e-PG3A Framework Agreement Preparation Guideline

01When to Use e-PG3A

Use e-PG3A when the Procuring Entity (the Purchaser) wants an agreement for a definite period with a single supplier for a fixed or estimated quantity of goods and related services, where the actual deliveries happen through several call-off orders. Specifications and quantities are defined up front and the overall delivery period is fixed, so a total agreement amount can be calculated.

Nature

Goods and related services

Method

Open (OTM) or Limited (LTM) Tendering

Arrangement

Framework Agreement with one supplier

Period

Set in the PCA, normally 12 months

Award basis

Lowest evaluated responsive

Buying

Call-off orders, each paid separately

• Good fits: recurring needs such as consumables, stationery, spare parts, medicines or fuel, where you know the specification and roughly how much you will use, but not exactly when.
• "Goods" includes commodities, raw material, machinery, equipment and industrial plants, and where applicable related services such as transport, insurance, installation, commissioning, training and initial maintenance.
• The supplier cannot deliver without a call-off order (requisition slip) issued by your office under the agreement.

02How a Framework Agreement Works

1. Tender once. Publish e-PG3A in e-GP with estimated quantities, specifications, delivery points and the agreement period.
2. Award the agreement. Evaluate, post-qualify, issue the NOA, take the performance security and sign the Framework Agreement (Form e-PG3A-10). Unit rates are now fixed.
3. Order as needed. During the period, issue a call-off order for the quantity, place and timing you need. Each call-off is a contract between the Purchaser and the Supplier.
4. Receive and accept. The supplier delivers within the response time; the inspection committee checks the goods and an Acceptance Certificate follows.
5. Pay the call-off. The supplier invoices through e-GP; you pay the call-off value (quantity × contract unit rate). Repeat from step 3 until the period ends.

03How the Document Works

e-PG3A has six sections. Sections 1 (ITT) and 3 (GCA) must not be altered. You adapt the document to your package only through the TDS, the PCA, the Price Schedule, the Technical Specifications and any Drawings.

04Key Time Limits

ITT 63.2 also says "within fourteen (14) days" for the performance security. Use the TDS figure from the table above, which follows Rule 123(7), and state it in the NOA.

05Fill In the TDS

These are the TDS entries e-PG3A asks for, with the values or ranges the document recommends.

As written, the TDS sets a 10% performance security and 10% retention, but caps the combined contractual security at 10% of the contract price. Confirm with BPPA how to apply the cap before you publish, and keep the TDS internally consistent.

The pre-tender meeting, if any, is held online in e-GP on the date and time in the Invitation for Tenders, and the IFT also sets the last date for clarification requests.

06Fill In the PCA

07Quantities and Price Schedule

Form e-PG3A-4A covers goods (including spare parts) and Form e-PG3A-4B covers related services. For each item, set the description, unit, estimated quantity and the point(s) of delivery; tenderers enter country of origin and manufacture and the unit price, and the delivery period reads "as per call-off order".

• Quantities are estimates. Base them on past consumption and the agreement period: too high misleads tenderers on scale, too low leaves you short.
• Set the minimum order value and the response times for call-offs in the Schedule of Requirements. You guarantee to order at least that value, and the supplier is held to those response times.
• List every delivery point. One item may be delivered to several places.
• For e-GP, tenders are invited for a single lot, and alternative tenders are not allowed.
• Write specifications and standards in the Technical Specifications and Drawings. Tenderers answer them in Form e-PG3A-5 with origin, make and model and full specifications.
• Document sale has no preconditions and stays open until the day before the deadline.

08Clarifications and Addenda

1. Set in the IFT the last date for clarification requests. Requests come through e-GP; answer within 5 working days and share the answer with all buyers of the document without naming the source. You need not answer late requests.
2. A pre-tender meeting, if held, is online in e-GP. Answers go to the dashboards of tenderers who bought the document; send minutes within 5 working days, also to those who did not attend. Missing the meeting does not disqualify anyone.
3. Change the document only by an Addendum issued in e-GP before the deadline, dated and numbered, and circulated within 5 working days. Never change it through meeting minutes.
4. Post the addendum, with its number and date, on your website and the notice boards where the IFT was posted.
5. If an addendum is issued when less than one-third of the preparation time remains, extend the deadline by at least 3 working days.

09Opening and Preliminary Check

e-GP opens tenders automatically after the deadline and generates the Tender Opening Report. Late tenders cannot be submitted. The TEC then evaluates in four steps: preliminary examination, technical responsiveness, financial evaluation and post-qualification, completing the Tender Evaluation Reports that e-GP generates.

A tender is rejected at the preliminary stage if any of these is missing:

• All applicable forms, filled in and electronically signed.
• The priced schedule.
• A valid tender security.
• Under LTM, the letter of enlistment with your PE.

10Technical Evaluation

• Judge responsiveness on the contents of the tender only, without outside evidence. There is no minimum number of responsive tenders.
• A material deviation, reservation or omission (one that substantially affects scope, quality or supply; limits the PE's rights or the tenderer's obligations; or would unfairly affect competitors if corrected) makes a tender non-responsive, and it cannot be cured afterwards.
• Check, in order: the country-of-origin declaration in Forms 4A/4B, conformity in Form e-PG3A-5 and its evidence, then each qualification criterion (experience, capacity, liquid assets, litigation).
• Subcontracting is limited to 30% of the goods value and must be declared in Form e-PG3A-3. Each subcontractor must meet the eligibility rules; you may ask for more information or a substitute.
• You may ask a responsive tenderer to fix non-material documentary omissions, but never anything touching rates or mandatory criteria.
• Clarification requests go through e-GP from the TEC Chairperson only, allow at least 3 working days, and must not change the substance of the tender.

11Financial Evaluation and SLT

• e-GP has no arithmetic-correction step.
• There is no automatic exclusion of tenders above or below the official estimate. A price above a realistic estimate is a ground for rejecting all tenders, not for rejecting one.
• Evaluate the tender price adjusted for any equivalent-lot-value method, TDS economic factors and unconditional discounts. Ignore unsolicited extras.
• If a tenderer offered only 80% of a lot's items (where permitted), add the average prices of other responsive tenderers for the missing items. If the winning lot misses 20% or fewer items, buy them from the tenderer offering them at least cost.
• If item prices look unbalanced, the TEC may recommend raising the performance security up to 25% of the contract price.

With at least two technically responsive tenders, screen for a Significantly Low-priced Tender (ITT 50):

x̄ = 0.5 × (average of quoted prices) + 0.2 × official cost estimate + 0.3 × X_NPPI

S_d = √( Σ (x̄ − x_i)² / n )    Lower limit = x̄ − S_d

• X_NPPI is the official cost estimate multiplied by the National Public Procurement Price Index: the national average deviation between estimate and awarded price for goods, from e-GP awards over the 28 days ending on the opening day (excluding national LTM).
• Any tender below the lower limit is financially non-responsive and rejected.
• With only one responsive tender, compare its price with the official estimate instead: more than 20% deviation makes it non-responsive.
• The lowest-priced technically and financially responsive tender is the lowest evaluated responsive tender.

On a tie, first look for collusion (Rule 149 of PPR 2025). Without it, prefer the tenderer with better past performance with the PE, then the quality more advantageous to end-users. Never use a lottery, and hold no negotiations.

12Post-qualification and Award

1. Post-qualify the lowest evaluated tenderer on its submitted eligibility and qualification evidence only; the TEC may visit its premises. If it fails, move to the next lowest.
2. After approval, issue the NOA (Form e-PG3A-9) within 3 working days and before validity expires, stating the price, performance security amount and form, and the deadlines for security and signing. Quantities may vary up to the TDS percentage (max 20%) without changing unit prices.
3. Within 24 hours of the NOA, publish the award (Format e-PG3A-B) on your notice board or website and on the BPPA website, for at least 28 days.
4. Send the draft Framework Agreement (Form e-PG3A-10) with the NOA. Receive the 10% performance security and sign within the TDS deadlines. If the tenderer fails to furnish security or sign, annul the award, forfeit its tender security and go to the next lowest qualified tenderer.
5. Within 3 days of signing, publish the agreement information with beneficial ownership details (Format e-PG3A-C) for at least 30 days; beneficial ownership is required above Tk. 10 lakh.
6. Return tender securities: non-responsive ones after the evaluation report is approved; the 1st to 3rd lowest once the winner furnishes performance security and signs.

All tenders may be rejected only on HOPE's approval and for the reasons in ITT 56.2 (price above a realistic estimate, lack of competition, unrealistic completion, all non-responsive, defects in the process, or misconduct), but not if the lowest price matches the market price.

13Issuing Call-off Orders

Every purchase under the agreement is a call-off order on the form attached to the agreement, signed by the official authorised to issue call-offs. Each order states:

• The contract (agreement) reference, a call-off order reference and its date.
• The purchaser and the supplier.
• The list of supplies with quantities, unit rates from the Price Schedule and delivery places.
• The total value of the call-off, and a request that the supplier confirm receipt and proceed within the agreed response times.

Example: agreement price Tk. 2 crore An order below Tk. 5 lakh (2½%) can be declined by the supplier. If one order, or a month's orders together, exceed Tk. 50 lakh (25%), the supplier may set its own delivery period. Plan regular orders between these two limits to keep the agreed response times.

14Contract Management

• Delivery: the supplier delivers to the places and within the times in each call-off and gets a receipt. Title passes on satisfactory delivery, but delivery is not acceptance; you may reject goods that do not meet the specification.
• Acceptance: the inspection committee starts within 24 hours of delivery; issue the Acceptance Certificate (Format e-PG3A-D) within 14 working days, for accepted parts only if defects are found.
• Payment: any advance within 30 days of signing; each call-off is paid on the supplier's e-GP invoice with the delivery documents, in Taka, within the PCA days. Pay interest on late payment if the PCA provides it.
• Securities: notify the supplier of any claim on the performance security; claim only if a notified breach or unpaid amount continues for 14 days or more. Release it after the warranty period if goods are free of patent and latent defects.
• Warranty: starts when the delivery chalan is accepted, so each delivery's warranty ends at a different time. Track it per call-off.
• Change orders: drawings or specifications for custom goods, packing, delivery place or related services, with an equitable price or time adjustment. Repeat orders within the warranty only in exceptional cases, after price verification and the Approving Authority's approval.
• Extensions: the supplier must apply before the original date; decide within 21 days. The PE may extend up to 20% of the original time; beyond 20% needs HOPE's or the authorised officer's approval and an amendment (Form e-PG3A-13).
• Liquidated damages: T = V × P × n, where V is the value of undelivered goods, P the PCA rate per day and n the days of delay, up to the PCA cap.
• Termination: for default with 28 days' written notice (late delivery, other breach, corrupt practice, or LD at maximum), buying the remainder elsewhere at the supplier's extra cost; for insolvency; or for convenience with 28 days' notice.
• Disputes: amicable settlement, then the Adjudicator (referral within 14 days, decision within 28 days; the supplier pays the fees and the PE reimburses half), then arbitration under the Arbitration Act 2001.

15Publishing Checklist

• A framework suits the need: defined specification, recurring demand, estimated quantities, and OTM or LTM is the right method.
• Agreement period, delivery points, minimum order value and call-off response times are stated.
• Experience (60% to 80%), capacity (2 to 5 times the quantity) and liquid-asset (80% to 100%) thresholds are set against the estimate, per lot.
• Assessment year, financial-statement years, validity (60 to 150 days) and tender security (up to 3%, fixed) are filled in; LTM security choice made.
• Performance security and signing deadlines match the estimated-cost band; the contractual security cap is consistent.
• Manufacturer's Authorisation, economic factors and advance payment are either specified or deleted.
• Price Schedules 4A/4B list every item with unit, estimated quantity and delivery point.
• PCA payment per call-off, warranty, LD rate (0.05% to 0.10% per day) and cap, and dispute details are filled in.
• The officer authorised to sign call-off orders is named.

16Common Questions