Submission and opening of tenders
Once all documents for the tender have been prepared, they must be sealed and submitted at the location specified in the tender notice and/or tender documentation. Documents can be submitted in person by tenderers themselves or by representative, or by mail.
The tender documentation also lists the time and location when the bids are opened. Larger government entities have special rooms for this purpose. Bidders can be present at the opening of the bids. If no bidders are present, the procuring entity will have staff present as witnesses.
After the awarding of the contract, the procuring entity will inform the tenderers of the result in writing. Tendering results are also published in a notice in the ‘kanpou’ Government Gazette or local equivalent and made available on the entities’ website after some time. In the notice the name of the winning bidder and the winning bid are made public (With some exceptions)
Contracting
Procedure with regard to contracting may vary from procuring entity and the type of good or service purchased. A draft contract is often part of the tender documentation package given to prospective tenders. After the awarding of the tender, the final contract is drafted, and includes the provisions of the contract and planning and specification documents submitted for the tender.
At METI, contracts have to be concluded within 5 days for regular tenders and within 10 days for government tenders.
Renegotiation of contracts is in principle not possible, only if circumstances make it necessary it is possible to make changes as long as it stays within the basic terms of the original tender. If no agreement can be reached, the tender will be awarded to another bidder, or, if no other bidders are present the tendering process will be repeated.
At METI, if there is a change in the amount agreed in the contract, during the execution of the contract, it is possible to concluded a revised contract by means of limited tender contract.
Source: METI Ministry Secretariat Accounting Section, Open Tendering. Introduction of Overall Greatest Value, page 11 (In Japanese)
Supervision & Inspection
Supervision and inspection of the execution and progress of the contract is conducted in contracts where it is deemed necessary. In case of contracts that have been concluded based upon rough estimates, the procuring entity may ask for invoices and attendance records.
Source: METI Ministry Secretariat Accounting Section, Open Tendering. Introduction of Overall Greatest Value, page 13 (In Japanese)