The European Union Institutions (EUI) directly influence the creation of national public tenders through frameworks for public procurement, such as the Public Procurement Directives (Directive 2014/23/EU, Directive 2014/24/EU, and Directive 2014/25/EU).
Additionally, the tenders that EUI publish are often used as examples by national public administrations.
Therefore, it is valuable for a service manager to understand how the EUI contractually manages professional services contracts.
This post focus on the Quoted Time and Means Contract.

In the post “Understanding T&M Contracts in EUI tenders” it was explained the importance of the Annex III. GENERAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES CONTRACTS (from now on just indicated as Annex III).
This document mentions the three basic type of contracts for professional services that are implemented through specific contracts with EUI: time and means, quoted time-and-means and fixed-price.

Quoted Time and Means (QTM) Contract Phases and Execution.

A QTM contract involves three initial phases:

1. Request for quotation
2. Service Provider’s Scope of Work and Financial Offer
3. Specific Contract

The Specific Contract then dictates the work order for a total number of days. While these days can be split by role, it’s generally advisable to avoid this as it can create rigidity during contract execution. For instance, a €100,000 contract might allocate 100 days at a €1,000 flat rate per day.
This contract amount, similar to Fixed Price and Time and Means contracts, represents the maximum available budget for the contractor.

The Specific Contract also defines key elements like duration and place of execution (originally the QTM was used only for external services, but this is not longer the case after COVID).
EUI Specific Contracts are typically concise, referencing general clauses in the framework contract (e.g., SIDE III).
Unlike Fixed Price contracts, specific milestones aren’t defined in the Specific Contract , though a high-level view of deliverables and main phases might be included, making QTM suitable for projects using Work Breakdown/Product Breakdown Structures.
The specific contract of the European Unition institutions are generally concise referencing general clauses in the framework contract. Here an example of QTM Specific contract for the framework contract SIDE III.

Subsequently, Sub-tasks (also referred to as QTMs) are defined during contract execution. This flexibility makes QTM contracts well-suited for Agile projects, where sub-tasks can be defined based on the completion of preceding ones. Multiple QTMs can run concurrently and can also represent traditional Work Packages in Waterfall methodologies.

Each Sub-task requires a detailed description, often in a Progres Report. , outlining deliverables and, depending on the project (Agile or Waterfall), acceptance criteria or a Definition of Done. Sub-tasks are quantified using the daily flat rate from the Specific Contract (e.g., a 30-day sub-task).

Acceptance of a sub-task is formalized via a Certificate of Conformity (CoC). Invoicing for a sub-task is authorized only upon EUI acceptance of the CoC.

In summary, the Quoted Time and Means contract offers a flexible approach for:
* Budget management in Agile projects.
* Managing time and means contracts with a significant deliverable focus.
* Hybrid activities, such as combining time and means profiles with maintenance contracts (where a periodic fee is established alongside time-based work).