Negotiated Procedure Without Prior Publication

The Negotiated Procedure Without Prior Publication (NPWP) is a type of tendering procedure whereby the contracting authority enters into negotiations with one or more potential contractors, without first publishing a contract notice in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU).

In order to use this procedure, the contracting authority must have justification for doing so which is recorded in writing. This could be because only one contractor is capable of carrying out the work, or because it would be unduly costly or time-consuming to carry out a full tendering process.

Once the decision has been made to go ahead with an NPWP, the contracting authority must launch a market consultation in order to gauge interest from potential contractors. This is done by sending out a letter or email to all companies that may be able to carry out the work, inviting them to express their interest.

After expressions of interest have been received, the contracting authority will then negotiate with one or more of these companies on the terms of the contract. The aim of these negotiations is to agree on a price and other conditions that are acceptable to both parties. Once an agreement has been reached, a contract can be awarded without any further competition.

While this procedure can save time and money, it does leave room for potential abuse as there is no guarantee that all companies interested in the work will be invited to participate in the market consultation.