BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES
OCCAR places and manages both operational and administrative contracts.
Operational contracts, which cover programme activities (e.g. development, production, support) in accordance with the Programme Decision(s), are funded under the operational budget of the relevant programme. OCCAR-EA advertises requirements related to operational contracts in accordance with the Programme Procurement Strategy on this website. Current requirements, if any, are advertised in the column on the left.
Subject to national regulations, the requirements are also advertised in the respective bulletins of the OCCAR Member States and non-Member Programme Participating States.
Administrative contracts, which cover activities associated with the internal functioning of the Central Office and the Programme Divisions (e.g. supplies and services), are funded under the OCCAR-EA administrative budget. The current requirements, if any, are advertised in the column on the left.
Contracting with OCCAR
The OCCAR Management Procedure No. 5 (OMP5) contains the rules and regulations applicable to the placement of OCCAR Operational contracts and lays down a robust and systematic approach for the following elements of the procurement process:
- Methods of Procurement: detailing both competitive and non-competitive approaches and the associated considerations of risks, costs, timescales, sub-contractor competition, IPR etc,
- Advertising: requirements in respect of operational contracts (see Business Opportunities below),
- Supplier Selection: covering the use of pre-qualification questionnaires, pre-selection/qualification criteria
- Tender Procedure: considerations in respect of commercial confidentiality, preparation of documentation in accordance with appropriate governance, issue of ITTs/RFPs etc,
- Contract Award: addressing compliancy and non-compliancy, negotiations, ineffective competition, debriefing etc,
- Complaints Procedure: complaints from suppliers during the tender period or in respect of contract award, redress for complaints upheld.
The main principles employed throughout these procedures and which are fundamental to the conclusion of all contracts are:
- to exercise impartiality (both with Customers and Suppliers),
- to respect confidentiality (both commercial and national),
- to maintain integrity of the procurement processes, and
- to realise best value for money.
In line with one of its founding principles, OCCAR aims to sustain a “competitive industrial base” and therefore competition is fundamental to the OCCAR Management Procedure for Contract Placement.