Description of PAS 91:2013+A1:2017 2017

This PAS provides a set of questions to be asked by buyers of potential suppliers to enable prequalification of the supply chain for construction-related projects. This PAS also specifies requirements for the consistent use of those questions across projects of varying sizes and types, including in respect of the Official Journal  of the European Community (OJEU) procurement thresholds for public sector procurement. It is intended that the questions also be used by assessment providers in their intermediary role between buyers and suppliers.

It is widely recognized that excessive prequalification activity adds unacceptable cost, bureaucracy and confusion to the construction supply chain. Unnecessary bureaucracy associated with prequalification diverts both buyers’ and suppliers’ resources and attention away from proportionate and effective risk management. It is therefore necessary that buyers and assessment providers pay particular regard to reducing unnecessary documentation requirements for businesses, and in any event only require suppliers to provide information and evidence that is related and proportionate to the subject matter of the contracts likely to be awarded.

• This PAS provides construction sector stakeholders with prequalification questions that:

• are typical of the common questions that are relevant to construction-related procurement;

• increase the scope for cross-recognition between various types of prequalification activity;

help to significantly reduce duplication, unnecessary paperwork and cost for both buyers and suppliers.

The question modules are presented in Clause 4 as a series of tables, each containing questions relating to a particular aspect of supplier capability. These questions are already widely asked across a range of commonly applied construction-related prequalification processes. This PAS collates them and provides for their use in a uniform manner.

This PAS does not include project-specific questions to suppliers, but does make provision for buyers or assessment providers to insert additional project-specific questions into the question modules if necessary, subject to certain restrictions, and it provides a suggested format for their inclusion.

This PAS specifies what is to be asked in prequalification processes for construction-related procurement but not how the enquiry process is to be undertaken. The PAS aims to underpin widely accepted good practice in the construction sector. It is not intended to add to or ‘gold plate’ prequalification activity or to raise requirements or standards beyond those which are already widely accepted as good practice in the sector.

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