Hallsberg performed an illegal direct award of construction contract

During autumn 2019, Hallsberg municipality signed a contract concerning the major refurbishment of a recently acquired property. The contract, which was expected to take around a year, included the refurbishment of offices, workshop and joinery facilities, laundry room and gates. The contract is worth around SEK 11 million.

The municipality had previously procured a framework agreement concerning minor construction works and repairs based on ongoing call-off agreements. The contract in question concerns a major refurbishment and is therefore not covered by the framework agreement, according to the Swedish Competition Authority. As the refurbishment of the newly acquired property was not preceded by the publication of a contract notice pursuant to the Swedish Public Procurement Act, the contract constitutes an illegal direct award.

“It’s not unusual for us to see construction contracts awarded without the prior publication of a contract notice. As the supervisory authority, we believe it is important that we act on the issue. The open publication of a contract notice gives more suppliers the opportunity to submit a tender and improves the buyer’s chances of doing a better deal,” says Rikard Jermsten, the Swedish Competition Authority’s Director General.

The Swedish Competition Authority is now referring the matter to the Administrative Court in Karlstad and petitioning for Hallsberg municipality to be ordered to pay a procurement fine of SEK 800,000.

For more information, please contact:

Marie Strömberg Lindvall, Press Officer, +46 (0)76 542 15 92, marie.stromberglindvall@kkv.se

Read the application, dnr 589/2020 (in Swedish)