Public procurement: Details of the measures in favor of the construction industry

They juggle with the difficul­ties of supplying raw mate­rials and they are concer­ned about the unprecedented rise in prices… business leaders are facing an unprecedented situation induced by the repercussions of the war in Ukraine. This is a difficult cycle to live with, as Chakib Alj, president of the CGEM, pointed out during the Club de L’Eco­nomiste meeting (see our edition of Monday, April 18, 2022). Employers, ministry of Finance, bankers associa­tion (GPBM), and ministry of Foreign Affairs meet on a regular basis to moni­tor the situation.

As announced exclu­sively by L’Economiste, measures in favor of companies operating in the construction industry have been taken and will be rolled out quickly. Aziz Akhannouch, Head of Government, signed a circular on Monday, April 18 to enable public sector contracting authorities, government authorities, public entities, and State-owned enter­prises, to implement those measures in order to reduce the economic impacts of this crisis on contractors holding public supply and works contracts as well as contracts related to them. These measures should also ensure the imple­mentation of public programs and pro­jects under the best conditions. “The eight exceptional and circumstantial measures recommended are mainly intended to support SMEs and protect jobs”, underlines the circular.

• Up to 6 months extension of lead times

The purpose of this measure is to avoid the application of late payment penal­ties. The government grants contracting authorities the possibility of extending, by amendment, on a case-by-case basis, the deadlines granted to companies who have been awarded public contracts for periods of up to 6 months.

• Reimbursement of late pay­ment penalties that have been collected

These penalties are particularly late penalties applied and collected in the context of current contracts, the goal being to preserve the economic fabric and avoid penalizing companies due to supply difficulties attributable to the economic crisis. This compensation mechanism targets companies whose contracts are still in progress.

• Accelerate the settlement of principal sums

The acceleration of the payment concerns the sums due to the contrac­ting authorities on the basis of the initial amounts of the services carried out, and this, before completing the payments in the event of difficulty in establishing the revised prices. The Government also asks contracting authorities to pay, as soon as possible, the sums due for procurements for which problems have arisen in the context of the appli­cation of the price revision formulas contracted at the time of signing of the contract. Payment should be made on the basis of the initial amounts (the principal) of the services provided be­fore paying the contractors the balance resulting from the price revision.

Khadija MASMOUDI