Procurement policy

    Key principles of Fluxys’s procurement policy

    Fluxys’s procurement policy is based on the following key principles:

    • Developing transparent and sustainable relations with contractors and internal customers.
    • Searching for synergies by sharing knowledge, passing on know-how and exchanging experiences.
    • Ensuring the company’s profitability and continuity by seeking the right balance between safety, reliability and expense.
    • Striving for the best possible results by opting, where feasible, for framework agreements or service level agreements with contractors.
    • Adhering to efficient work procedures in which competence, expertise, accuracy and foresight as well as innovation take pride of place.
    • Complying with EU and Belgian rules and regulations.
    • Seeking to continuously enhance the quality of its services.
    • Choosing environmentally responsible solutions wherever economically viable.

    Open procurement and tendering

    Fluxys opens up procurement contracts systematically by making potential contractors compete with each other. Procurement contracts are opened up and agreements entered into in compliance with Belgian and EU rules and regulations, especially those on competition in public procurement procedures for works, supply and services contracts for companies in the energy sector.

    For European tendering procedures, Fluxys has decided to use:

    • the certification system for standardised contracts for the repeat supply of works, goods and services;
    • the negotiated procedure for other contracts.

    Choice of contractors

    Fluxys takes care to treat its contractors equally by:

    • disseminating the same level of information to everyone;
    • selecting contractors on the basis of objective criteria.

    If contractors are of the same quality and there is no justification to the contrary on the grounds of delivery times, standardisation and safety, a contractor is chosen on the basis of financial criteria.

    Confidentiality

    All parties involved in procurement must abide by Fluxys’s code of ethics governing purchases and all associated regulations. Specifically, this means not disseminating information that might affect the decision on the price or the award of a contract and avoiding any risk of influencing the procedure. Moreover, Fluxys employees do not accept or offer any gifts which could compromise the impartiality of the parties to the procurement procedure.

    Transparency

    Fluxys’s Procurement Department provides all potential suppliers for a particular contract with as much information as possible so that they can produce high-quality tenders.

    Contractor evaluation

    Fluxys has developed a system for regularly evaluating contractors. Currently, this system primarily applies to contractors working on investment projects.

    The Fluxys evaluation system is based on the following (non-comprehensive) list of criteria:

    • safety;
    • conformity to the specifications;
    • economic and financial stability of the company;
    • delivery time;
    • price;
    • compliance with the contractual terms and conditions.