# Procurement Act 2023, Section 54: Time limits

Extent: E+W+S+N.I.

(1) In setting time limits for the purposes of this Part, a contracting authority must, where relevant, have regard to—
(a) the nature and complexity of the contract being awarded;
(b) the need for site visits, physical inspections and other practical steps;
(c) the need for sub-contracting;
(d) the nature and complexity of any modification of the tender notice or any associated tender documents;
(e) the importance of avoiding unnecessary delay.
(2) Time limits set for the purposes of this Part must be the same for each supplier.
(3) A participation period set under this Part must equal or exceed the shortest minimum period specified in an entry in the second column of the following table that corresponds with an entry in the first column which applies to the circumstances of the case—
Circumstance
Minimum period
The contract being awarded is a light touch contract
No minimum period
The contracting authority considers there to be a state of urgency that means that a 25 day participation period is impractical
10 days
Neither of the above circumstances apply
25 days
(4) A tendering period set under this Part must equal or exceed the shortest minimum period specified in an entry in the second column of the following table that corresponds with an entry in the first column that applies to the circumstances of the case—
Circumstance
Minimum period
The contract being awarded is a light touch contract
No minimum period
The contract—
(a)being awarded is a utilities contract, or
(b)is being awarded by a contracting authority that is not a central government authority,
and is subject to a negotiated tendering period
No minimum period
The contract—
(a)being awarded is a utilities contract, or
(b)is being awarded by a contracting authority that is not a central government authority,
and tenders may be submitted only by preselected suppliers
10 days
A qualifying planned procurement notice has been issued
10 days
The contracting authority considers there to be a state of urgency that means any other applicable minimum tender period is impractical
10 days
The contract being awarded is being awarded by reference to suppliers’ membership of a dynamic market
10 days
Tenders may be submitted electronically, and the tender notice and associated tender documents are all provided at the same time
25 days
Tenders may be submitted electronically, but the tender notice and associated tender documents are not all provided at the same time
30 days
Tenders may not be submitted electronically, but the tender notice and associated tender documents are all provided at the same time
30 days
Tenders may not be submitted electronically, and the tender notice and associated tender documents are not all provided at the same time
35 days
(5) In this section—
“central government authority” has the meaning given in paragraph 5 of Schedule 1;
“negotiated tendering period” means a tendering period agreed between a contracting authority and pre-selected suppliers in circumstances where tenders may be submitted only by those pre-selected suppliers;
“qualifying planned procurement notice” has the meaning given in section 15;
“participation period” means the period beginning with the day following the day on which a contracting authority invites the submission of requests to participate in a competitive flexible procedure and ending with the day by which those requests must be submitted;
“pre-selected supplier” means a supplier that—
(a)has been assessed as satisfying conditions of participation before being invited to submit a tender as part of a competitive tendering procedure, or
(b)in the case of a contract that is being awarded by reference to suppliers’ membership of a dynamic market, is a member of that market;
“tendering period” means the period beginning with the day following the day on which a contracting authority invites the submission of tenders as part of a competitive tendering procedure and ending with the day by which tenders must be submitted.

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2023/54/section/54 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/procurement-act-2023/section-54
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.