Procurement and public contracts

As a public authority, the City of Geneva is subject to public procurement law which governs the allocation of mandates to the private sector in several fields.

Fields in which public contracts are awarded

Public contracts are divided into four fields, each under the responsibility of an administrative unit of the City of Geneva:

• purchases and printing: under the responsibility of the Centrale municipale d'achat et d'impression (CMAI);
• constructions: under the responsibility of the Unité soumissions à la Direction du Département des constructions et de l'aménagement;
• computing: under the responsibility of the Direction des système d'information et de communication (DSIC); 
• vehicles: under the responsibility of the Commission de gestion des véhicules (COGEVE).

Publication of calls for tender

The calls for tender issued by the City of Geneva and other awarding authorities within the canton are published in the Official Gazette of the Canton of Geneva. They can also be consulted on the website of the information system on public contracts in Switzerland (SIMAP), which brings together the calls for tender issued by the majority of Swiss cantons and municipalities.

Regulations concerning the procedures for choosing contractual partners

The rules governing the awarding of public contracts extend beyond the cantonal and even national borders. The aims of these rules are outlined in the Inter-cantonal agreement on public contracts (AIMP):

• to ensure effective competition between bidders;
• to guarantee all bidders equal treatment and ensure an impartial awarding process;
• to ensure the transparency of the procedures for awarding contracts;
• to facilitate economical use of public funds.

These principles and the resulting rules are in line with the agreements linking Switzerland with the European Union and the agreements linking Switzerland with the WTO in the fields of public contracts.