# The Utilities Contracts Regulations 1996, Regulation 2: Interpretation


(1) In these Regulations—
“to award” means to accept an offer made in relation to a proposed contract;
“carrying out” in realation to a work or works means the construction or the design and construction of that work or those works;
“the Commission” means the European Commission;
“contract” means any services contract, supply contract or works contract;
“contract documents” means the invitation to tender for or to negotiate the contract, the proposed conditions of contract, the specifications or descriptions of the goods, services, work or works required by the utility and all documents supplementary thereto;
“contract notice” means a notice sent to the Official Journal in accordance with regulation 15(2)(b);
“contractor” has the meaning ascribed to it by regulation 4;
“design contest” means a competition, particularly in the fields of planning, architecture, engineering and data processing,
(a) which is conducted by a utility in which it invites the entry of plans or designs;
(b) under the rules of which the plans or designs will be judged by a jury;
(c) under which prizes may or may not be awarded; and
(d) which enables the utility to acquire the use or ownership of plans or designs selected by the jury;
“ECU” means the European Currency Unit as defined in Council Regulation (EEC) No. 3180/78;
“established” means the same as it does for the purposes of the Community Treaties;
“financial year” means the period of 12 months ending on the date in any year in respect of which the accounts of a utility are prepared;
“framework agreement” means an agreement or other arrangement which is not in itself a supply, works or services contract, which establishes the terms (in particular the terms as to price and where appropriate quantity) under which the provider will enter into such contracts with a utility in the period during which the framework agreement applies;
“goods” includes electricity, substances, growing crops and things attached to or forming part of the land which are agreed to be severed before the purchase or hire under a supply contract, any ship, aircraft or vehicle and, when the utility is an entity specified in Part T of Schedule 1, is deemed to include telecommunications software services;
“Minister” has the meaning ascribed to it by regulation 28;
“Minister of the Crown” means the holder of an office in Her Majesty’s Government in the United Kingdom, and includes the Treasury;
“national of a relevant State” means, in the case of a person who is not an individual, a person formed in accordance with the laws of a relevant State and which has its registered office, central administration or principal place of business in a relevant State;
“negotiated procedure” means a procedure leading to the award of a contract whereby the utility negotiates the terms of the contract with one or more persons selected by it;
“Official Journal” means the Official Journal of the European Communities;
“open procedure” means a procedure leading to the award of a contract whereby all interested persons may tender for the contract;
“periodic indicative notice” means a notice sent to the Official Journal in accordance with regulation 14;
“provider” means any supplier, contractor or services provider;
“public telecommunications network” means an infrastructure for the use of the public which enables signals to be conveyed by wire, microwave, optical means or other electromagnetic means between physical connections which are necessary for access to and efficient communication through the network;
“public telecommunications services” means services which consist in whole or in part in the transmission and routing of signals on a public telecommunications network by means of telecommunications processes other than radio broadcasting and television;
“relevant State” has the meaning ascribed to it by regulation 4(2);
“restricted procedure” means a procedure leading to the award of a contract whereby only persons selected by the utility may submit tenders for the contract;
“services contract” means a contract in writing for consideration (whatever the nature of the consideration), other than a supply contract or a works contract, under which a utility engages a person to provide services but does not include—
(i) a contract of employment or other contract of service; or
(ii) a contract under which a utility engages a person to provide to the public services lying within its responsibility and under which the consideration given by the utility consists of or includes the right to exploit the provision of the services;
“services provider” has the meaning ascribed to it by regulation 4;
“ship” includes any boat and any description of a vessel used in navigation;
“software services” means the design or adaptation of software;
“substance” means any natural or artificial substance, whether in solid, liquid or gaseous form or in the form of a vapour;
“supplier” has the meaning ascribed to it by regulation 4;
“supply contract” means a contract in writing for consideration (whatever the nature of the consideration)—
(a) for the purchase of goods by a utility (whether or not the consideration is given in instalments and whether or not the purchase is conditional upon the occurrence of a particular event), or
(b) for the hire of goods by a utility (both where the utility becomes the owner of the goods after the end of the period of hire and where it does not),
and for any siting and installation of those goods, but where, under such a contract, services are also to be provided, the contract shall only be a supply contract if the value of the consideration attributable to the goods is greater than the value attributable to the services;
“telecommunications software services” means software services for use in the operation of a public telecommunications network or which are intended to be used in the provision of a public telecommunications service as such;
“utility” has the meaning ascribed to it by regulation 3;
“work” means the outcome of any works which is sufficient of itself to fulfil an economic and technical function;
“working day” means a day other than a Saturday, Sunday or Bank Holiday within the meaning of the Banking and Financial Dealings Act 1971;
“works” means any of the activities specified in Schedulde 3 being activities contained in the general industrial classification of economic activities within the Communities;
“works contract” means a contract in writing for consideration (whatever the nature of the consideration)—
(a) for the carrying out of a work or works for a utility, or
(b) under which a utility engages a person to procure by any means the carrying out for the utility of a work corresponding to specified requirements; and
“year” means a calendar year.
(2) For the purposes of these Regulations—
(a) “Part A services contract” is a contract under which services specified in Part A of Schedule 4 are to be provided;
(b) “Part B services contract” is a contract under which services specified in Part B of Schedule 4 are to be provided,
and, where services specified in both Parts A and B are to be provided under a single contract, then
(i) the contract shall be treated as a Part A services contract if the value of the consideration attributable to the services specified in Part A is greater than that attributable to those specified in Part B; and
(ii) the contract shall be treated as a Part B services contract if the value of the consideration attributable to the services specified in Part B is equal to or greater than that attributable to those specified in Part A.
(3) The value in the currency of any State of any amount expressed in these Regulations in ECU shall be determined by reference to the rate for the time being applying for the purposes of Council Directive 93/38/EEC published from time to time in the Official Journal.
(4) Where a thing is required to be done under these Regulations—
(a) within a period after an action is taken, the day on which that action was taken shall not be counted in the calculation of that period;
(b) within a certain period, that period must include 2 working days;
(c) within a period and the last day of that period is not a working day, the period shall be extended to include the following working day.
(5) References in these Regulations to a regulation are references to a regulation in these Regulations and references to a Schedule are references to a Schedule to these Regulations.

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1996/2911/regulation/2 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/utilities-contracts-regulations-1996/regulation-2
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.