e-PG5A National Plant Supply and Installation Preparation Guideline

01When to Use e-PG5A National

Use e-PG5A (National) when you need plant and equipment designed, supplied, installed and commissioned as a working facility by one contractor (a turnkey contract combining goods, works and services), and national competition in Taka is enough. Award goes to the lowest evaluated responsive tender, for any value.

Nature

Plant and equipment, turnkey

Method

One Stage Two Envelope (OSTETM)

Competition

National

Value

Any

Currency

BDT only

Joint venture

Allowed

Need foreign manufacturers to compete in their own currency? Use e-PG5A (International). Only buying equipment without installation? Use e-PG3. For mainly civil construction, use a works STD.

02What You Prepare

03Key Time Limits

04Qualification Criteria

All criteria are pass/fail. Failing any one makes the tender non-responsive.

AACT = (E ÷ N) × F, where E = official estimate, N = contract duration in years (at least 1), F = 1.0 to 1.5 (lower for larger contracts).

Example: setting the financial criteria A 33/11 kV substation is estimated at Tk. 20 crore over 18 months (1.5 years). Annual cash flow is 20 ÷ 1.5 = Tk. 13.33 crore. With F = 1.2, ask for average annual turnover of Tk. 16 crore. One similar contract of 60–80% of the estimate means Tk. 12–16 crore. (The STD's own example: Tk. 24 crore over 18 months gives Tk. 16 crore a year, and with F = 1.5 an AACT of Tk. 24 crore.)

Joint ventures (TDS 17.1–17.2): agreement on a Tk. 300 non-judicial stamp (Format e-PG5A-E), or a notarised letter of intent with the draft agreement. State the maximum number of partners. The STD's suggested split:

The STD notes that the Rules do not allow JVs for goods, but allows them here because a turnkey contract combines goods, works and services.

05Other TDS Entries

Example: tender security and timelines On a Tk. 20 crore estimate, 3% is Tk. 60 lakh, so state a fixed amount no higher, for example Tk. 50 lakh. Because the estimate is between Tk. 5 crore and Tk. 25 crore, the winner has 10 working days for the performance security and 21 days to sign.

06Price Schedules and Taxes

• Tenderers quote on a single-responsibility basis: anything reasonably inferable is included, and unpriced items are deemed covered elsewhere.
• Plant in Schedule 1 excludes construction materials; those go in the civil or installation schedules.
• All taxes, customs duties, VAT and levies in force 28 days before the deadline are included in rates (ITT 26.17). GCC 65.2 still says the PE pays customs and VAT on Schedule 1 plant; decide which applies and say so (section 16).
• Unconditional discounts and multi-lot discounts are allowed; alternatives are not.
• Fixed-price tender: an adjustable quote is non-responsive. Adjustable-price tender: a fixed quote is accepted with zero adjustment.

The Schedule 5 form in Section 5 still shows the International layout (plant from abroad, plant from Bangladesh, design, installation) and omits civil works. Rebuild it as Schedules 1–4 above so e-GP totals every schedule.

07PE's Requirements and Appendices

• Scope of supply and installation: exactly what the contractor delivers, and the interfaces with other contractors.
• Technical specifications under Rule 38: new, current-model equipment; national or international standards; required inspections and tests and where they happen; functional performance. Standards are descriptive: tenderers may offer equivalents.
• Forms: Completion Certificate, Operational Acceptance Certificate, and the change-order forms (request, estimate, acceptance, proposal, change order, pending-agreement order, application).

Appendix 6 matters: if your operators, utilities or raw materials are not ready for pre-commissioning, the contractor gets time and costs (GCC 43.5). Plan them as carefully as the plant.

08Fill In the PCC

09Opening and Technical Evaluation

1. e-GP opens only technical offers after the deadline and generates the Tender Opening Report. Financial offers stay encrypted.
2. Preliminary examination: all forms filled and e-signed, priced schedule present, valid tender security. Any missing means rejection.
3. Technical examination: country of origin, Technical Proposal (Form e-PG5A-4), qualification evidence, compliance with the PE's Requirements without material deviation, and the specifications compliance sheet (Form e-PG5A-5).
4. Material deviations, reservations or omissions cannot be cured. Non-material documentary gaps may be filled on request, but never anything touching price or mandatory criteria. Information not asked for is ignored.
5. Clarifications through e-GP, signed by the TEC Chair only, with at least 3 working days to reply.
6. The TEC sends the technical report directly to HOPE or the Authorized Officer.

There is no minimum number of responsive tenders. Validity may be extended at most twice, and only for tenders that passed the preliminary examination; the tender security must then run 28 days past the new date.

10Financial Evaluation and Low-Price Check

1. After approval, e-GP decrypts financial offers of technically responsive tenderers only.
2. No arithmetic correction is made in e-GP.
3. Apply discounts and the TDS 54.6 economic factors: delay adjustment, mandatory spares and service, life-cycle costs. Recommended spares are not counted.
4. Significantly low-priced tender (SLT) check on all responsive prices (ITT 55), described below.
5. Rank. Ties: check for collusion (Rule 149), then superior past performance with the PE, then the quality end-users find more advantageous. Never a lottery.
6. If prices are unbalanced, the TEC may recommend a performance security of up to 25%.
7. Post-qualify the lowest; a visit to its facilities is allowed, without discussing the tender. If it fails, go to the next.

Weighted average x̄ = 0.5 × (average of quoted prices) + 0.2 × official estimate + 0.3 × X_NPPI. Standard deviation S_d = √(Σ(x̄ − x_i)² ÷ n). Any tender below x̄ − S_d is rejected.

X_NPPI is the official estimate multiplied by the National Public Procurement Price Index: the average deviation between estimate and award in goods contracts awarded through e-GP in the 28 days up to tender opening (excluding national limited tendering).

Only one technically responsive tender? The formula is not used. Compare its evaluated price with the official estimate: more than 20% away, it is non-responsive; within 20%, it may be recommended. On a Tk. 20 crore estimate the band is Tk. 16–24 crore.

Reject all tenders, with HOPE approval, only if the lowest exceeds a realistic estimate, competition was ineffective, no one can meet a reasonable time, all are non-responsive, the documents are defective, or misconduct is proven; never if the lowest matches the market.

11Award, Securities and Signing

1. Issue the NOA (Form e-PG5A-9) within 3 working days of approval, before validity expires, with the draft contract (Form e-PG5A-10).
2. Publish the award (Format e-PG5A-B) within 24 hours, for 28 days.
3. Performance security: 10% of the contract price, in BDT, by bank draft, pay order or bank guarantee (Form e-PG5A-11), within 7/10/14 working days.
4. Sign within 14/21/28 days. Failure to give security or sign forfeits the tender security; award to the next.
5. A government enterprise gives a 10% security deposit deducted from invoices instead.
6. Publish the contract (Format e-PG5A-C) and beneficial ownership (above Tk. 10 lakh) within 3 days, for 30 days.
7. Return the other tender securities: non-responsive ones within 28 days after approval; the three lowest after the contract is signed.

Example: the security cap problem B's Tk. 18.20 crore contract needs a performance security of Tk. 1.82 crore. Retention at 10% adds up to another Tk. 1.82 crore, so the total reaches 20%, while TDS 68.3 caps contractual security at 10% (Tk. 1.82 crore). State in the TDS how you apply the cap, or the TEC's recommendation under Rule 36(2) to exceed it.

12Design, Supply and Installation

• Appoint the Project Manager within 14 days of the Effective Date if not named. All instructions and certificates come through the Project Manager.
• The contractor appoints its Representative (deemed approved if you do not object within 14 days) and a Construction Manager on site.
• Within 21 days: organisation chart with key staff CVs. Within 28 days: detailed programme. Then monthly progress reports.
• Design approval: review Appendix 7 documents within 14 days, or they are deemed approved. Disapprove only for non-compliance or bad engineering practice.
• Hand over site possession by the PCC dates; late possession is a compensation event.
• Ownership of plant passes when it arrives on site; care and risk stay with the contractor until Completion.
• Attend factory and site tests at your own travel cost; extra tests you order are paid if they pass.
• Check insurances and site regulations; you are co-insured on most policies.

13Completion, Commissioning and Guarantees

1. The contractor notifies mechanical completion. Within 7 days you supply operators, utilities and materials for pre-commissioning.
2. The Project Manager issues the Completion Certificate within 14 days, or lists defects (7 days on each repeat). Silence, or your use of the facility, means deemed Completion. Care and risk then pass to you.
3. Commissioning and the Guarantee Test follow, within the PCC period. If the test cannot be done for reasons not the contractor's fault, the guarantees are deemed met.
4. On request, the Project Manager issues the Operational Acceptance Certificate within 7 days, or it is deemed issued.

• Liquidated damages for delay: 0.03–0.05% per day of the value of uncompleted work, capped at up to 10%. Reaching the cap is grounds for termination.
• Defect liability: 540 days from Completion or 1 year from Operational Acceptance, whichever is first, extended for downtime; optional extended liability for critical components up to 5 years.
• Liability cap: the contract price times the PCC multiplier, excluding defective equipment and patent indemnity.

Example: delay damages and defect period Uncompleted work worth Tk. 4 crore finishes 20 days late at 0.05% a day: 4 crore × 0.0005 × 20 = Tk. 4 lakh, far below a 10% cap of Tk. 1.82 crore. If Completion is 1 March 2027 and Operational Acceptance 1 June 2027, defect liability ends on 1 June 2028 (one year after acceptance), which comes before the 540-day date in late August 2028.

14Payments and Price Adjustment

Example: Tk. 10 crore of plant Tk. 1 crore advance against a guarantee; Tk. 8 crore on delivery documents; Tk. 50 lakh at Completion; Tk. 50 lakh at Operational Acceptance.

• The advance payment security reduces as plant is delivered or work paid. Write the civil works payment terms yourself: Appendix 1 has no schedule for them.
• Retention (10%) is held until the Defects Correction Certificate.
• The performance security halves at Operational Acceptance (unless the PCC says otherwise) and expires 540 days after Completion or 365 days after Operational Acceptance, whichever is first; it is returned within 7 days of final payment.
• A change in tax rates adjusts the price, with HOPE approval, so the contractor's net amount is unchanged.
• Late payment carries interest at the PCC rate.

P = A + b(Lₘ/L₀) + c(Sₘ/S₀) + …, with A the fixed part and the weights summing to 1. Indexes from the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics unless stated; base values 28 days before the deadline; adjustment date the mid-point of manufacture or installation.

Example: price adjustment Normal only when the contract period exceeds 18 months, so the 18-month substation above would be fixed-price. On a longer contract with A = 0.15, labour 0.30 (index 100 → 108), steel 0.35 (100 → 115) and miscellaneous 0.20 (100 → 104): P = 0.15 + 0.324 + 0.4025 + 0.208 = 1.0845. A Tk. 2 crore certificate becomes Tk. 2.169 crore (+Tk. 16.9 lakh). No adjustment on the advance, and no increase for delays caused by the contractor.

15Changes, Delays and Termination

• Changes: Request for Change Proposal → contractor's estimate of preparation cost → your acceptance → Change Proposal → Change Order within 14 days of agreement. If price is not agreed, issue a Pending Agreement Change Order. The contractor may object if all changes together exceed 15% of the price.
• Extensions: decide within 21 days; up to 30% of contract time by the PE, 30–100% with HOPE, beyond 100% with the Secretary.
• Claims: notice within 28 days of the event and full details within 42 days, or the claim is lost.
• Suspension: if you suspend for more than 90 days without contractor fault, it may demand resumption within 28 days. It may suspend or slow work after 14 days' notice of non-payment.
• Termination for default: Notice to Correct first (reply in 5 days); then a Notice of Default with 21 days to explain; then termination with HOPE approval, with 14 working days' notice. Grounds include stopping work for 28 days, failing to start, no security, LD cap reached, unauthorised subcontracting, corrupt practice; for the contractor, site not handed over within 84 days or certified payment unpaid for 84 days. HOPE may set up a Contract Termination Review Committee.
• Also insolvency, convenience (21 days' notice), and force majeure (notice within 14 days).
• Disputes: amicable settlement; Adjudicator within 14 days (decision in 28, fees shared); arbitration after 28 days under the Arbitration Act 2001 at the PCC place.

Example: extension authority On an 18-month contract you may extend by up to 5.4 months; up to 18 more months needs HOPE; anything beyond needs the Secretary.

16Points to Correct in the STD

The May 2026 text reuses goods, works and International templates. Settle these in the TDS and PCC, or ask BPPA:

• Taxes: ITT 26.7(a) and 26.17 put VAT, AIT and customs duty in the price, but GCC 65.2 says the PE pays customs on Schedule 1 plant and VAT on plant.
• Security cap: performance security 10% plus retention 10% (TDS 68.1, PCC 64.1) against a 10% contractual security cap (TDS 68.3). PCC 64.1 also says 10% "of the contract price" rather than of each payment; TDS 68.1 starts retention on "delivery of Goods and acceptance by the TEAC".
• Retention guarantee: Form e-PG5A-13 talks of releasing the first half of retention at take-over, which the GCC never provides.
• Price adjustment: PCC 60.4 puts A at 0.20–0.25 and cites ITT 27.8/27.9; Appendix 2 puts A at 0.10–0.15 and skips condition (b).
• Schedule numbering: ITT 26.6 makes installation Schedule 4, but ITT 26.7(c) calls it Schedule 3; the Grand Summary form lists "plant from abroad" and "plant from within the country" and omits civil works; columns say "carry Columns 6 and 7".
• Form numbers: the guidance notes number forms differently from Section 5 (manufacturer's authorisation 5 or 6, tender security 6 or 7, NOA 7 or 9, performance security 9 or 11); the Functional Guarantee form cites "ITT 24(n)", which does not exist.
• Section numbers: two sections are headed "Section 7" (PE's Requirements and Drawings); PE's Requirements is numbered 6.1–6.6; ITT 1.1 and 26.13 point to a "Section 6: Schedule of Requirements" that contains only price forms; the change-order log cites a non-existent Annex 8; the GCC table of contents shows "Error! Bookmark not defined".
• Defect liability and performance security: GCC 45.2 fixes 540 days or 1 year, but PCC 45.2 asks for months; PCC 45.3 holds an unrelated "late programme" amount; PCC 63.4 gives two contradictory options and cites GCC 42.10 (it is 45.10); ITT 66.1 says the security runs 28 days past the Intended Completion Date, the submission letter says past the Completion Certificate, and GCC 63.4 runs it into the defect period.
• Commencement: GCC 28.1 repeats the completion text of 29.1.
• Arithmetic errors: ITT 53.1 says e-GP makes no corrections, yet ITT 38.1(b), 52.2 and the tender security form still refer to accepting corrections.
• Cross-references: e.g. ITT 4.5 cites GCC 38; ITT 47.2 cites 23.2(n), (d), (o), (p); ITT 54.2(b) cites 23.10–23.11; ITT 56.1 cites Clause 52; GCC 36 cites 39.2.1; 37.3 cites 31.2; 41.7 "referred to an 82.3"; 42.4 cites 39.4; 46.2 cites 69.2.2 for termination; 47.2 cites 34.1; 50.2 cites GCC 17 for insurance; 52.6 cites 51.1 and 49.4; 54.3 cites 65; 69.1.3 cites 64.1.1; 70.2(c) cites 44 for suspension; 70.4 cites 65.1–65.2; 71.3 cites 43.1; 73.2 cites 72.1; PCC 68.1 says GCC 71.1.
• Goods wording: ITT 2.1(g), 13.1 and 31.1 speak of "supply of Goods"; the SLT price index uses the goods category; the Acceptance Certificate covers "Goods" and construction defects.
• Signing rule: TDS 69.2 cites Rule 123(9); the NOA cites Rule 123(11).
• JV table: cites "ITT 14.1(d)", which does not exist.
• Assessment year: TDS 23.2(e)ii says "immediate past" but its example for FY 2025-26 is AY 2023-24.
• Garbled text: ITT 19.1 repeats a sentence; GCC 70.6 is incomplete; GCC 70.1 refers to a delivery period "in the TDS" that the TDS lacks; reporting formats read "FUNDING NEGRMATION" and skip item 12; every page header reads "e-PG5APW3".

17Publishing Checklist

• Turnkey scope confirmed; national OSTETM chosen; estimate realistic (it drives the SLT check and the single-tender 20% rule).
• Qualification: experience, arbitration, liquid assets, AACT, personnel, equipment, JV split and licences set.
• Subcontracting limit and nominated subcontractors stated.
• Price schedules set up with one consistent numbering, including civil works in the grand summary; fixed or adjustable choice stated.
• Tax treatment decided (ITT 26.17 vs GCC 65.2) and stated.
• Economic factors in TDS 54.6 filled or deleted.
• Specifications, tests, drawings and functional guarantees with minimum levels complete.
• Appendices 1–8 complete, especially PE's supplies for commissioning and civil works payment terms.
• PCC complete: dates, Guarantee Test period, LD, bonus, defect liability, insurance, advance, interest, retention and security cap reconciled, adjudicator, arbitration place.
• Validity, tender security and timelines set by estimate band.

18Common Questions