The Utilities Contracts Regulations 1996

means

means a technical specification drawn up in accordance with a procedure recognised by the member States with a view to uniform application in all member States and which has been published in the Official Journal;

means two or more persons, at least one of whom is a provider, acting jointly for the purpose of being awarded a contract.

means any services contract, supply contract or works contract;

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;

means a notice sent to the Official Journal in accordance with regulation 15(2)(b);

has the meaning ascribed to it by regulation 4;

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;

means the European Currency Unit as defined in Council Regulation (EEC) No. 3180/78;

means requirements relating to safety, health and certain other aspects in the general interest which the works must meet;

means the same as it does for the purposes of the Community Treaties;

means a common technical specification, a British standard implementing a European standard or a European technical approval;

means a standard approved by the European Committee for Standardisation (“CEN”) or by the European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardisation (“CENELEC”) as a “European Standard (“EN”)” or a “Harmonisation Document (“HD”)” according to the Common Rules of those organisations or by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (“ETSI”) according to its own rules as a “European Telecommunications Standard (“ETS”)”;

means an approval of the fitness of a product for a particular use, issued by an approval body designated for the purpose by a member State, following a technical assessment of whether the product fulfils the essential requirements for building works, having regard to the inherent characteristics of the product and the defined conditions of application and use as provided for in Council Directive 89/106/EEC on the approximation of laws, regulations and administrative procedures in the member States relating to construction projects;

means the period of 12 months ending on the date in any year in respect of which the accounts of a utility are prepared;

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;

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;

means an authority in England and Wales, in Scotland or in Northern Ireland referred to in paragraphs (2) to (4) respectively of regulation 3 of the Public Works Contracts Regulations 1991;

has the meaning ascribed to it by regulation 28;

means the holder of an office in Her Majesty’s Government in the United Kingdom, and includes the Treasury;

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;

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;

includes a bid by one part of a utility to supply goods, carry out a work or works or provide services to another part of the utility when the former part is invited by the latter part to compete with the offers sought from other persons.

means the Official Journal of the European Communities;

means a procedure leading to the award of a contract whereby all interested persons may tender for the contract;

means a notice sent to the Official Journal in accordance with regulation 14;

means any supplier, contractor or services provider;

means a contracting authority within the meaning of regulation 3(1) of the Public Works Contracts Regulations 1991;

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;

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;

means a person over whom one or more public authorities are able to exercise directly or indirectly a dominant influence by virtue of— (a) their ownership of it, (b) their financial participation in it, or (c) the rights accorded to them by the rules which govern it;

means a person who is— (a) a public authority, (b) a public undertaking, or (c) not a public authority or a public undertaking and has as one of its activities an activity specified in the second column of Schedule 1 other than an activity specified in paragraphs 2 or 3 thereof and carries out that activity on the basis of a special or exclusive right;

has the meaning ascribed to it by regulation 4;”

means a procedure leading to the award of a contract whereby only persons selected by the utility may submit tenders for the 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— (a) a contract of employment or other contract of service;

means a person who sought or who seeks, or who would have wished, in every case, is a person who is a national of and established in a relevant State.

includes any boat and any description of a vessel used in navigation;

means the design or adaptation of software;

means a right deriving from any authorisation granted by a competent authority where the effect of the authorisation is to reserve for one or more persons the exploitation of an activity specified in the second column of Schedule 1, and in particular a person may be considered to enjoy a special or exclusive right where for the purpose of constructing a network or facilities referred to in the second column of Schedule 1 it may take advantage of a procedure for the expropriation or use of property or may place network equipment on, under or over a highway.

means a technical specification approved by a recognised standardising body for repeated and continuous application, a compliance with which is in principle not compulsory;

means any natural or artificial substance, whether in solid, liquid or gaseous form or in the form of a vapour;

has the meaning ascribed to it by regulation 4;

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;

means the technical requirements defining the characteristics required of the work or works, materials, goods or services to be supplied or used in or for it or them (such as quality, performance, safety or dimensions) so that the works, work, materials, goods or services are described objectively in a manner which will ensure the use for which they are intended by the utility.

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;

means the European Commission;

means to accept an offer made in relation to a proposed contract;

has the meaning ascribed to it by regulation 3;

means the outcome of any works which is sufficient of itself to fulfil an economic and technical function;

means a day other than a Saturday, Sunday or Bank Holiday within the meaning of the Banking and Financial Dealings Act 1971;

means any of the activities specified in Schedulde 3 being activities contained in the general industrial classification of economic activities within the Communities;

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;

means a calendar year.