The PEPPOL Business Interoperablity Specification, “BIS” from here on after, has been developed by the OpenPEPPOL AISBL Pre Award Coordinating Community and is published as part of the PEPPOL specifications.

Statement of copyright

This PEPPOL Business Interoperability Specification (BIS) document is based on the CEN CWA prepared by the BII workshop specified in the introduction below. The original CEN CWA document contains the following copyright notice which still applies:

© 2012 CEN All rights of exploitation in any form and by any means reserved worldwide for CEN national Members.

The CEN CWA documents and profiles prepared by the BII workshop are not specific to a business area. Subject to agreement with CEN, customizations have been made by PEPPOL to establish the PEPPOL BIS, detailing and adding further guidance on the use of BII profiles.

OpenPEPPOL AISBL holds the copyright in the customizations made to the original document. The customizations appear from the corresponding conformance statement which is attached to this document. For the purpose of national implementations, customizations covered by the conformance statement may be further refined and detailed by PEPPOL Authorities and/or other entities authorized by OpenPEPPOL AISBL, provided that interoperability with PEPPOL BIS is ensured. This PEPPOL BIS document may not be modified, re-distributed, sold or repackaged in any other way without the prior consent of CEN and/or OpenPEPPOL AISBL.

Introduction to openPEPPOL and BIS

This PEPPOL BIS provides a set of specifications for implementing a PEPPOL business process. The document is concerned with clarifying requirements for ensuring interoperability of pan-European Public eProcurement and provides guidelines for the support and implementation of these requirements. The CEN WS/BII 3 Profile “BII Profile 35 Advanced Tendering” is the basis for this work.

BII relationship
Figure 1. Relationship between BII profiles and PEPPOL BIS

The purpose of this document is to describe a common format for the pre award catalogue messages in the European market, and to facilitate an efficient implementation and increased use of electronic collaboration regarding the tendering process based on these formats.

Audience

The audience for this document is organizations wishing to be PEPPOL enabled for exchanging electronic pre-award catalogues, and/or their ICT-suppliers. These organizations may be:

  • Service providers

  • Contracting Authorities (CA)

  • Economic Operators (EO)

  • Software Developers

More specifically, roles addressed are the following:

  • ICT Architects

  • ICT Developers

  • Business Experts

For further information on PEPPOL/OpenPEPPOL, please see PEPPOL BIS common text and introduction

1. Principles and prerequisites

This chapter describes the principles and assumptions that underlie the use of PEPPOL Pre-award Catalogue. It is based on the CEN WS/BII 3 profile 35 Advanced Tendering.

This BIS will identify, explain and justify the business requirements for the Pre-award Catalogue. It provides syntax bindings to OASIS UBL 2.1. It also includes a syntax implementation guide.

1.1. Scope

The intended scope for this PEPPOL BIS includes business-to-government (B2G) and business-to-business (B2B) relationships. Although the BIS is a basis for an EDI agreement between two parties, it does not address all business level details of such an agreement/contract.

The Pre-award Catalogue is intended to be used in different tendering processes, such as:

  1. Tendering (CEN WS/BII 3 Profile 54 - Tendering)

    • Most of the tendering information is in unstructured attachements

  2. Advanced Tendering (CEN WS/BII 3 Profile 35 - Advanced Tendering with pre-award catalogue)

    • Most of the tendering information is found in structured elements

  3. DPS solutions, qualifications etc

    • These processes are not described in detail in this document, but the transaction can be used in these processes if bilaterally agreed.

1.2. Parties and roles

parties

1.2.1. Parties

Customer

The customer is the legal person or organization who is in demand of a product, service or works. Examples of customer roles are buyer, consignee, debtor and contracting body.

Supplier

The supplier is the legal person or organization who provides a product, service or works. Examples of supplier roles are seller, consignor, creditor and economic operator.

1.2.2. Roles

Contracting body (CA)

The contracting authority or contracting entity who is buying supplies, services or tendering works.

Economic operator (EO)

Party participating with a tender in a procurement process to sell goods, services or works.

1.3. Benefits

PEPPOL BIS pre-award catalogue will stimulate the service provider marked to develop services that covers tendering processes both for CA´s and EO´s. Pre-award catalogue together with tendering metadata transaction (trdm090) and confirmation message (trdm045) will:

  • make it possible for CA to evaluate products and services automatically through their tendering tools

  • make it easier for the EOs to participate in different tendering processes.

  • save time for the EO to offer their products and services to CA when the list of products and services are standardized

  • save time for the CA to have a standardized list of products and services

  • make it possible for EO´s to use tools to pre-fill their information before the specific tender and send the offer in a structured way through CEF eDelivery (PEPPOL) infrastructure. The benefit is that EO use one tool in different tenders instead of dealing with different interfaces depending on which tool CA use.

  • make it possible for the CA to use the pre-award catalogue in mini-competitions and re-opening of competitions

  • make it possible for EO´s to use the PEPPOL BIS pre-award catalogue xml when up-loading the tender in a 3-corner model on condition that tendering systems are compatible.

2. Pre-award Catalogue transaction business requirements

The table below gives an overview of the transaction business requirements for the pre-award catalogue. The requirements are derived from the CEN WS/BII 3 project on pre-award Catalogue, as well as the catalogue work from TC440.

Please note that several of the requirements refer to the order. This is due to the fact that the pre-award catalogue has been aligned with the post-award catalogue, to make it easier to move from a pre- to a post award catalogue after the contract is signed.

Table 1. General business requirements
Id Requirement

op-t68-001

The specification on the requested kind of goods and/or services shall be provided in a structured description.

op-t68-002

A pre-award catalogue shall contain the procurement reference number of the call for tenders.

op-t68-003

The transaction shall contain all information necessary for its application i.e. it shall not rely on the availability of external references such as a centralised repository of item information. No external data sources should be needed in order to ease the processing of a pre-award catalogue request.

op-t68-004

It shall be reusable in post-award processes, i.e., a pre-award catalogue shall have information that makes it possible to use as a post-award catalogue, even if some information might be added later in the process. There is a potential difference between the pre-award and the post-award catalogue when it comes to the extent of required information. A "principle of proportionality" means that the information that can be required in relation to a tender and a pre-award catalogue must be in proportion to the offered contract. In a post-award catalogue, after the parties have signed an agreement, more information can be requested by the buyer to describe the products in more details.

Table 2. Metadata requirements
Id Requirement

op-t68-011

The transaction shall be uniquely identifiable.

op-t68-012

The transaction shall contain a reference to the Tender transaction the pre-award catalogue belongs to.

op-t68-013

The transaction shall contain the issue date.

op-t68-014

The transaction may contain the issue time.

op-t68-015

The transaction shall contain a version number indicating updated versions of the pre-award catalogue.

op-t68-016

The issuing catalogue provider shall be identified in the transaction with a name, an address, the country of registration, an endpoint and should include an identifier.

op-t68-017

The corresponding economic operator offering the listed items in the catalogue shall be identified in the transaction with a name, an address, the country of registration, an endpoint and should include an identifier. This might be the same party as the catalogue provider.

op-t68-018

The party receiving the pre-award catalogue (catalogue receiver) shall be identified in the transaction with a name, an address, the country of registration, an endpoint and should include an identifier.

op-t68-019

The contracting authority the pre-award catalogue is offered to shall be identified in the transaction with a name, an address, the country of registration, an endpoint and should include an identifier. This might be the same party as the catalogue receiver.

op-t68-020

The transaction may include contact information to the supplier and customer. E-Mail or internet address at which the procurement documents shall be available for unrestricted and full direct access, free of charge.

op-t68-021

It shall be possible to check the integrity and authentication of the information content and to audit these aspects of the content. It shall be possible to check that the pre-award catalogue is authentic.

op-t68-022

The transaction shall specify in which period of time the pre-award catalogue is valid.

Table 3. Catalogue line requirements
Id Requirement

op-t68-030

A catalogue line is a set of items that can be ordered as such.

op-t68-031

A catalogue line in a pre-award catalogue shall be uniquely identifiable by an identifier, to ensure that the catalogue line can be referenced, e.g., by an id.

op-t68-032

To align with post award catalogue, a pre award catalogue line shall specify how the corresponding items can be ordered.

op-t68-033

To align with post award catalogue, a pre award catalogue shall specify the requirements on the order transaction.

op-t68-034

A catalogue line may specify the warranty conditions on the items

op-t68-035

A catalogue line may specify in which period of time the catalogue line is valid.

op-t68-036

To align with post award catalogue, a pre award catalogue line should provide for an indicator that clearly states whether the line item can be ordered according to the information given in the line.

op-t68-037

A catalogue line should provide for additional information about items in the form of attachments and external references.

Table 4. Item requirements
Id Requirement

op-t68-040

An item is a specification within a catalogue line of an offer of a product by the economic operator

op-t68-041

An item in a pre-award catalogue shall be uniquely identifiable by a name and an identifier, to ensure that the item can be referenced, e.g., by an id.

op-t68-042

An item may have a description.

op-t68-043

To align with post award catalogue, it shall be possible to specify how an item can be ordered. This includes amongst others allowed units of measure, order sizes, minimal and maximal order sizes. There might exist restrictions from the production process or a need to simplify or limit the costs of the ordering and logistics process, so that the order size is restricted. Thus, the buyer needs information to place a correct order that is not denied by the supplier.

op-t68-044

It shall be possible to specify how the items will be packaged.

op-t68-045

It shall be possible to specify logistic conditions and other needed service information on how the item will be delivered. This includes information on maximum and minimum storage temperature, information needed for cross-border logistics processes. To define the products to be done for each package unit along the supply chain.

op-t68-046

It shall be possible to specify how the item is priced. This includes factors that have influence on the price as well as relationships to other parts of the catalogue that may have impact on the price. The price can be dependent on many factors, e.g., delivery region (down to the city level), allowance, charges, currency, etc.

op-t68-047

It should be possible to specify the period of time an item price is valid. If no validity period is specified, the price is valid until cancelled. The same as in tbr19-003, but on the item level. This allows to have items with different validity periods in the same catalogue. This does not mean, that the item will expire.

op-t68-048

Prices shall not be negative.

op-t68-049

It shall be possible to provide information that helps to search for the item, e.g., keywords or item description used in a full text search.

op-t68-050

It shall be possible to refer an item to the corresponding classes from one or more classification systems.

op-t68-051

An item might be illustrated by attached images.

op-t68-052

An item might include further specifications as attachments.

op-t68-053

It might be specified how the item will be delivered. This includes information on the packaging and the conditions for certain delivery locations.

op-t68-054

An item shall include information that allow to compare the item with other items.

op-t68-055

It should be possible to provide information on the product marking, e.g., to indicate that environmental or social requirements on the item production were followed. Procurement managers need information about environmental marking applicable for a given item in order to ensure that environmental, ecological, food safety and basic human rights aspects were respected. On the other side, sales managers wish to provide this kind of information, e.g., for marketing purposes.

op-t68-056

It should be possible to specify the manufacturer of the item. In particular, for the case where the supplier is different from the manufacturer of the item.

op-t68-057

It should be possible to specify hazard indicators for an item by any indicator system. If an item can be a danger to people or the environment, so called hazardous goods, often legal requirements demand that such items have indicators to indicate the danger that come from this item. Furthermore, such items require special handling in the logistics process

op-t68-058

It shall be possible to specify the semantic relationships with cardinalities between different items in the pre-award catalogue request. In particular, it shall be possible to specify part-of relationships, to specify that not only an item is tendered, but also additional items belonging to it. E.g., items that are accessories for other items or are replacements for defect components of an item. This helps to specify for instance that not only printers are tendered, but also print cartridges.

op-t68-059

It should be possible to specify a delivery location on line level, with address, city, post code, etc., so that all details on each line are dependent on this location, including price, tax and other specifications. Needed to support the buying decision, to see how much has to be paid in the end.

op-t68-060

It should be possible to specify a manufacturing date, a best before date and an expiry date (last date when product may be used or consumed) for an item.

op-t68-061

It should be possible to state the country of origin for an item.

Table 5. Item property requirements
Id Requirement

op-t68-070

An item property specifies one characteristic of an item, e.g., the colour of an offered pen.

op-t68-071

An item property has to be uniquely identifiable, to ensure that the item property can be referenced.

op-t68-072

An item property may be related to one or more corresponding properties of one or more classification systems. Any kind of classification system having properties might be used.

op-t68-073

If an item property is specified, a specific value may to be specified for this item property. The specified value has to hold true for the corresponding item.

op-t68-074

It shall be possible to specify a range of allowed values for an item property. In order to allow the supplier to offer only values in the range the contracting body needs (e.g. for a RAM memory the contracting body needs values of 1, 2 or 3 GB and no other values, for a maintenance service the action is request within 1 day). The values information allows also a validation check with respect to the offer of the economic operator.

op-t68-075

An item property might be described using free text.

3. Business processes and typical use cases

3.1. Business processes

The PEPPOL BIS pre-award catalogue is most normally used in

The pre-award catalogue transaction can also be used in other choreographies as qualification, DPS, mini competition and re-opening of competition (post-award phase).

The use of the pre-award catalogue in these other choreographies are not explained in detail in this document.

3.2. Use case 1

On behalf of many municipalities or governmental entities a central unit has been given the task to accomplish a tender for the group on office supplies.

The call for tender includes a structured pre-award catalogue request with the needs for the group. The economic operator (supplier) that prepares the tender downloads or receive the catalogue request as part of the tendering documents. The pre-award catalogue request is containing descriptions of product and services the group needs in a generic way, e.g. blue pen.

Supplier choose their own products or services that fulfills the requirement and make use of a supplier eSubmission system to fill out the requested information as product number, product description, UoM (unit of measure) code, price, link to pictures and labels for environmental and social labels if required and so on. They can reuse generic information the central unit has included in the pre-award catalogue request as classification codes as UNSPSC, CPV or eCl@ss.

After finalizing the pre-award catalogue they include the catalogue together with other structured documents as ESPD or non-structured documents as PDF in to the system. The system prepares for submission towards the tender systems by sending the bid package to the access point connected.

When contracting authority receive, through their access point, the pre-award catalogues from different suppliers, as part of the bid packages they lock down the offers. When time for open the bids, tendering system import the pre-award catalogue xml files in to their valuation service and find the best offer of products and/or services.

The central unit import the catalogue into their catalogue tool and check the quality. According to the contract the supplier is sending a post-award catalogue that’s compared towards the pre-award catalogue from the tender. When the catalogue is ok the central unit sends it out of their access point, based on a distribution list in the catalogue tool. The different municipalities or governmental entities is receiving the approved pre-award catalogue in their catalogue tool connected to their eProcurement system. When the catalogue already is approved, the system can automatically display the catalogue content in the eProcurement search engine used by the different entities buyers.

3.3. Relation between different catalogues in the tendering process

Definition of different catalogues types
Pre-award catalogue request

A pre-award catalogue request is a catalogue of requirements on goods, services or works intended to be tendered by a contracting authority.

Pre-award catalogue

A pre-award catalogue is a catalogue that is used by an economic operator to provide the information on the offered goods, services or works as an answer to a call for tenders.

Electronic product catalogue

An electronic product catalogue is a structured document describing goods, services or works that is available in a format so that it can be processed electronically.

Pre-award catalogue will be created based on requirements from the tendering documents or from the notification. Pre-award catalogues can be used in all procedures. In this description the input to the pre-award catalogue is based on a pre-award catalogue request. Pre-award catalogue request is the tool for the contracting authority (CA) to structure requirements for goods, services and works. The pre-award catalogue request contains a generic description of the needs to the CA. Based on the generic descriptions and requirements the economic operator (EO) create pre-award catalogue based on their own assortment of goods, services or works to fulfill the requirement of the CA.

Example of generic description can be classifications systems such as UNSPSC, CPV or eCl@ss. Examples of generic requirements are code lists for environment, social and ecological labels or labels that is equivalent. It can be certification/ attestation of certain skills as surgical nurse, midwife, different kinds of engineers or other speciality of occupation. Contraction authority has stored the generic description and requirements from the pre-award catalogue request in the tendering system, and can undertake an automated evaluation of the different offers from different EO´s with the pre-award catalogue as a structured and standardized input.

After the evaluation process the pre-award catalogue will be stored and after signing the contract with EO transferred to the eProcurement system (catalogue tool) to be used as baseline. The purpose is to check the electronic product catalogue toward the contract when or if the EOs can update the catalogue.

Using catalogues in the tendering process will save processing time both for EO´s and CA´s and will enhance transparency and traceability of goods, services and works. To achieve good and effective processes the EO should have their own eSubmission systems based on a 4-corner model to be able to communicate with different tendering platforms based on standard formats and PEPPOL branches of CEF eDelivery.

catalogues
Figure 2. Sequence diagram for the catalogue process

4. Business rules

As previously stated, this PEPPOL BIS is based on CEN WS/BII 3 Profile 35 - Advanced Tendering with pre-award catalogue, and extended with specific requirements and rules to ensure necessary information that is needed in the PEPPOL Transport infrastructure

Rules to ensure the basic structure of the xml (mandatory elements/attributes, fixed values etc) has been auto-generated in this project, and hence any identical rules from CEN WS/BII 3 has been depricated.

A list of all rules for this transaction is found here: PreAward Catalogue rules and in the syntax mapping rules valid for specific elements or attributes are listed.

5. Code lists

5.1. Code lists for coded elements

5.1.1. Attachment description code

Qualifier

UNCL1001 (listID)

Document location

cbc:DocumentTypeCode

Source codelist

UN/CEFACT code list 1001, D.17A

5.1.2. Mime code of attached document

Qualifier

None

Document location

cbc:EmbeddedDocumentBinaryObject/@mimeCode

Source codelist

Subset of IANA and AutoCAD file type.

Table 6. Code list

Structured content

application/xml

Documents

application/pdf

Images

image/png

image/jpeg

image/tiff

Video

video/mp4

Drawings

application/acad

application/autocad_dwg

application/dwg

drawing/dwg

5.1.3. Country code

Qualifier

ISO3166-1:Alpha2 (listID)

Document location

cac:Country/cbc:IdentificationCode
cac:OriginCountry/cbc:IdentificationCode

Source codelist

ISO 3166-1

5.1.4. Hazardous item UNDG code

Qualifier

UNCL8273 (listID)

Document location

cbc:UNDGCode

Source codelist

UN/CEFACT code list 8273, D.17A

5.1.5. Contract type (procurement project identifier)

Qualifier

UNCL1001 (listID)

Document location

cbc:ContractTypeCode

Source codelist

Subset of UN/CEFACT code list 1001, D.17A

Table 7. Code list
Code Description

311

Request for quote

5.1.6. Item price type

Qualifier

UNCL5387 (listID)

Document location

cbc:PriceTypeCode

Source codelist

UN/CEFACT code list 5387, D.17A

5.1.7. Unit of measure

Qualifier

None

Document location

cbc:*/@unitCode

Source codelist

UN/ECE Recommendation 20, Revision 11 (2015)

5.1.8. Currency identifier

Qualifier

None

Document location

cbc:*/@currencyID

Source codelist

ISO 4217:2015

5.1.9. Item VAT category code

Qualifier

UNCL5305 (schemeID)

Document location

cac:ClassifiedTaxCategory/cbc:ID

Source codelist

Subset of UN/CEFACT code list 5305

Table 8. Code list
Code Description

AE

Vat Reverse Charge

E

Exempt from Tax

S

Standard rate

Z

Zero rated goods

H

Higher rate

AA

Lower rate

5.2. Code lists for identifier schemes

Table 9. Code lists used to constrain values of schemeIDs for identifiers
Business Term Applicable XPath Code list (link or subset values)

Electronic address identifier (Endpoint)

cbc:EndpointID[@schemeID]

Party identifier

cac:PartyIdentification/cbc:ID[@schemeID]

6. Descriptions of selected parts of the transaction

6.1. Parties

In the pre-award catalogue you can provide information on the following parties:

Catalogue provider

The party that sends the catalogue. Information on catalogue provider is mandatory

Receiver

The party that receives the catalogue. Information on catalogue provider is mandatory

Supplier

The party that provides the items specified in the catalogue. Optional, normally only used if supplier is different from provider

Customer

The party that might order from the catalogue. Optional, normally only used if customer is different from receiver.

Example of provider party
<cac:ProviderParty>
        <cac:PartyIdentification>
                <cbc:ID schemeID="GLN">8075367945271</cbc:ID>
        </cac:PartyIdentification>
        <cac:PartyName>
                <cbc:Name>ABC Supplier Ltd.</cbc:Name>
        </cac:PartyName>
        <cac:PostalAddress>
                <cbc:StreetName>Elm Street No:1</cbc:StreetName>
                <cbc:CityName>Gotham</cbc:CityName>
                <cbc:PostalZone>06800</cbc:PostalZone>
                <cac:Country>
                        <cbc:IdentificationCode listID="ISO3166-1:Alpha2">DE</cbc:IdentificationCode>
                </cac:Country>
        </cac:PostalAddress>
</cac:ProviderParty>

6.2. Reference to the call for tenders (Procurement project identifier)

The pre-award catalogue shall refer to a previous call for tenders with pre-award catalogue request, often called the procurement project identifier. The identifier shall be provided in the element cac:ReferencedContract/cac:ContractDocumentReference/cbc:ID with cac:ReferencedContract/cbc:ContractTypeCode = 311.

When the referenced call for tenders has lots, the lot identifier shall be sent at line level in the element cbc:ContractSubdivision.

Example on procurement project identifier
<cac:ReferencedContract>
        <cbc:ContractTypeCode listID="UNCL1001">311</cbc:ContractTypeCode> (1)
        <cac:ContractDocumentReference>
                <cbc:ID>CRT1387</cbc:ID> (2)
        </cac:ContractDocumentReference>
</cac:ReferencedContract>
1 Code 311 is mandatory
2 The procurement project identifier
Lot identifier on line level
        <cac:CatalogueLine>
                <cbc:ID>1</cbc:ID>
                <cbc:ContractSubdivision>32</cbc:ContractSubdivision>
...

6.3. Validity period

In the PreAward the following validity periods can be stated:

  • Validity period on document level (mandatory), used to state the validity period for the entire PreAward Catalogue.

  • Validity period for a catalogue line

  • Validity period for price (See also Prices)

All validity periods shall have both start date and end date, and the start date shall be earlier than the end date

Example of validity periods in a PreAward Catalogue:

Document level (mandatory)
        <cac:ValidityPeriod>
                <cbc:StartDate>2017-01-01</cbc:StartDate>
                <cbc:EndDate>2017-12-31</cbc:EndDate>
        </cac:ValidityPeriod>
Catalogue line
<cac:LineValidityPeriod>
  <cbc:StartDate>2017-08-01</cbc:StartDate>
  <cbc:EndDate>2017-12-31</cbc:EndDate>
</cac:LineValidityPeriod>
Two different validity period for a given price
<cac:RequiredItemLocationQuantity>
  <cac:Price>
    <cbc:PriceAmount currencyID="NOK">75.00</cbc:PriceAmount>
    <cac:ValidityPeriod>
      <cbc:StartDate>2017-04-01</cbc:StartDate>
      <cbc:EndDate>2017-04-30</cbc:EndDate>
    </cac:ValidityPeriod>
    <cac:ValidityPeriod>
      <cbc:StartDate>2017-08-01</cbc:StartDate>
      <cbc:EndDate>2017-08-31</cbc:EndDate>
    </cac:ValidityPeriod>
  </cac:Price>
<cac:RequiredItemLocationQuantity>

Products can be related to each other for ordering or logistic purposes. All related products shall also be sent as separate Catalogue lines.

Types of relations:

  • Required related items are products that are bundled and ordered/invoiced together, e.g. bottles and deposits.

  • Component related items are products that are connected in a product line or a logistics structure, e.g. consumer units and trading units of the same article.

  • Complementary related item is used for items that might be sold together with a product, e.g. disk station to a laptop.

Examples of related products in a PreAward Catalogue message

Bundled products
<cac:RequiredRelatedItem>
        <cbc:ID>987654</cbc:ID>
        <cbc:Quantity unitCode="EA" unitCodeListID="UNECERec20">1</cbc:Quantity>
</cac:RequiredRelatedItem>
Logistics structure
<cac:ComponentRelatedItem>
        <cbc:ID>89388789930</cbc:ID>
        <cbc:Quantity unitCode="EA" unitCodeListID="UNECERec20">12</cbc:Quantity>
</cac:ComponentRelatedItem>
Accessories
<cac:ComplementaryRelatedItem>
        <cbc:ID>123456</cbc:ID>
        <cbc:Quantity unitCode="EA" unitCodeListID="UNECERec20">1</cbc:Quantity>
</cac:ComplementaryRelatedItem>

6.5. Quantities and Units

Various quantities and units can be stated in the PreAward Catalogue.

Below is a list of information elements regarding quantities and units in the format. For all quantities there shall be a legal Unit according to the section Unit of measure

Orderable unit (OrderableUnit)

The unit in which the item described in this catalogue line can be ordered. Mandatory if the orderable indicator is set to true.

Item net quantity (ContentUnitQuantity)

The net quantity of the item that is contained in each consumable unit (excluding packaging material), e.g. ml in bottles of Shampoo.

Order quantity increment (OrderQuantityIncrementNumeric)

Possible limitation to the number of articles that can be ordered. If the Quantity increment is 6 the article shall be ordered in a quantity of 6, 12, 18 etc.

Minimum order quantity (MinimumOrderQuantity)

The smallest number of items that can be ordered (most often 1).

Maximum order quantity (MaximumOrderQuantity)

The largest number of items that can be ordered (most often unlimited).

Packed quantity (Item/PackQuantity)

Number of items on next lower level, e.g. number of Consumer units in a Trading unit.

Consumable unit quantity (Item/PackSizeNumeric)

Number of Consumer items in the orderable unit. E.g. number of bottles on a Pallet.

Item quantity for component related item(ComponentRelatedItem/Quantity)

Quantity of the related component

Example 1. Example 1
Description Element (from CatalogueLine level) 1 bottle Case of 6 bottles Pallet of 18 cases

Line identifier

ID

4

5

6

Sellers item identifier

SellersItemIdentification/ID

1111

111

11

Item name

Item/Name

Shampoo 250 ml

6x250 ml Shampoo

Shampoo

Orderable unit

OrderableUnit

EA

CS

PF

Packaging level

PackLevelCode

CU

TU

DU

Packed quantity

Item/PackQuantity

6

18

Packed quantity unit

Item/PackQuantity/@unitCode

EA

CS

Consumable unit quantity

Item/PackSizeNumeric

1

6

108

Item net quantity

ContentUnitQuantity

250

1500

27000

Item net quantity unit

ContentUnitQuantity/@unitCode

MLT

MLT

MLT

Minimum order quantity

MinimumOrderQuantity

1

1

1

Minimum order quantity unit

MinimumOrderQuantity/@unitCode

EA

CS

PF

Component related item identifier

ComponentRelatedItem/ID

1111

111

Item quantity for component related item

ComponentRelatedItem/Quantity

6

18

Example of catalogue line with line identifier = 4 in the above table
<cac:CatalogueLine>
  <cbc:ID>4</cbc:ID>
  <cbc:OrderableUnit>EA</cbc:OrderableUnit>
  <cbc:ContentUnitQuantity unitCode="MLT" unitCodeListID="UNECERec20">250</cbc:ContentUnitQuantity>
  <cbc:OrderQuantityIncrementNumeric>1</cbc:OrderQuantityIncrementNumeric>
  <cbc:MinimumOrderQuantity unitCode="EA" unitCodeListID="UNECERec20">1</cbc:MinimumOrderQuantity>
  <cbc:PackLevelCode listID="GS17009:PEPPOL">CU</cbc:PackLevelCode>
  ...
  <cac:Item>
    <cbc:Name languageID="en">Shampoo 250 ml</cbc:Name>
    <cbc:PackSizeNumeric>1</cbc:PackSizeNumeric>
    <cac:SellersItemIdentification>
      <cbc:ID>1111</cbc:ID>
    </cac:SellersItemIdentification>
  ...
  </cac:Item>
  ...
</cac:CatalogueLine>
Example 2. Example 2 ( A full xml example file can be found in [log-example])
Description Element (from CatalogueLine level) Pack of 500 sheets paper Case of 5 packs paper Pallet with 18 cases paper

Line identifier

ID

1

2

3

Sellers item identifier

SellersItemIdentification/ID

A

AA

AAA

Item name

Item/Name

500 copy paper

5*500 Copy paper

Pallet of paper

Orderable unit

OrderableUnit

EA

CS

PX

Packaging level

PackLevelCode

CU

TU

DU

Packed quantity

Item/PackQuantity

5

18

Packed quantity unit

Item/PackQuantity/@unitCode

EA

CS

Consumable unit quantity

Item/PackSizeNumeric

1

5

90

Item net quantity

ContentUnitQuantity

500

2500

45000

Item net quantity unit

ContentUnitQuantity/@unitCode

EA

EA

EA

Minimum order quantity

MinimumOrderQuantity

1

1

1

Minimum order quantity unit

MinimumOrderQuantity/@unitCode

EA

CS

PX

Component related item identifier

ComponentRelatedItem/ID

A

AA

Item quantity for component related item

ComponentRelatedItem/Quantity

5

18

Example of catalogue line with line identifier = 2 in the above table
<cac:CatalogueLine>
  cbc:ID>8</cbc:ID>
  <cbc:OrderableUnit>CS</cbc:OrderableUnit>
  <cbc:ContentUnitQuantity unitCode="EA" unitCodeListID="UNECERec20">2500</cbc:ContentUnitQuantity>
  <cbc:OrderQuantityIncrementNumeric>1</cbc:OrderQuantityIncrementNumeric>
  <cbc:MinimumOrderQuantity unitCode="CS" unitCodeListID="UNECERec20">1</cbc:MinimumOrderQuantity>
  <cbc:PackLevelCode listID="GS17009:PEPPOL">TU</cbc:PackLevelCode>
  <cac:ComponentRelatedItem>
    <cbc:ID>A</cbc:ID>
    <cbc:Quantity unitCode="EA" unitCodeListID="UNECERec20">5</cbc:Quantity>
  </cac:ComponentRelatedItem>
  ...
  <cac:Item>
    <cbc:Description languageID="en">5*500 Copy paper</cbc:Description>
    <cbc:PackQuantity unitCode="CS" unitCodeListID="UNECERec20">5</cbc:PackQuantity>
    <cbc:PackSizeNumeric>5</cbc:PackSizeNumeric>
    <cac:SellersItemIdentification>
      <cbc:ID>AA</cbc:ID>
    </cac:SellersItemIdentification>
    ...
  </cac:Item>
  ...
</cac:CatalogueLine>

6.6. Catch Weight

To inform that an item is catch weight (ex. Orderable quantity is pcs, but invoiced quantity is kilo, and where one pcs can be of variable weight), set unit code for content unit to 31 (catch weight) according to UN Recommondations 20. ( Unit of measure )

Example
<cac:CatalogueLine>
  <cbc:ID>8</cbc:ID>
  <cbc:OrderableUnit>EA</cbc:OrderableUnit>
  <cbc:ContentUnitQuantity unitCode="31" unitCodeListID="UNECERec20">10
</cbc:ContentUnitQuantity>

6.7. Logistics Information

The PreAward Catalogue includes elements to support the need for logistics information which is a requirement in many industries. These elements are not mandatory, but trading partners can agree upon the use in the commercial agreements.

The Logistics elements can be used to specify different pack levels for the same article. This shall be done as follows:

  • Each pack level is regarded as a unique product and shall be sent as a separate Catalogue line and identified with a unique ID such as GTIN.

  • Information about pack level is done in the element PackLevelCode on line level. The Pack level codes are based on the Edifact/Eancom-standard and the following codes are available (codes in brackets are used in some business sectors in Norway):

    • DU = Dispatch Unit (T-Pak)

    • HN = Handling Unit (level between TU and DU). Not commonly used.

    • TU = Traded Unit (D-Pak or L-Pak)

    • CU = Consumer Unit (F-Pak)

  • It shall be stated if the pack level is orderable.

  • The relation between pack levels shall be specified, e.g. that a Dispatch unit contains Traded units.

When component related items are used, all the items in the PreAward Catalogue shall specify the Sellers item identifier

Below is an example of Logistics information in a PreAward Catalogue message.

Catalogue line for Dispatch unit, highest pack level.
<cac:CatalogueLine>
        <cbc:ID>1</cbc:ID>
        <cbc:OrderableIndicator>false</cbc:OrderableIndicator>
        <cbc:PackLevelCode listID="GS17009:PEPPOL">DU</cbc:PackLevelCode>
        <cac:ComponentRelatedItem>
                <cbc:ID>222222</cbc:ID> (1)
                <cbc:Quantity unitCode="EA" unitCodeListID="UNECERec20">12</cbc:Quantity> (2)
        </cac:ComponentRelatedItem>
        <cac:Item>
                <cbc:Description>Soft drink, pallet</cbc:Description>
                <cbc:PackQuantity unitCode="EA" unitCodeListID="UNECERec20">1</cbc:PackQuantity>
                <cbc:Name languageID="en">Soft drink</cbc:Name>
                <cac:SellersItemIdentification>
                        <cbc:ID>111111</cbc:ID>
                </cac:SellersItemIdentification>
        </cac:Item>
</cac:CatalogueLine>
1 References the sellers item identification for the component line
2 Quantity of that component (each dispatch unit contains 12 traded units)
Catalogue line for Traded unit.
<cac:CatalogueLine>
        <cbc:ID>2</cbc:ID>
        <cbc:OrderableIndicator>true</cbc:OrderableIndicator>
        <cbc:OrderableUnit>5</cbc:OrderableUnit>
        <cbc:PackLevelCode listID="GS17009:PEPPOL">TU</cbc:PackLevelCode>
        <cac:ComponentRelatedItem>
                <cbc:ID>333333</cbc:ID> (1)
                <cbc:Quantity unitCode="EA" unitCodeListID="UNECERec20">6</cbc:Quantity> (2)
        </cac:ComponentRelatedItem>
        <cac:Item>
                <cbc:Description>Soft drink, trading unit</cbc:Description>
                <cbc:PackQuantity unitCode="EA" unitCodeListID="UNECERec20">1</cbc:PackQuantity>
                <cbc:Name languageID="en">Soft drink</cbc:Name>
                <cac:SellersItemIdentification>
                        <cbc:ID>222222</cbc:ID>
                </cac:SellersItemIdentification>
        </cac:Item>
</cac:CatalogueLine>
1 References the sellers item identification for the component line
2 Quantity of that component (each traded unit contains 6 consumer units)
Catalogue line for Consumer unit, lowest pack level.
<cac:CatalogueLine>
        <cbc:ID>3</cbc:ID>
        <cbc:OrderableIndicator>false</cbc:OrderableIndicator>
        <cbc:PackLevelCode listID="GS17009:PEPPOL">CU</cbc:PackLevelCode>
        <cac:Item>
                <cbc:Description>Soft drink 4-pack</cbc:Description>
                <cbc:PackQuantity unitCode="EA" unitCodeListID="UNECERec20">1</cbc:PackQuantity>
                <cbc:Name languageID="en">Soft drink</cbc:Name>
                <cac:SellersItemIdentification>
                        <cbc:ID>333333</cbc:ID>
                </cac:SellersItemIdentification>
        </cac:Item>
</cac:CatalogueLine>

6.8. Attachments

Attachments can be sent on line level in the Catalogue. This can be images or additional descriptions of a product. It is strongly recommended to use external references in the form of URI’s for attachments.

If binary objects are attached to the PreAward Catalogue, the valid values for mimetype can be found in section Mime code of attached document

Example of using external reference
<cac:Item>
  ...
  <cac:ItemSpecificationDocumentReference>
    <cbc:ID>LK8788</cbc:ID>
    <cbc:DocumentDescription>Product image</cbc:DocumentDescription>
    <cac:Attachment>
      <cac:ExternalReference>
        <cbc:URI>http://img.trioving.net/Låskasser/LK8788_PRD_FPM_000.JPG</cbc:URI>
      </cac:ExternalReference>
    </cac:Attachment>
  </cac:ItemSpecificationDocumentReference>
  ...
</cac:Item>
Example of using attached binary objects
<cac:ItemSpecificationDocumentReference>
        <cbc:ID>2384-34232-342-34-2333</cbc:ID>
        <cac:Attachment>
                <cbc:EmbeddedDocumentBinaryObject mimeCode="application/pdf"
                        >ZGVmYXVsdA==</cbc:EmbeddedDocumentBinaryObject>
        </cac:Attachment>
</cac:ItemSpecificationDocumentReference>

6.9. Prices

All prices in the format are related to the article or service within this PreAward Catalogue. The following prices can be stated:

  • Item price is net price including all discounts and charges but excluded Vat.

  • Item comparison unit price defining price for a certain quantity. Used for comparing prices for different articles with various quantities.

  • Conditional price related to a specific location or a certain quantity.

  • Campaign price.

Be aware that no Gross prices can be sent in the format (price before discount and charges). All prices shall have Currency as an attribute. Currency shall be according to Code list.

Example of Prices in PreAward Catalogue:

Item Price
<cac:RequiredItemLocationQuantity>
  <cac:Price>
    <cbc:PriceAmount currencyID="NOK">100.00</cbc:PriceAmount>
    <cac:ValidityPeriod>
      <cbc:StartDate>2012-04-26</cbc:StartDate>
      <cbc:EndDate>2012-05-26</cbc:EndDate>
    </cac:ValidityPeriod>
  </cac:Price>
<cac:RequiredItemLocationQuantity>
Comparison Price
<cac:ItemComparision>
  <cbc:PriceAmount currencyID="NOK">100.00</cbc:PriceAmount>
  <cbc:Quantity unitCode="EA" unitCodeListID="UNECERec20">1</cbc:Quantity>
</cac:ItemComparision>
Conditional Price
<cac:RequiredItemLocationQuantity>
  <cac:Price>
    <cbc:PriceAmount currencyID="NOK">75.00</cbc:PriceAmount>
    <cbc:BaseQuantity unitCode="EA" unitCodeListID="UNECERec20">100</cbc:BaseQuantity>
    <cac:ValidityPeriod>
      <cbc:StartDate>2012-04-26</cbc:StartDate>
      <cbc:EndDate>2012-05-26</cbc:EndDate>
    </cac:ValidityPeriod>
  </cac:Price>
<cac:RequiredItemLocationQuantity>

6.10. Environment, Social Responsibility and Ecological

Public actors will have requirements related to the environment, ecologically produced food and fair trade. They will also demand that basic human rights are respected in the product production and trade. To be able to highlight products that meet some of these criteria, the PEPPOL BIS pre-award catalogue contains elements to document Environmental labelling and Social certificates and other means of proof. The labels are connected to the relevant product or service on line level enabling the buyer to evaluate them in the tendering tool. Detailed information about the different labels can be found on the issuing party’s web-site which is referred to via an URI.

In post-awards process, when the buyer use the search engines in their eProcurement system to purchase the products and services, the labels will be visible and the buyer has the possibility to choose products that is marked with a label. The post-award catalogue has the same structure so it´s important to reuse the information used in pre-award catalogue. Several labels can be connected to each product. As part of the identification the code list is provided so the service provider can define and implement the information in the system.

The following can be used: https://vefa.difi.no/ehf/codelist/eco/

Introducing these classification codes in pre-award catalogue will support the aim for sustainable procurement, and make it possible to measure the purchasing behaviour and monitor that the requirements from the tendering process are fulfilled.

Table 10. Example of Classification codes
Logo Information

Svanemerket

Svanemerket
Classification Code (ID): NEO
Certificate TypeCode: EcoLabel (Environment)

Fairtrade

Fairtrade
Classification Code (ID): FBL
Certificate TypeCode: SosialLabel (Social responsibility)

EU organic products label

EU organic products label
Classification Code (ID): EOP
Certificate TypeCode: OrganicLabel (Ecological)

Example of labeling in an PreAward Catalogue message
<cac:Certificate>
  <cbc:ID>NEO</cbc:ID>
  <cbc:CertificateTypeCode>EcoLabel</cbc:CertificateTypeCode>
  <cbc:CertificateType>EcoLabel</cbc:CertificateType>
  <cac:IssuerParty>
    <cac:PartyName>
      <cbc:Name>Svanemerket</cbc:Name>
    </cac:PartyName>
  </cac:IssuerParty>
  <cac:DocumentReference>
    <cbc:ID>http://www.svanemerket.no/</cbc:ID>
  </cac:DocumentReference>
</cac:Certificate>

6.11. Additional Item Properties

Additional properties are meant for product properties that cannot be sent in any of the defined elements in PreAward Catalogue. Additional properties consist of the Name of the property and the actual Value.

Example of additional properties:
  • Color

  • Nutrition
    Stated with amount per 100 g/ml.

  • Genetically modified
    Legal values: True, False

Example 3. Example of use in the PreAward PreAward Catalogue message
<cac:AdditionalItemProperty>
  <cbc:Name languageID="en">Color</cbc:Name>
  <cbc:Value languageID="en">Red</cbc:Value>
  <cbc:ValueQualifier>Color</cbc:ValueQualifier>
</cac:AdditionalItemProperty>
<cac:AdditionalItemProperty>
  <cbc:Name>NutritionProtein</cbc:Name>
  <cbc:ValueQuantity unitCode="GRM" unitCodeListID="UNECERec20">2.5</cbc:ValueQuantity>
  <cbc:ValueQualifier>Nutrition</cbc:ValueQualifier>
</cac:AdditionalItemProperty>
<cac:AdditionalItemProperty>
  <cbc:Name>GeneticallyModified</cbc:Name>
  <cbc:Value>True</cbc:Value>
</cac:AdditionalItemProperty>

6.12. Best before date and expiry date

In pre-award catalogue request the contracting authority (CA) ask for a certain vaccine to be offered. Because this vaccine is defined as perishable goods the CA ask in the tender economic operator (EO) to specify best before date and expiry date. The fields will guide CA in planning the vaccine program regarding logistic to the country that it will be used and when to ordering the vaccine in good time. The information will also be used in the electronic catalogue if the EO must update information.

Example of best before and expiry date
<cac:ItemInstance>
        <cbc:BestBeforeDate>2017-12-31</cbc:BestBeforeDate>
        <cac:LotIdentification>
                <cbc:ExpiryDate>2018-02-28</cbc:ExpiryDate>
        </cac:LotIdentification>
</cac:ItemInstance>

6.13. Hazardous Item

If a product is classified as Hazardous item, a reference to the relevant UNDG-code shall be stated and further specification shall be provided in an attached document or on a web-site (URI).

Example of UNDG code
<cac:HazardousItem>
        <cbc:ID>0024</cbc:ID>
        <cbc:UNDGCode listID="UNCL8273">ADR</cbc:UNDGCode>
</cac:HazardousItem>
Example of attachement with further specification
<cac:ItemSpecificationDocumentReference>
        <cbc:ID>1</cbc:ID>
        <cbc:DocumentDescription languageID="en">HMS Safety sheet</cbc:DocumentDescription>
        <cac:Attachment>
                <cac:ExternalReference>
                        <cbc:URI>http://www.klif.no/no/Tema/Kjemikalier/Klassifisering-og-merking-av-kjemikalier-CLP/Klassifisering-CLP-avsnitt-I-II-og-V/</cbc:URI>
                </cac:ExternalReference>
        </cac:Attachment>
</cac:ItemSpecificationDocumentReference>

6.14. Keyword

Keywords are sent to let the Buyer search for a product without knowing the Product ID or name. Keywords can be repeated, but the number should be limited to ensure correct handling in the receiving system. If more than one Keyword is sent, they should be put in the same tag separated by the %-sign since this is already being used by several actors (but a different sign can be agreed by the trading partners).

Example of several Keywords in the same tag.
<cac:Item>
  <cbc:Description> Pallet of water </cbc:Description>
  <cbc:Name>Water</cbc:Name>
  <cbc:Keyword>sparkling%natural%water</cbc:Keyword>
  <cac:SellersItemIdentification>
    <cbc:ID>111111</cbc:ID>
  </cac:SellersItemIdentification>
</cac:Item>

6.15. VAT

VAT-information is optional in the PreAward Catalogue. Catalogue receivers may require VAT-information in the PreAward Catalogue.

Valid VAT category codes can be found in the section Item VAT category code

Example
<cac:ClassifiedTaxCategory>
        <cbc:ID schemeID="UNCL5305">S</cbc:ID>
        <cbc:Percent>25</cbc:Percent>
        <cac:TaxScheme>
                <cbc:ID>VAT</cbc:ID>
        </cac:TaxScheme>
</cac:ClassifiedTaxCategory>

7. Peppol Identifiers

PEPPOL has defined a PEPPOL Policy for identifiers, policy 8 that specifies how to use identifiers in both its transport infrastructure and within the documents exchanged across that infrastructure. It also introduces principles for any identifiers used in the PEPPOL environment. The policies that apply to this BIS are the following:

7.1. Party Identifiers

The “schemeID” attribute shall be populated in all instances of the “ID” element when used within a “PartyIdentification”-container and in all instances of the “EndpointID” element when used within a “Party”- container.

Examples of usage in PartyIdentification
<cac:PartyIdentification>
  <cbc:ID schemeID="GLN">5790000435968</cbc:ID>
</cac:PartyIdentification>

The following examples denote that the Issuing Agency is DK:CVR in the PEPPOL set of Issuing Agency Codes. This means that the party has the Danish CVR identifier DK87654321.

Examples of usage in PartyIdentification and Endpoint ID
<cbc:EndpointID schemeID="DK:CVR">DK87654321</cbc:EndpointID>
<cac:PartyIdentification>
  <cbc:ID schemeID="DK:CVR">DK87654321</cbc:ID>
</cac:PartyIdentification>

7.2. Profiles and messages

All messages contains ProfileID and CustomizationID. ProfileID identifies what business process a given message is part of, and CustomizationID identifies the kind of message and the rules applied.

Profiles are connected to one business process, and may contain multiple document types. Valid document instances must contain corresponding ProfileID and CustomizationID.

The listing below are related document types connected to the role of receiver in the conversation. Registration in ELMA describes the receivers capabilities.

CustomizationID is a string without spaces. The list below contains spaces in CustomizationID to make them easier to read. Make sure to remove any spaces before use.

7.2.1. Profile 35 - Advanced Tendering with pre-award catalogue

ProfileID

urn:www.cenbii.eu:profile:bii35:ver1.0

Type CustomizationID Role

PreAward Catalogue

urn:www.cenbii.eu:transaction:biitrns068:ver1.0 :extended:urn:www.peppol.eu:bis:peppol35a:ver1.0

Economic Operator