Internal recruitment instructions

Zaragoza, a 10 de mayo de 2016

CHAPTER I. GENERAL RULES

Background
1. Feria de Zaragoza is an exhibition centre governed by current legislation and its own statutes.
2. Feria de Zaragoza is one of Spain's leading trade fair organisations, and many of the events it hosts are at the forefront of the international trade fair scene in Europe.
3. Its main activity is the organisation of official competitions and fairs.
Purpose
1. These rules govern the procedures for awarding onerous contracts with suppliers that are required for the performance of its activities.
2. These IICs will be available to all parties interested in participating in the contract award procedures governed by them through their publication in the Contractor Profile of Feria de Zaragoza.
Scope of application
1. The awarding of contracts for works, services and supplies required for the development of the activities of Feria de Zaragoza shall be governed by these IIC.
2. Employment contracts are excluded from the scope of these IICs.
General principles
1. These IICs guarantee the principles of publicity and transparency in procedures, competition, equal treatment of bidders and non-discrimination, confidentiality, as well as the awarding of the contract to the bid that offers the best value for money in view of the purpose of the contract and the aims of the Fair. The principle of publicity and transparency in procedures will be duly guaranteed through the public dissemination of any information relating to the contract in the Contractor Profile of Feria de Zaragoza, prior to the submission of bids and throughout the award procedure. The information that must generally be provided includes, among other things:
  - a) The basic characteristics of the contract: subject matter, term, maximum tender amount and payment terms, as well as, where applicable, Specific and Technical Conditions.
  - b) The minimum technical and financial solvency requirements, as well as the documentation required for accreditation.
  - c) The deadline and location for submitting bids, as well as the stages of the award procedure.
  - d) The award criteria and their relative weighting.
2. As an additional means to that indicated in the previous section, the contracting authority may announce the tender for contracts subject to IICs in the Official State Gazette (BOE) or, where applicable, in the Official Gazette of Aragon.
3. The principle of equal treatment between tenderers and non-discrimination shall be ensured, in general, by compliance with the following basic requirements:
  - a) All tenderers must have the same prior information and the same opportunities to prepare and submit their respective tenders, and under no circumstances may one or more tenderers be provided with information that could give them an advantage over the other candidates.
  - b) The description of the contract shall not refer to a specific manufacture or provenance, brand, patent, type, origin or production, except where, exceptionally, due to its very nature, this is essential for the purpose of the contract and is expressly justified in the file.
4. The principle of confidentiality shall be guaranteed, in general, by complying with the following basic requirements:
  - a) The contracting authority shall not disclose information provided by tenderers in their tenders that they have designated as confidential, where such information may affect technical or commercial secrets.
  - b) The successful contractor shall not disclose any information to which it has had access during the performance of the contract and which the contracting authority has designated as confidential.
5. From an internal organisational perspective, the recruitment procedure set out in these instructions shall be governed by the following guiding principles, which must be applied throughout all procedures. Specifically, the following should be highlighted:
  - a) The procurement procedure set out in these procurement instructions, as well as all persons involved in it, should be considered as the provision of a service to the other departments of the Organisation, and specifically to those where a need has been identified to be met through the acquisition of a good or service.
  - b) With the aim of promoting teamwork and maximising the value provided to the company, each person involved in the purchasing process will remain receptive to the contributions of others, especially regarding technical issues relating to the service or product requested.
  - c) All agents of the organisation must preserve the internal control of the Organisation and promote the correct processing of files by following the pre-established procedures and respecting the general principles that must inform recruitment.
  - d) In order to guarantee the quality of the products/services received and to evaluate them once they have been provided, the user or requesting departments must complete an evaluation form once the contracts have been completed. This requirement will only apply to suppliers who, due to their annual turnover, can be considered strategic for the fair.
Contracting authority.
1. The contracting authority is made up of the following members:
  1. In the Direct Contracting Procedure established in rule 13.2 of these IIC, the Contracting Authority shall be the Director General of the Feria.
  2. In the awarding of works contracts worth between €50,000 and €100,000, as well as in the awarding of supply and service contracts worth between €18,000 and €50,000, the contracting authority shall be composed of the Director General and a member of the Executive Committee appointed for this purpose by said Committee.
  3. For the awarding of works contracts worth €100,000 or more, and supply and service contracts worth €50,000 or more, the contracting authority shall be the President of the Feria.
2. Notwithstanding the foregoing, contracts with an estimated value equal to or greater than €100,000 must be authorised by the Executive Committee of Feria de Zaragoza prior to tender.
3. If the contract affects the powers of the Governing Board, as currently defined in Article 10 of the Statutes approved by Order of 14 January 2003 of the Department of Industry, Trade and Development of the Government of Aragon (BOA of 17 January 2003), prior to the tender, favourable authorisation must be issued by the Governing Board of Feria de Zaragoza. This authorisation does not include that referred to in the previous paragraph, if applicable.

CHAPTER II. CAPACITY AND SOLVENCY TO CONTRACT

Suitability for employment.
1. Only natural or legal persons, Spanish or foreign, who have full legal capacity, are not subject to any prohibition on contracting, and can prove their economic, financial, technical, or professional solvency may contract with Feria de Zaragoza.
2. In cases where a specific professional or business qualification is required, tenderers or candidates must possess such qualification and provide appropriate proof thereof.
3. Legal entities may only be awarded contracts whose services fall within the scope of their purposes, objectives or activities as set out in their statutes or founding rules.
4. Community companies. In any case, non-Spanish companies from European Union Member States that, in accordance with the legislation of the State in which they are established, are authorised to provide the service in question, shall be eligible to contract. Where the legislation of the State in which these companies are established requires special authorisation or membership of a specific organisation in order to provide the service in question, they must prove that they meet this requirement.
5. Non-EU companies. Natural or legal persons from countries outside the European Union must provide proof, in the form of a report from the respective Spanish Permanent Diplomatic Mission, which must be accompanied by the documentation submitted, that the country of origin of the foreign company also allows the participation of Spanish companies. In order to enter into works contracts, these companies must also have a branch office in Spain, with designated agents or representatives for their operations, and be registered in the Commercial Register.
6. Special compatibility conditions. Companies that have participated in the preparation of the technical specifications or preparatory documents for the contract may not participate in the tendering process if such participation could restrict free competition or result in preferential treatment with respect to the other bidding companies.
7. Contracts for the supervision, monitoring, control and management of the execution of works and installations may not be awarded to the same companies that have been awarded the corresponding works contracts, nor to companies linked to them, understood as those that fall under any of the cases provided for in Article 42 of the Commercial Code.
8. Business associations. Contracts may be entered into with business associations that are temporarily formed for this purpose, without the need to formalise them in a public deed until the contract has been awarded in their favour.
9. Entrepreneurs participating in temporary unions shall be jointly liable and must appoint a single representative or attorney-in-fact of the union with sufficient authority to exercise the rights and fulfill the obligations arising from the contract until its termination, without prejudice to the existence of joint powers that may be granted for significant collections and payments.
10. For the purposes of the tender, entrepreneurs wishing to participate as part of a temporary consortium must indicate the names and details of those forming it and each member's share, as well as commit to formally establishing a temporary consortium in the event they are awarded the contract.
11. The duration of temporary business partnerships will coincide with that of the contract until its termination.
Prohibitions on hiring.
1. Persons who are subject to any legal prohibitions will not be able to contract with Feria de Zaragoza.
Solvency.
1. Entrepreneurs must prove that they possess the minimum conditions of economic and financial solvency, as well as professional and technical competence, as determined by the contracting authority.
2. The minimum solvency requirements that the contractor must meet and the documentation required to prove them will be indicated in the tender notice published in the Contractor Profile and/or in the specific terms and conditions, and must be related to the subject of the contract and proportional to it.
3. To demonstrate the necessary solvency to enter into a specific contract, the entrepreneur may rely on the solvency and resources of other entities, regardless of the legal nature of the ties with them, provided that they can prove that they actually have those resources for the execution of the contract.

CHAPTER III. CONTRACT PREPARATION AND AWARD PROCEDURES

Contract Preparation.
1. Subject Matter. The subject matter of contracts must be determined and must be established in accordance with the following rules:
  - a) A contract may not be split in order to reduce its value and thus circumvent the advertising requirements or those relating to the award procedure that apply, in accordance with these instructions.
  - b) Notwithstanding the foregoing, the independent realization of each of its parts may be provided for by dividing it into lots, provided that these are capable of separate use or exploitation and constitute a functional unit, or as required by the nature of the object.
2. Price. The contractor's remuneration will consist of a fixed price expressed in euros; the contracting authority will ensure that the price is adequate for the effective performance of the contract by correctly estimating its amount. The price will be indicated excluding Value Added Tax, which, in any case, will be shown as a separate item.
3. Estimated Contract Value. The estimated contract value will be determined by the total amount, excluding Value Added Tax. Any potential option clauses and contract extensions must be taken into account when calculating the total estimated amount. If the contract documentation or tender notice stipulates the possibility of contract modification, the estimated contract value will be the maximum amount the contract may reach, considering all foreseen modifications.
4. Guarantees. Generally, no provisional or final guarantee will be required to demonstrate the solvency of the bid and protect against liabilities that contractors may incur due to withdrawal or breach of contractual obligations. When the nature, importance, or other circumstances of the contract so advise, the request for proposals, announcement, or tender specifications may stipulate the establishment of both a provisional and a final guarantee. If guarantees are required, the provisional guarantee will be 2% of the base bid price and the final guarantee 5% of the award amount, in both cases excluding Value Added Tax.
5. The guarantee will be accepted by means of a joint and several guarantee payable on first demand, and the provision of a surety bond will also be accepted. The guarantee will be issued in favor of Feria de Zaragoza by one of the banks, savings banks, credit unions, financial credit institutions, or mutual guarantee societies authorized to operate in Spain. The surety bond must be obtained from an insurance company authorized to operate in this line of business.
6. The document containing the guarantee provided will be deposited with the Contracting Authority of Feria de Zaragoza.
7. Special Conditions. When the estimated value of the contract exceeds €50,000, Special Conditions will be drawn up, which will include at least the following aspects:
  - a) The basic characteristics of the contract, including the object, term, price and payment conditions.
  - b) Contractor technical and capacity requirements.
  - c) In this case, the variant admission regime.
  - d) The methods for receiving offers.
  - e) The criteria for evaluating the bids, as well as their relative weighting and the methodology for carrying it out.
  - f) In this case, the guarantees that the eventual successful bidder must provide.
  - g) Contract execution conditions such as work methodology, occupational risk prevention, exclusivity clause (if applicable), waste management (if applicable) or subscription of a Civil Liability insurance (if deemed necessary).
  - h) Implementation period.
  - i) Existence or not of a contracting committee.
  - j) Establishment of a Civil Liability insurance (if deemed necessary).
  - k) In this case, information on the conditions of subrogation in employment contracts in cases where such subrogation is mandatory.
  - When deemed necessary by the contracting authority, the Special Conditions will include as an annex a document defining the required technical specifications or, where applicable, will be regulated in a separate document, called the Technical Specifications Document, when the complexity of the subject matter of the tender so requires. The specifications must be approved by the contracting authority before invitations are issued and/or published on the Feria de Zaragoza website. The Special Conditions will form an integral part of the contract and must be published on the "Contracting Authority Profile".
Common rules.
1. The award procedures will be governed by the following common rules:
  - a) Mail. When proposals are submitted by mail, notice of their submission by this means must be given by telegram, fax or email, received at the place indicated for the submission of proposals before the end of said submission period.
  - b) Time limits. The time limits specified in these IICs will always be in calendar days, unless otherwise indicated. The calculation of these time limits will begin on the day following publication on the contracting authority's profile, and failing that, on the day following notification. In the case of time limits calculated in months, they will be calculated from date to date, with the initial day of the calculation being the day following notification or publication, and the final day being the equivalent of the day of notification or publication. If there is no equivalent day in the month of expiry, the time limit will be understood to expire on the last day of the month. If the last day of the time limit falls on a non-working day, the time limit will be extended to the next working day. Saturdays, Sundays, and public holidays of the locality where Feria de Zaragoza is headquartered, i.e., the city of Zaragoza, will be considered non-working days. The deadlines may be reduced by up to half their duration for reasons of urgency. The urgency must be justified and stated from the beginning of the procedure and in the documentation provided to bidders for submitting their bids. Likewise, the deadlines may be extended, with justification, up to twice their duration. This justification must, in all cases and without prejudice to other considerations, be based on reasons of promoting competition.
Possibility of withdrawing offers.
1. If the award is not made within the time limits set out in this Instruction, the bidders will have the right to withdraw their offer by formally notifying the contracting authority.
Bid evaluation criteria.
1. The contracting authority will set the criteria for evaluating the bids in accordance with the following rules:
  - a) To determine the offer with the best value for money, criteria directly related to the object of the contract must be considered, such as: price, quality, delivery or execution time, environmental characteristics or those related to the satisfaction of social requirements, profitability, aesthetic or functional characteristics, maintenance, technical assistance, after-sales service or other similar factors.
  - b) Criteria that should be used to demonstrate the solvency of potential bidders, such as the company's experience or the material or personal resources it has available, may not be used as criteria for evaluating bids.
  - c) In determining the criteria for evaluating offers, priority should be given to those that refer to characteristics of the object of the contract that can be valued by figures or percentages obtained through the mere application of the formulas that, where applicable, are determined by the Special Conditions.
  - d) The evaluation of bids according to criteria that can be quantified by the mere application of formulas will be carried out after first carrying out the evaluation of those other criteria in which this circumstance does not occur.
  - e) When more than one assessment criterion is taken into consideration, the relative weighting attributed to each of them on a maximum total score of 100 points must be specified.
  - f) When a single evaluation criterion is used, it must necessarily be the lowest price offered.
Award procedures.
1. Contracts subject to these IICs will be awarded, as appropriate, through the Direct Contracting Procedure, the Simplified Contracting Procedure or the Ordinary Contracting Procedure.
2. Direct Contracting Procedure (DCP): All works contracts with an estimated value of less than €50,000, or all other contracts with an estimated value of less than €18,000, fall under the DCP threshold. The award procedure will be carried out according to the following rules:
  - a) The contracting authority may award these contracts directly to any business, provided it has the legal capacity to act and the necessary qualifications to carry out the specific service. When the contract's estimated value is equal to or greater than €6,000, at least three bids with their corresponding budgets must be requested and reviewed.
  - b) For contracts with an estimated value of less than €6,000, only approval of the expenditure and inclusion of the corresponding invoice in the file will be required. For contracts with an estimated value of €6,000 or more, a technical report justifying the selection of the successful bidder will also be necessary.
  - c) Optionally, the contracting authority may publish information relating to contracts awarded through the Direct Contracting Procedure via the "Contractor Profile".
  - d) In the case of contracts with an estimated value equal to or greater than 6,000 euros, if the offer submitted by a businessperson is significantly lower than the second lowest-priced offer submitted, the first offer may be discarded if the viability of providing the service or supplying the product is considered to be of doubtful credibility.
3. Simplified Procurement Procedure (PSC): All works contracts with an estimated value equal to or greater than €50,000 and less than €1,000,000, or all other contracts with an estimated value equal to or greater than €18,000 and less than €100,000, fall under the PSC threshold. The award procedure will be carried out according to the following rules:
  - a) In the case of a contract with an estimated value greater than 18,000 euros and less than 50,000 euros, the contracting authority will request a minimum of 5 offers from businesses qualified to carry out the object of the contract.
  - b) In cases where the estimated value of the contract is equal to or exceeds €50,000, the call for tenders will be published on the profile, stating the deadlines for submitting offers, and the tender documents will be made public therein.
  - c) In cases where the estimated value of the contract is equal to or exceeds €50,000, the contracting authority may request a minimum of five bids from businesses qualified to perform the contract's work, if it deems it appropriate. In any case, the number of bidders in the procedure must be sufficient to ensure effective competition.
  - d) The invitations, or requests for proposals, will contain a reference to the tender notice published in the “Contractor Profile” and will indicate the basic characteristics of the contract, including, among others, the object, the term and the base price of the tender; the deadline for receipt of the offers and the address to which they must be sent, the award criteria and their relative weighting.
  - e) The invitation to candidates will include, where applicable, a copy of the Special Conditions and any other supplementary documentation or, where applicable, will contain the appropriate instructions to allow access to said documents through the “Contracting Authority Profile”.
  - f) Bidders' offers must be submitted in three separate envelopes, which must include the following documentation:
    - Regarding 1) “Documents accrediting the suitability to contract”: this will include the documents required in each case by the contracting authority in order to accredit the suitability and capacity to contract of the bidder and, where appropriate, an email address where notifications and requirements can be made.
    - Regarding 2) “Technical Offer”.
    - Regarding 3) “Economic Offer” will include the candidate's economic offer, expressed in euros and excluding VAT.
  - g) The maximum deadline for submitting bids will be 15 working days from the date the invitations are sent to the various bidders.
  - h) Once the documentation from the bidders has been received, the contracting authority will proceed prior to opening Envelope 1) in order to verify the accreditation of their eligibility to contract.
  - i) If, in the opinion of the contracting authority, there are any remediable defects or omissions in the documentation submitted by the bidding companies, this circumstance will be communicated in writing to the interested parties and made public through the "Contractor Profile", granting them a maximum period of 3 working days to proceed to remedy the defect.
  - j) Bids submitted by bidders who do not meet the required capacity and solvency requirements or who do not provide or correct the documentation proving their identity, capacity and solvency will be excluded from the contract award procedure.
  - k) Once the bidders' eligibility to contract has been verified, the contracting authority will proceed to open Envelope 2) “Technical Offer”, for which it may request as many technical reports as it considers necessary to verify that the offers comply with the technical specifications of the tender documents.
  - l) After evaluating Envelope 2), the contracting authority will proceed to evaluate the contents of Envelope 3) “Financial Offer” according to the automatic evaluation criteria previously indicated in the tender documents or defined in the invitations or profile. The contract award will be decided with a statement of reasons within a maximum period of 15 working days from the receipt of the offers or, where applicable, from the expiry of the maximum period for correcting any deficiencies in them.
  - m) In any case, the tender information and, in particular, the list of admitted and excluded bidders as well as the award decision by the contracting authority must be published in the “Contractor Profile”, without prejudice to the contracting authority deeming it appropriate to use additional means of publicity.
4. Ordinary Procurement Procedure (OPP): All contracts not subject to harmonized regulation with an estimated value equal to or greater than €1,000,000 for works contracts, or €100,000 for all other contracts, fall within the OPP threshold. The award procedure will be carried out according to the following rules:
  - a) The contracting authority must publish in the “Contractor Profile” a tender notice containing the basic information and characteristics of the contract (among others, the description of the essential characteristics of the contract and maximum tender amount, the deadline for submitting bids and the remaining phases of the procedure, as well as the method and criteria for awarding the contract), the Special Conditions and any other supplementary documentation.
  - b) In the Ordinary Procurement Procedure, any interested businessperson may submit a bid.
  - c) Bidders' offers must be submitted in three separate envelopes, which must include the following documentation:
    - Regarding 1) “Accreditation of the ability to contract”: this will include the documents required in each case by the contracting authority in order to accredit the bidder's ability and capacity to contract and, where applicable, an email address where notifications and requests can be made.
    - Regarding 2) “Offer requirements subject to non-automatic assessment”, it will include the rest of the elements of the offer that, according to the specifications, must be subject to non-automatic assessment.
    - Regarding 3) “Offer requirements subject to automatic evaluation” will include the candidate's economic offer, expressed in euros and excluding VAT, as well as the elements of the offer subject to automatic evaluation according to the contract's governing document.
  - d) The deadline for submitting bids will not be less than 30 calendar days from the publication of the tender notice in the “Contractor Profile”.
  - e) If, in the opinion of the contracting authority, there are any remediable defects or omissions in the documentation submitted by the bidding companies, this circumstance will be communicated in writing to the interested parties and made public through the "Contractor Profile", granting them a maximum period of 3 working days to proceed to remedy the defect.
  - f) Bids submitted by bidders who do not meet the required capacity and solvency requirements or who do not provide or correct the documentation proving their identity, capacity and solvency will be excluded from the contract award procedure.
  - g) After verifying the bidders' eligibility to contract, the contracting authority will proceed to open Envelope 2) of those who have been admitted for the evaluation of their bids and will proceed to the evaluation according to the non-automatic evaluation criteria previously indicated in the tender documents, for which it may request as many technical reports as it considers necessary to verify that the bids comply with the technical specifications of the tender documents.
  - h) After having previously carried out the assessment of Envelope 2), the contracting authority will proceed to open and assess Envelope 3) and will proceed to assess according to the pre-established automatic criteria.
  - i) The contract award will be decided with a reasoned explanation within a maximum period of 20 working days from the receipt of the offers or, where applicable, from the expiry of the maximum period for correcting them.
  - j) In any case, the tender information and, in particular, the list of admitted and excluded bidders as well as the award decision by the contracting authority must be published in the “Contractor Profile”, without prejudice to the contracting authority deeming it appropriate to use additional means of publicity.
5. Specific case for application of the direct contracting procedure. The direct contracting procedure provided for in this Instruction may be applied regardless of the contract amount:
  - a) When, for technical or artistic reasons or for reasons related to the protection of exclusive rights in the contract, it can only be entrusted to a specific business.
  - b) When an urgent situation, resulting from unforeseeable events beyond the control of the contracting authority, requires the prompt execution of a contract that cannot be achieved through the expedited procedures regulated in this Procurement Instruction, the application of direct contracting under this point of the Instruction will require a prior reasoned report from the contract manager confirming that the necessary conditions for such direct contracting are met. The application of direct contracting under this point of the Instruction does not preclude the publication of a tender notice on the website and the preparation of tender specifications if the estimated value of the contract equals or exceeds €50,000.
6. Procurement Committee. When deemed appropriate by the contracting authority, it will be assisted by a procurement committee composed of the following members:
  - a) In procedures where the Contracting Authority is composed of the Director General and a member of the Executive Committee designated for this purpose by said Committee, the Contracting Board will be composed of the Director of Purchases, who will preside over it, and three members designated for this purpose.
  - b) In procedures where the Contracting Authority is the President of the Trade Fair, the Procurement Committee will be composed of the Director General, who will act as Chair, and the Head of Administration, the Purchasing Director, and the Director of the requesting Department, who will act as members. In cases of force majeure, members of the Committee may be replaced with justification. The Chair of the Procurement Committee's vote will be decisive in the event of a tie. All the aforementioned members will be appointed by the Contracting Authority. They will perform the functions assigned to them by said Contracting Authority.
Deserted procedure.
1. Any tendering procedure may be declared void if no bidders submit bids or if the bids are inadmissible; in the latter case, the decision must be justified with reference to the tender specifications or request for submission of bids.
Waiver and withdrawal
1. Withdrawal from Contract Award and Discontinuation of the Award Procedure by Feria. If the contracting authority withdraws from awarding a contract for which it has issued the corresponding call for tenders, it will notify the candidates or bidders and publish this information on the relevant website. Withdrawal from contract award or discontinuation of the procedure may only be decided by the contracting authority before the award. In both cases, the candidates or bidders will be compensated for the expenses they have incurred, as stipulated in the notice or tender specifications, or in accordance with the general principles governing the liability of the Administration. Withdrawal from contract award may only occur for reasons of public interest duly justified in the file. In this case, a new tender for the same subject matter may not be initiated as long as the reasons given for the withdrawal remain valid. Withdrawal from the procedure must be based on an irremediable breach of the contract preparation rules or the rules governing the award procedure, and the existence of the cause must be justified in the file. Withdrawal will not prevent the immediate initiation of a new bidding procedure.
2. Withdrawal of the contract by the successful bidder. If the successful bidder withdraws from the contract or fails to submit the supporting documentation within the specified period, it will be understood that the bidder has withdrawn their offer, and the same documentation will be requested from the next bidder, in the order in which the offers were ranked.
Formalization of the contract
1. Once the contract has been awarded by the contracting authority, it must be formalized in writing within 10 working days from the notification of the award, and must contain at least the following information:
  - a) The identification of the parties.
  - b) Proof of the signatories' capacity to sign the contract.
  - c) The definition of the object of the contract.
  - d) The reference to the legislation applicable to the contract.
  - e) The enumeration of the documents that make up the contract.
  - f) The certain price or the way to determine it.
  - g) Payment terms.
  - h) The duration of the contract or the estimated dates for the start of its execution and for its completion, as well as the extension or extensions, if any.
  - i) The conditions of delivery, receipt or acceptance of the services.
  - j) The circumstances under which the resolution is appropriate.
  - k) The objective and temporal scope of the duty of confidentiality that may be imposed on the contractor.
2. Unless otherwise stated in the contract terms, contracts shall be deemed to have been concluded at the place where the headquarters of the contracting authority is located.
3. Contracts will be considered perfected upon their formalization.

CHAPTER IV. MODIFICATION OF CONTRACTS

Contract modification
1. In general, the modification of contracts will be governed by the following rules:
  - a) Contracts may only be modified when so provided in the tender documents or the tender notice, without prejudice to the cases relating to the succession of the contractor, assignment of the contract, price revision and extension of the execution period.
  - b) In any other cases, if it is necessary for the service to be performed in a manner different from that agreed, the existing contract must initially be terminated and another one entered into under the relevant conditions.
  - c) The contract may not be modified to add supplementary services to those initially contracted, expand the scope of the contract to encompass new purposes not included in the preparatory documentation, or incorporate a service that can be used or exploited independently. In these cases, a new contract for the corresponding service must be awarded.
Planned modifications
1. The modifications foreseen in the contractual documentation will be governed by the following rules:
  - a) Contracts may be modified provided this possibility has been expressly stated in the tender documents. This provision must clearly, precisely, and unambiguously specify the conditions under which such modifications may be made, the scope of the modifications that may be agreed upon, expressly indicating the maximum percentage of the contract price that may be affected, and the procedure to be followed.
  - b) For these purposes, the circumstances under which the contract may be modified must be defined with complete specificity by reference to circumstances whose occurrence must be specified in sufficient detail to allow bidders to assess them for the purpose of formulating their offer and to be taken into account with regard to the requirement of suitability conditions for bidders and the assessment of offers.
  - c) Contractual modifications will be agreed upon in the manner specified in the notice or the tender documents. Before proceeding with the modification of the contract, the drafter of the project or the technical specifications, if these were prepared by a third party unrelated to the contracting authority under a service contract, will be given a hearing to submit any relevant considerations within a period of no less than three days.
Unforeseen modifications
1. Modifications not foreseen in the contractual documentation will be governed by the following rules:
  - a) Modifications not foreseen in the specifications or in the tender notice may only be made when sufficiently justified in the file and it is not possible to carry out a new tender.
  - b) These modifications may not alter the essential conditions of the bidding and awarding process, and must include the variations strictly necessary to respond to the objective cause that makes them necessary.
  - A material alteration of the bidding and award process is considered to have occurred when it results in a contract of a materially different nature than the one originally entered into; when the conditions it introduces would have led to the selection of another contractor for the original contract or would have attracted more bidders; when the modification alters the economic balance of the contract to the benefit of the contractor in a manner not foreseen in the initial contract; when the modification significantly expands the scope of the contract; and when the works, supplies or services subject to the modification fall within the scope of another current or future contract.
Homologation agreements
1. The Zaragoza Fair may hold homologation agreements in order to set the conditions to which the contracts to be awarded within a certain period of time must conform.
2. The value of the homologation agreement will be estimated based on the estimate of the set of contracts expected during the duration of the agreement.
3. It may be carried out for a maximum period of four years, except in justified cases.
4. The number of employers included in the Approval Agreement will not be less than three unless there is justification for the lack of offers.
5. The procedure described in section 13.4 above will be used for the conclusion of the homologation agreements.
6. For the awarding of contracts arising from a Standardization Agreement that do not exceed the limits of harmonized contracts, the procedure will be governed by the terms established in the Standardization Agreement itself. If not all the terms are included in the Standardization Agreement, it will suffice to request a quotation from the businesses included in the Standardization Agreement or, with due justification, from three of them, awarding the contract to the business that submits the best quotation.

CHAPTER V. LEGAL NATURE, LEGAL REGIME AND COMPETENT JURISDICTION

Nature and legal regime
1. Contracts entered into by Feria de Zaragoza will be considered private contracts and will be governed entirely by the content of these instructions.
Competent jurisdiction
1. The civil jurisdiction will be competent to resolve the controversies and litigious issues that arise between the parties in relation to the preparation, award, effects, fulfillment and termination of the contracts entered into by Feria de Zaragoza.
Production of effects
1. These IICs will take effect from the same day of their publication in the Contracting Authority Profile.

EXHIBIT

Information about contracts subject to harmonized regulation.

Contracts subject to harmonized regulation will be governed by the provisions of Article 190 of the TRLCSP, and this Instruction will not apply to them.

Contracts subject to harmonized regulation are those determined in art. 13 of the TRLCSP.

This article can be systematized as follows:

Public-private sector collaboration agreement	Subject in any case
Public works and concession contracts	Subject to an estimated value equal to or greater than 5,186,000 euros
Supply contract	Subject to an estimated value equal to or greater than 207,000 euros. In the case of the General State Administration, its autonomous bodies or the Managing Entities and Common Services of the Social Security, 134,000 euros (1)
Service Contract	Subject to categories 1 to 16 and with an estimated value equal to or greater than 207,000 euros. In the case of the General State Administration, its autonomous bodies or the Managing Entities and Common Services of Social Security, 134,000 euros (2).

(1) The restriction to 134,000 euros only affects the aforementioned entities, not other contracting authorities.
(2) The restriction to 134,000 euros only affects the aforementioned entities, not other contracting authorities.

The amounts indicated do not include VAT. These amounts, which are those in force as of the date of approval of this Instruction, are subject to the corresponding updates established by Ministerial Order as set forth in the TRLCSP.

Regarding the categories of services that may be subject to harmonized regulation, depending on the amount, they are as follows:

Maintenance and repair services.
Road transport services, including armored van services and courier services, excluding mail transport.
Air transport services: passenger and cargo transport excluding mail transport.
Mail transport by land.
Telecommunications services.
Financial services: a) Insurance services, b) Banking and investment services,
Computer services and related services.
Research and development services.
Accounting, auditing and bookkeeping services.
Research services for studies and public opinion surveys.
Management consulting services and related services.
Architectural services; engineering and integrated engineering services; urban planning and landscape architecture services. Related science and technology consulting services. Technical testing and analysis services..
Advertising services.
Building cleaning services and real estate management services.
Publishing and printing services, by fee or contract.
Sewerage and waste disposal services: sanitation and similar services.