Turning Point Ltd v Norfolk County Council [2012] EWHC 2121 (TCC)
The relevant public procurement regulations provide that a bidder who wants to claim for a breach of the public procurement rules by the potential employer must do so within 30 days of the date when the bidder knew (or ought to have known) that grounds for starting the proceedings had arisen. This can result in a difficult choice for bidders to make who may otherwise want to wait to see the outcome of the bid before making a claim (and potentially damaging its relationship with the potential employer). The bidder in this case was barred by the 30 day statutory limitation period. The Court holding that there was no good reason in this case to extend the 30 day period and noting that a good reason "will usually be something which was beyond the control of the given Claimant; it could include significant illness or detention of relevant members of the tendering team."
The judge also made it clear that if an invitation to tender states that no caveats to the terms will be accepted, then the employer can legally reject a bid which does include caveats without clarifying first with the tenderer. Tenderers should therefore carefully check whether the ITT contains a provision preventing qualifications and caveats – and should also keep in mind the 30 day rule.
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