Commission approves funding of EUR 10 million for the recipient
In the picturesque municipality of Sipplingen, situated by the shores of Lake Constance, a controversy has arisen concerning the renovation of its community hall. The project, undertaken for energy efficiency and safety purposes, has been criticised for not adhering to the usual tendering process for architectural services.
The allegations stem from the municipality's decision to commission architectural services without a Europe-wide procurement procedure. This decision was based on the projects being below the EU threshold value, allowing the municipality to forego the tendering process. However, this move has sparked debate, with questions about transparency, financial accountability, and legal compliance being raised.
The municipality has acknowledged these concerns, initiating dialogue with the grant provider and legal supervision to ensure a factual clarification. The local supervision has criticised the insufficient documentation of the award decision and the lack of adequate justification for not tendering architectural services to at least three offices.
The VwV-Vergabe Baden-Württemberg and the UVgO state that architectural services must be tendered to at least three offices in most cases, with exceptions only in atypical situations that must be justified. The municipality's lawyer argues that the individual contract in the commissioned scope did not exceed the 215,000 euros (net) for each performance category, making the exemption regulation of paragraph 3, paragraph 7, sentence 2 VgV (old) still valid until autumn 2023.
The first planning for the renovation was presented to the city council on April 7, 2022. Shortly after, the planner in charge fell ill, leading the city to commission a new planner within a rotating contract award. The fee for the new planner was derived from the cost estimate of the initial planner, amounting to 158,732 euros (net).
The initial cost estimate for the renovation was 1.218 million euros, including 80,000 euros for architectural services. Retrospectively, the cost increases led to an excess of the EU threshold value for the architect's fee, resulting in the architect's fee not being part of the eligible costs and being excluded from the applied grant.
The lack of a tender process might erode community trust in the municipality's decision-making processes. Open and transparent processes are essential for maintaining public confidence. To address these concerns, municipalities should typically follow established procurement rules and ensure that all processes are transparent and compliant with relevant laws and regulations.
Wolfgang Leja, the contact person for media inquiries, can be reached at w.leja@our website or by phone at 0711 66601-131. The municipality of Sipplingen remains committed to resolving this issue and maintaining the trust of its community.
The municipality's financing of the community hall renovation project, primarily from business operations, has triggered discussions about transparency and financial accountability due to the decision to commission architectural services without a tendering process. Despite the municipality's lawyer arguing that the exemption regulations allow for this decision, concerns persist about legal compliance, as sufficient documentation and justification regarding the choice of architect are deemed insufficient.
