Central Contracting Authority and Qualified Contracting Station

WHAT IT IS

The new Public Contracts Code (Italian Legislative Decree no. 36/2023) qualifies by law Invitalia as a Central Contracting Authority and qualified Contracting Station at the highest level. 

Invitalia can support contracting stations, qualified and non-qualified, for the design, assignment and execution of public contracts for works, services and supplies, without limits on the amount or type of intervention, as well as for public-private partnership operations. 

WHO IT IS FOR

All public administrations that have a specific need in terms of centralisation of contracting can request the support of Invitalia and decide to activate a specific agreement in which terms, operating methods and costs are regulated. 

Interested administrations can make use of the Invitalia Central Contracting Authority to accelerate interventions in all sectors, such as health, education, urban redevelopment and regeneration, environment, cultural heritage and tourism.  

CENTRAL CONTRACTING AUTHORITY FOR NON-QUALIFIED CONTRACTING STATIONS (ART. 62, PARAGRAPH 10)

The Public Contracts Code (Italian Legislative Decree no. 36/2023), in article 62, paragraph 10, establishes that a non-qualified contracting station may request a qualified central contracting authority to carry out a tender procedure on its behalf.  

The request is considered accepted if it does not receive a negative response within ten natural and consecutive days from its receipt.  

RELATED TOOLS

• Supplier Registers
• InGaTe Platform 

The new Public Contracts Code identifies Invitalia as the Central Contracting Authority and Contracting Station qualified by law, on a par with other entities such as, for example, the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport, Consip S.p.A., Difesa Servizi S.p.A. and the Agenzia del Demanio (State Property Agency). 

Invitalia can manage both the award phase – i.e. tenders for services, supplies and works – and the execution phase of contracts on behalf of other Contracting Stations, with no limit on the amount.  

As a Central Contracting Authority, Invitalia can also carry out auxiliary contracting activities. 

Invitalia, as a Central Contracting Authority and Contracting Station registered by law, must possess and maintain some basic requirements that allow it to be qualified at the highest level, namely: 

• registration in the Single Registry of Contracting Authorities (Anagrafe Unica delle Stazioni Appaltanti AUSA);
• presence in its organisation chart of a “stable organisational structure” (SOS) dedicated to the design, execution and awarding of tender procedures; 
• availability of procurement platforms to carry out the procedures for awarding and executing public contracts that are interoperable, interconnected and certified by the Agency for Digital Italy (Agenzia per l’Italia Digitale, AGID); 

In addition to the basic requirements, there are also variable requirements such as: 

• presence in the SOS of employees with specific skills in the field of public contracts and digital systems;
• staff training and refresher system
• number of tenders for works for an amount exceeding € 500,000 – number of tenders for services/supplies for an amount exceeding the European threshold; 

fulfilment of the obligations to communicate data on public contracts that feed the databases held or managed by ANAC and, for public works, of the database set up at the Ministry of Economy and Finance - General State Accounting Office, called the “database of public administrations”. 

Invitalia can: 

1. design, award and enter into contracts or framework agreements on behalf of non-qualified and qualified contracting stations
2. establish and operate dynamic purchasing systems and electronic trading markets
3. execute contracts on behalf of non-qualified contracting stations
4. carry out ancillary contracting activities, such as advice on the execution or design and preparation of tender procedures
5. carry out support activities for the drafting of service contracts or for the drafting and completion of publicity procedures and other obligations towards regulatory authorities 
    

In the call to tender, management and awarding of public tenders, Invitalia operates by guaranteeing: 

• constant support to the Public Administration by taking care of all tender activities, from the call to tender to the award;
• standardisation of procedures and processes, respecting the peculiarities of each individual contract;
• effective management of the time and costs of tender procedures;
• rationalisation of public spending;
• development of new professionalism and skills in the Public Administration;
• award procedures based on environmental sustainability and social impact. 

The Public Contracts Code (Italian Legislative Decree no. 36/2023), in article 62, paragraph 10, establishes that a non-qualified contracting station may request a qualified central contracting authority to carry out a tender procedure on its behalf.  

The request is considered accepted if it does not receive a negative response within ten natural and consecutive days from its receipt.  

For non-qualified Contracting Stations who wish to have an initial contact with the INVITALIA Central Contracting Authority, the only reference channel is: infocommittenza@postacert.invitalia.it 

All requests sent through other communication channels, or alternative forms of contact, will not be taken into consideration, not even for the purposes of the start of the 10-day term referred to in article 62, paragraph 10, of the new Italian Public Contracts Code. 

The Public-Private Partnership (PPP) is the tool that allows you to combine skills, experience and private capital with public capital, for the construction of infrastructures and the management of services, in compliance with the objectives of economic, environmental and social sustainability, generating value for the country.  

THE SUPPORT OF INVITALIA

With its multidisciplinary know-how, Invitalia supports the administrations concerned in the structuring and consequent announcement and awarding of procedures for the implementation of PPP operations, of public or private initiative, of a contractual or institutional nature, even in the additional code declinations (EPC, social partnership) or atypical ones.  

The administrations concerned can make use of Invitalia’s technical, economic-financial and legal expertise. 

In particular, Invitalia can carry out: 

• activities of centralisation of contracts for the launch and management of the tender procedure, up to the award of the contractual PPP contract, on a public or private initiative, or institutional one (dual object tender);
• activities of centralisation of contracts for the publication of notices aimed at stimulating companies and institutional investors to submit project finance proposals;
• technical-operational support in the recognition of the needs and objectives of the administration, in the identification of the consequent PPP model most suitable for meeting the needs of the administration and in the subsequent definition of the operation for the purposes of the tender procedure;
• technical-operational support in the evaluation phase of PPP proposals for the purpose of launching tender procedures by private initiative;
• development of operational tools and formats of acts, developed according to the specific needs of each administration.