10 September 2008
The Office for Official Publications of the European Communities (OPOCE) will be implementing a modified version of the Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV) codes on 15th September 2008. This will replace the current version published in 2003. The new code structure will offer new codes for services not previously covered under the scheme, but will also improve the structure of the scheme.
CPV codes are the EU approved method for classifying a public sector contract by the type of goods / services it seeks to procure.
On the 15th September 2008, the Welsh Assembly Government will make changes to its public sector procurement service – Buy4Wales, and its supplier opportunity portal – Sell2wales, to accommodate the new code structure. From 09.00 Saturday 13th September to 09.00 Monday 15th September Buy4Wales and Sell2wales will be unavailable. Public sector procurement representatives in Wales will be publishing OJEU, non OJEU and RFQ notices via Buy4Wales from 09.00 Monday 15th September onwards using the new codes. Suppliers who wish to receive notifications from Sell2wales of matching opportunities from this point onwards need to ensure they have checked their profile contains all relevant codes.The first Wales-only notices (sub-OJEU) will appear on sell2wales from 09:01 Monday 15th September. The first OJEU publications with the new CPV structure will appear on Tuesday 16th September. Subscribers of sell2wales will receive notices matched against the new code structure in their daily alert on Monday 15th September onwards.
Although we will map old codes to new codes within supplier user profiles, there a number of supplementary codes that are available that users will need to find and add to their profiles manually.
Impacts for suppliers
Suppliers should find the new codes will better represent services offered by their businesses. We have built a CPV helper tool that allows suppliers to find new relevant codes in advance of the switchover on the 15th September. This tool will also be available after the 15th and allows users to see old and new codes. We will automatically map old codes to new, but take no liability for any matching issues as a result – all suppliers must check their profiles. We will not automatically add any NEW codes (see below) to suppliers profiles – this must be done by the supplier.
At any time, suppliers can use the Notice Matching Assistant to review codes within opportunity notices, following links to add or remove codes from their profiles. We suggest undertaking a wide search for notices regularly on sell2wales, reviewing their codes and adding / removing as required until the company profile is accurate.
Please note, sell2wales allows users to choose ‘strict’ or ‘fuzzy’ matching. Those suppliers selecting ‘fuzzy’ matching receive notices with related CPV codes to the primary ones selected for their profile. If ‘strict’ is selected then only absolute matches are sent.
For more information please contact us
Impacts for procurers
All notices published via Buy4Wales will need to include the new codes from the 15th September onwards. Notices published prior to the 15th September will still be viewable on sell2wales, and across OJEU publications sites, but notices will automatically have codes mapped to the new ones.
There are various other impacts for procurers, please contact your Buy4Wales representative.
Background Information
CPV codes have been developed by the European Union specifically for public procurement. The main vocabulary is based on a tree structure with high-level codes providing a broad description and subcategories defining particular products or services. Their main purpose is to help procurement personnel to classify their contract notices consistently and correctly and to help suppliers find those notices which are of interest to them by using a standardised vocabulary.
All CPV codes have a standard translation into every language in the EU. Currently, this does not include Welsh, therefore CPV codes on Buy4Wales and sell2wales are provided in English only.Some codes have had their descriptions changed, some have been deleted and several new codes have been added. Full lists of all revisions are included below.
Help during the transition
Straightforward instructions are provided on both sell2wales.co.uk for suppliers, and Buy4Wales.co.uk for procurers. Please use the ‘contact us’ facility on either site to access support during the implementation.
