quotes the lowest price; and (b) quality and cost (i.e. the most economically advantageous bid). This award criterion entails that the successful bid is determined by applying a formula including the evaluation points and the offered price. (3) When defining the evaluation and award criteria, the Procuring Entity shall ensure that the evaluation and award criteria are precise, non discriminatory and not prejudicial to fair competition. (4) The evaluation and award criteria shall not be changed during the evaluation process. Article 33. Technical requirements (1) The technical requirements shall be set in the Technical Specifications (for goods and works) and in the Terms of References (for services). These documents shall set out the requirements and/or objectives in respect of services, supplies or works, specifying, where relevant, the methods and resources to be used and/or results to be achieved. (2) Precise and clear Technical Specifications or Terms of Reference are prerequisite for bidders to respond realistically and competitively to the requirements. Hence, technical requirements or Terms of Reference shall provide all the necessary information to allow a bidder to easily identify all the Procuring Entity’s needs and determine the cost of such needs. (3) The economy, efficiency and fairness in procurement processes shall always be considered when drafting the technical requirements. (4) Unless the negotiated procedure is used, the technical requirements shall be prepared to permit the widest possible competition, but at the same time, make a clear statement of the required standards of workmanship to be provided, standards of supplies and/or performance of the services or works to be procured. (5) For goods and works, the technical requirements shall indicate that all supplies be new, unused, and of the most recent or current models, and they have to incorporate all recent improvements in design and materials. Any reference to brand names, catalogue numbers or other details that limit any materials or items to a specific manufacturer should be avoided as far as possible. Where unavoidable, such item description should always be followed by the words “or substantially equivalent”. 26