e-PG3A Framework Agreement Participation Guideline

01Is This Tender for You?

e-PG3A is BPPA's Standard Tender Document for a goods framework agreement: one supplier agrees fixed unit rates for a set period, and the PE buys through call-off orders as it needs the goods. You will see "e-PG3A" as the STD in the e-GP notice.

Nature

Goods and related services

Method

Open (OTM) or Limited (LTM)

Period

Normally 12 months (see PCA)

Currency

Bangladesh Taka, fixed unit rates

Performance security

10% of contract price

Award to

Lowest evaluated responsive

It suits you if you can:

• Keep stock or production ready to meet orders at short notice, within the response times in the Schedule of Requirements.
• Deliver to several places, often in small and irregular lots.
• Hold your unit rates for the full period without price adjustment.
• Carry the cash flow between delivery and payment for each call-off.

02Eligibility

• Open to tenderers from all countries except any the TDS excludes; you need legal capacity to sign and enrolment in the relevant professional or trade organisation in your country.
• Under LTM, only tenderers with updated valid enlistment under the PE may take part, and you must upload the evidence.
• Taxes and social security contributions paid as required by law.
• Not under suspension or debarment for corrupt, fraudulent, collusive, coercive or obstructive practices, or for fundamental breach of contract, and not restricted by any development partner in Bangladesh.
• Not insolvent, in receivership, bankrupt or being wound up, and not barred from business.
• No link to a consultant who prepared the design or specifications, and no conflict of interest with another tenderer (common control, subsidy, same legal representative, or influence over another tender).
• Government-owned enterprises may tender only if legally and financially autonomous, operating under commercial law, and not dependent on the PE.
• These rules also apply to any subcontractor you propose. If awarded, you disclose beneficial ownership in Form e-PG3A-2 and consent to its publication after signing.

One tender only. Submitting more than one tender for the same item or lot gets all tenders with your participation rejected. Alternative tenders are not allowed in e-GP.

03Qualification Criteria

These are pass/fail. The TDS sets the exact figures; e-PG3A recommends these ranges, so you can estimate before reading the TDS.

For several lots, your resources must meet the combined criteria of the lots you want to win; general and specific experience are not counted separately per lot.

04Subcontracting

• You may subcontract an activity or part of the goods worth up to 30% of the whole goods value.
• Identify each subcontracted item and subcontractor in Form e-PG3A-3, with its eligibility documents and similar contracts. The PE may ask for more detail or a substitute.
• A subcontractor may join more than one tender, but only as a subcontractor.
• You stay fully responsible. Subcontracting not disclosed in your tender is not allowed later, and unauthorised subcontracting is a fundamental breach.

05Questions and Addenda

• Ask for clarification through e-GP before the date in the Invitation for Tenders. The PE answers within 5 working days and need not answer late requests.
• Check the estimated quantities, delivery points, minimum order value and response times carefully; ask now if anything is unclear, because these drive your cost.
• A pre-tender meeting, if any, is online in e-GP on the IFT date. Answers appear on your dashboard if you bought the document. Missing it does not disqualify you.
• Only a numbered, dated Addendum can change the document. If one arrives with less than one-third of the preparation time left, the deadline is extended by at least 3 working days.

06Documents to Upload

Tenders are written in English. Supporting documents in other languages need an accurate English or Bangla translation of the relevant parts, at your cost.

07Tender Security

• Ask an e-GP registered bank to prepare the e-tender security for the TDS amount (a fixed sum, at most 3% of the official estimate) in favour of the PE.
• Form: bank draft, pay order, or an irrevocable unconditional bank guarantee in Form e-PG3A-7 from a scheduled bank, without alteration.
• It must stay valid at least 28 days beyond tender validity. A tender without a valid security is non-responsive. Under LTM, the TDS says whether security is required.
• Return: non-responsive tenderers after the evaluation report is approved; the three lowest responsive tenderers once the winner furnishes performance security and signs.

Your security can be forfeited if you:

• Fail to furnish the performance security, or furnish one that is not authentic.
• Refuse or fail to sign the agreement.
• Engage in corrupt, fraudulent, collusive, coercive or obstructive practice.

08Price Your Tender

• Quote unit rates for every item in figures and words, excluding discounts, in Taka. Unit rates matter most: every call-off is paid at quantity × your rate.
• Price each item for its full estimated quantity; a lot tender must cover 100% of its items and quantities. Leaving out an item worth more than 50% of the lot value makes the tender non-responsive.
• Make each rate the delivered price at the point of delivery: taxes, customs duties, VAT and levies as of 28 days before the deadline, plus profit, overheads, transport, insurance, packing, storage and banking charges. If there are several delivery points, the one rate has to cover delivery to each of them.
• Rates are fixed for the agreement period and do not change with economic conditions. Build in expected price movement over the period.
• Offer any unconditional discount, and how to apply it, in the Discount Form; it applies equally to all items in the lot.
• e-GP does not correct arithmetic errors. If you find an error before submitting, correct it and have the authorised person initial it.
• Keep item prices balanced. If the TEC finds them unbalanced, it can raise your performance security up to 25% of the contract price.

The price trap is the low side. A tender below the Significantly Low-priced Tender limit (weighted average minus one standard deviation, using rivals' prices, the estimate and the national price index) is rejected. If yours is the only responsive tender, it must be within 20% of the estimate. There is no automatic rejection for being above the estimate.

09Technical Compliance

• Declare the country of origin of every item in the price schedules, with supporting evidence. Origin is where goods were produced or substantially transformed, not your nationality.
• Prove conformity with literature, drawings and data: a detailed description of the essential technical and performance characteristics, and an item-by-item commentary on the PE's specifications.
• Goods must be new, unused, of the latest models, and meet the stated standards (or, if none, the latest standards of the country of origin).
• Minor deviations that do not meaningfully change specifications or commercial terms may be accepted; anything material will not.

10Submit Through e-GP

1. Pay the document fee through an e-GP member bank by the day before the deadline, then download the e-TD. There are no other preconditions to buy it.
2. Check every file is virus-free, readable and complete. Corrupt or unreadable files are not considered.
3. Allow time for large uploads; late submission is impossible in e-GP.
4. Final-submit. Your e-signature authenticates the tender, it is stored encrypted, and you receive a confirmation e-mail.
5. You can modify, substitute or withdraw only before the deadline. After it, no withdrawal is allowed.

The tender must remain valid for the days in the TDS after the deadline. The PE may ask, at most twice, to extend validity; you may refuse without losing your security, but your tender then drops out. If you agree, extend your security by 28 days beyond the new date and do not change your tender.

11How You Are Evaluated

1. Preliminary: all forms signed, priced schedule, valid tender security, and LTM enlistment where applicable. Anything missing means rejection.
2. Technical: origin, conformity (Form e-PG3A-5) and each qualification criterion, judged only on your tender.
3. Financial: economic factors and discounts, then the SLT check.
4. Post-qualification: your documents are verified, possibly with a visit to your premises. If you fail, the next lowest is considered.

• The TEC may ask for clarifications, including breakdowns of unit rates (through e-GP, from the Chairperson), with at least 3 working days to reply. You cannot use a reply to change your tender. No reply may mean your tender is not considered.
• From opening until the NOA, do not contact the PE except to answer a clarification or file a complaint. Trying to influence evaluation can make your tender non-responsive and lead to action under Section 64(5) of the PPA.
• There are no negotiations. Ties are settled by checking for collusion, then past performance with the PE, then quality; never by lottery.

12Award and Signing

1. The NOA (Form e-PG3A-9) arrives within 3 working days of approval, with the draft Framework Agreement. It states the price, performance security and deadlines, and binds you until the agreement is signed.
2. Quantities may be changed by up to the TDS percentage (max 20%) at award, at your quoted unit rates.
3. Furnish the 10% performance security (bank draft, pay order or bank guarantee in Form e-PG3A-11 from a scheduled bank, valid 28 days beyond the intended completion date) and sign the Framework Agreement (Form e-PG3A-10) on the deadlines below. Government enterprises have 10% deducted from invoices instead.
4. Failing to furnish security or sign forfeits your tender security, and the award goes to the next tenderer.
5. Supply only after these steps, and only against call-off orders. The PE publishes the agreement and, above Tk. 10 lakh, your beneficial ownership details.

If you lose, you may ask for a debriefing on your own tender's weaknesses, and you may complain and appeal under Sections 29 and 30 of the PPA 2006 and Rules 72 to 77 of PPR 2025.

13Handling Call-off Orders

After signing, nothing is delivered until a call-off order arrives. Each order gives the agreement and order references, the list of supplies, delivery places and the total value. Confirm receipt and proceed within the response times in the Schedule of Requirements.

Example: agreement price Tk. 2 crore You may decline a call-off below Tk. 5 lakh. If a single order, or one month's orders together, exceed Tk. 50 lakh, you may set a longer delivery period, but only by giving notice within 3 working days. Miss that notice and the normal response time applies.

14Payment, Delivery and Warranty

Advance (if offered)

Up to 10%, within 30 days of signing

Per call-off

90% with advance, 100% without

Retention

10% of each payment certificate

Minimum warranty

3 months supplies, 1 year equipment

• An advance, if the PCA allows one, needs your claim and an original bank guarantee in Form e-PG3A-12 for the same amount, valid until the goods are delivered.
• Pack goods to survive transit, with a packing list and the markings in the PCA; insure them until accepted; deliver to the places in the call-off and get a receipt.
• Title passes on satisfactory delivery, but delivery is not acceptance. Inspection starts within 24 hours; the Acceptance Certificate follows within 14 working days (partial if defects are found).
• Carry out the tests in the PCA at your cost and report results. Rejected goods are rectified or replaced at your cost.
• Invoice each call-off through e-GP with the documents listed in the PCA (invoice, delivery note, warranty and inspection certificates, origin certificate as required). The PE pays within the PCA days and may owe interest if late.
• Warranty for each delivery starts when its delivery chalan is accepted, so earlier deliveries expire earlier. Repair or replace defective goods within the PCA days.
• Your performance security is released after the warranty period if goods are free of patent and latent defects and all conditions are met.
• You bear all permits, licences, taxes and duties, and you indemnify the PE against intellectual-property claims.

15Delays, Penalties and Disputes

• Need more time? Notify the PE in writing with the cause and duration before the original delivery date. The PE decides within 21 days; justified extensions carry no liquidated damages.
• Liquidated damages: 0.05% to 0.10% per day (as in the PCA) of the value of undelivered or late goods, up to a cap of no more than 10% of the contract price.
• Force majeure: notify within 14 days of becoming aware; HOPE decides whether it applies. It excuses delay but not payment obligations.
• Performance security claims: the PE may claim if a notified breach or unpaid amount continues for 14 days or more.

Liquidated damages example A call-off line worth Tk. 4 lakh is delivered 10 days late, and the PCA rate is 0.10% per day: T = 4,00,000 × 0.001 × 10 = Tk. 4,000, deducted from your payment.

The PE may terminate for default, with 28 days' written notice, if you:

• Fail to deliver within the agreed period or extension.
• Fail to perform any other obligation under the agreement.
• Engage in corrupt, fraudulent, collusive, coercive or obstructive practice.
• Reach the maximum liquidated damages.

After termination for default the PE may buy the goods elsewhere at your extra cost, and you continue the part not terminated. The PE may also terminate for your insolvency, or for its convenience with 28 days' notice (goods delivered or ready within 28 days are accepted at agreement prices). Disputes go to amicable settlement, then the Adjudicator (you pay the fees, the PE reimburses half), then arbitration under the Arbitration Act 2001.

16Submission Checklist

• You meet the experience, capacity, liquid-asset and litigation criteria in the TDS, and LTM enlistment if applicable.
• You can meet the response times at every delivery point for the full agreement period.
• Forms e-PG3A-1, 2, 4A/4B and 5 are complete and electronically signed; e-PG3A-3 for every subcontractor (30% maximum).
• Trade license, TIN, return acknowledgement for the TDS assessment year and VAT/BIN are uploaded.
• Liquid-asset evidence is dated within 28 days of the deadline, or audited statements cover the TDS years.
• Tender security matches the TDS amount and is valid 28 days beyond tender validity.
• Every item is priced for its full estimated quantity, all-inclusive to the delivery point, balanced, and realistic against the SLT limit.
• Specifications, origin, make and model and literature are provided for every item; Manufacturer's Authorisation if required.
• Only one tender per item or lot, no alternatives, submitted well before the deadline.

17Common Questions