EU tenders: significant decrease
The tenders of amount exceeding 215 thousand eurossubject to European legislation, have suffered a significant contraction. In the first ten months of 2024, the number of these races increased from 2,014 in 2022 to 881, recording a decrease of 56.3%.
In terms of value, a decline of 59.2% was observed, while the number of races decreased by 40.2%.
Framework agreements on the rise in October 2024
In October 2024, they were published 23 calls for framework agreementsrepresenting 9.1% of the total tenders for architecture and engineering services, with a total value of 33.1 million euros, equal to 20.1% of the total value.
Compared to September, there was a increase of 280.4% in value and 283.3% in number. Comparing with October 2023, the increase is 80.3% in value and 360.0% in number.
Integrated procurement: decreasing trend
There were 80 integrated procurement tenders detected in October 2024with an estimated value for the executive design of 5.0 million euros. Compared to September, there was a decrease of 68.8% in value and an increase of 14.3% in the number of tenders.
Comparing with October 2023, the value decreased by 88.5% and the number of races by 22.3%. In the period January-October 2024, the total value of executive design in integrated procurement was 201.9 million euros, a reduction of 79.1% compared to the same period in 2023.
The comment of the OICE President, Giorgio Lupoi
Despite the recovery observed in October 2024, the sector of public tenders for engineering and architectural services continues to show signs of weakness compared to previous years.
The President of OICE, Giorgio Lupoi, attributes the negative trend in the engineering and architecture tenders sector to various factors. Here is his comment on the data:
“We welcome the October data but it is now clear that this year will close substantially at the levels of 2019. Now the PNRR for our sector it can be said to be almost exhausted if we look at public demand, at least that which did not emerge in the trust assignments. The obvious effects of the choice to expand the direct assignments is that tenders of a certain amount (at a European level, above 215 thousand euros) are one and a half times less than they were in 2022 and so is the value trend. Looking ahead, it is necessary, even with the corrective decree, finally formalized and transmitted to the bodies that will have to provide opinions, recover levels of competition and transparencystarting from the reduction of thresholds. We know that the Government seems reluctant to intervene but we believe that the quality of the loans cannot pass for almost 90% of cases fiduciary procedures. On the other hand, the acceptance of our proposal on the requirements, reported to 10 years, the protections included for contractual balance in the framework agreements and the fair compensation solution whose effects will need to be verified. For us, however, it is essential, also in light of these data, that it is contractual advance reintroducedreview the liberalization of integrated procurement, insert Anac guidelines 1 in the annexes and then proceed to issue a standard contract to make the principle of contractual balance effective.”
