RIGHTS AND DUTIES OF THE PARTIES
By using Connexio, energy providers and their suppliers accept the rights and duties set forth below:
1 GENERAL PROVISIONS
These terms and conditions govern on one side the business relationship between the utilities and Achilles Information GmbH – hereinafter called Achilles – and on the other side the business relationship between Achilles and suppliers. These terms and conditions enter into effect as soon as the supplier forwards to Achilles a questionnaire or other specified documentation.
Connexio is an online supplier information system (supplier database). Information on suppliers (supplier profile), which is protected by a password and only available to registered utilities, is entered by the supplier itself through an online questionnaire and verfied by Achilles for validity, contradictions and information content as well as compliance with minimum requirements. These minimum requirements have been defined by mutual agreement beforehand with the registered utilities and reflect the questions in the questionnaire.
2 DEFINITIONS
- Utilities are companies that are registered as users of the supplier information and prequalification system with the name Connexio. Upon request, the Supplier receives an updated list, on which the Connexio user is indicated.
- Supplier is a supplier of products and/or services that has forwarded to Achilles a completed online questionnaire and applicable certificate / document.
- Achilles is Achilles Information GmbH, a subsidiary within the Achilles Group.
- Connexio is a supplier information and prequalification system – hereinafter called the System – that may be used by utilities in Germany and Eastern and Central Europe.
3 DURATION AND SCOPE
3.1 The verification (prequalification) of Suppliers shall be carried out in given product and service categories that are published in the Official Journal of the EU.
3.2 Achilles shall announce at least once for all 12 months in the Official Journal of the EU, on behalf of registered utilities, that Connexio, as a qualification system, is utilizing the utilities indicated in the announcement, including precise information about the product and service categories covered. The Energy Providers specified in the announcement may utilize Connexio as their qualification system for one or more product or service categories.
3.3 The verification (prequalification) shall be carried out separately for each category.
3.4 A Supplier’s qualifications for one or more product or service categories may include two or more qualification or review levels. All Suppliers shall be reviewed by Achilles, based on minimum requirements (stage 1) that are defined in advance by the registered utilities. If the result of the verification is positive, i.e. when the Supplier can demonstrate that it fulfills the minimum requirements for stage 1, the Supplier will be informed by Achilles that it has qualified for stage 1. In the case of specific products and services, the Supplier must fulfill, where appropriate, additional conditions (stage 2, stage 3, etc.). In such cases, each individual utility shall compile information on supplemental criteria and such shall be forwarded through Connexio to Suppliers who have already demonstrated that they fulfill conditions for stage 1 (minimum requirements).
3.5 Entry into Connexio as a prequalified Supplier (stage 1) neither guarantees preference in any special list of suppliers nor acceptance of a bid when a contract is let out.
3.6 By sending the login details to the person stated in the application form the registration period starts.
3.7 In case the questionnaire is not submitted online within the period of service plus the editing time, all information and data that has already been entered will be deleted automatically.
4 ANNOUNCEMENTS AND DOCUMENTATION
4.1 Connexio will be published in the Official Journal of the EU as a qualification system. Such a publication about the existence of the qualification system shall include information about Connexio and comply with EU Directives on tenders.
4.2 Connexio’s announcement in the Official Journal of the EU shall be regarded as a formal notice of a competitive tender.
4.3 Achilles shall maintain all documentation about the verfication process(prequalification process) and catalog information about relevant decisions related to all Suppliers who have qualified for stage 1. This documentation shall be retained for at least four (4) years.
5 REQUIREMENTS (QUALIFICATION CRITERIA)
Connexio is based on objective criteria and rules set forth beforehand by participating (registered) utilities. The utilities reserve the right, where appropriate, to change or adjust these rules and criteria.
6 APPLICATION TO QUALIFY
A Supplier who wants to pre-qualify for registered utilities through Connexio is solely responsible for the correctness of the product and service categories as well as for the description that it enters itself into Connexio.
7 APPROVAL / REJECTION / TERMINATION
7.1 After receiving all documents and the annual fee, Achilles shall inform the Supplier about the result of the review (stage 1, i.e. compliance with general minimum requirements) within four (4) weeks.
In the event the Supplier fails to fulfill minimum requirements (stage 1), Achilles shall communicate to the Supplier the respective reasons by means of feedback. The Supplier may correct any faults and/or omissions and resend a revised questionnaire.
In the event the supplier complies with the minimum requirements (stage 1) Achilles will confirm it in writing to the supplier. At that day the supplier’s status changes from “registered” to “pre-qualified” in connexio. The registration period (starting from the day of sending the login details) remains unaffected; the annual fee refers to 12 months period of service plus one month editing time.
7.2 Any communication of successful qualification for stage 1 (fulfillment of general minimum qualifications for stage 1) shall be made in writing.
7.3 Any communication of unsuccessful qualification for stage 1 (failure to meet general minimum qualifications for stage 1) shall be made in writing, specifying reasons therefore.
7.4 Any complete and correct information indicated in correspondence with Achilles or announced in the Official Journal of the EU after the deadline for the same shall constitute grounds for the application being rejected.
7.5 During the timeframe for verfication / prequalification, the Supplier shall be responsible, without prior reminder, for communicating any significant changes in details given.
7.6 Utilities may only declare a Supplier’s qualifications for stage 1 (fulfillment of general minimum qualifications) / prequalification to be invalid when the Supplier no longer fulfills rules and criteria that were provided to Connexio. The above shall be communicated in writing to the Supplier in question, specifying reasons therefore.
7.7 Either failure to provide important information or the submission of inaccurate, misleading or blatantly false information shall result in disqualification.
7.8 Utilities shall be subject to and work under the strict demands of business ethics. Unethical conduct on the side of a Supplier shall result in the Supplier’s disqualification.
8 LIST OF SUPPLIERS
Each utility shall, as a rule, limit to a reasonably considerate degree the number of Suppliers on its list of suppliers who fulfill general minimum requirements (stage 1).
9 COMPENSATION FOR DAMAGES
A Supplier shall pay compensation to the utilities and Achilles for any loss and/or damages that occur from the utilization of information or data registered in Connexio.
10 GOVERNING LAW AND JURISDICTION
This Contract is governed by German law. Any civil disputes that cannot be settled by mutual agreement will be brought before the Court of Arbitration in Düsseldorf, Germany.