Is free access available to submissions (candidature and/or bid) transmitted electronically?

Until the submissions have been opened by the person authorised by the awarding authority (RPA) to have access to the “safe”, they remain encrypted. The submissions are therefore inaccessible and cannot be worked on. For a given solicitation, the submissions are only used by the relevant purchasing agency; the decryption keys that give access to the submissions will be accessible by the individual within the purchasing agency who has been cleared for access to the “safe room” and who thus holds an individual digital certificate that enables him to authenticate himself. The security level is therefore at least equivalent to that which exists in the current situation with paper envelopes.

After the bids are opened, the situation is identical to that which applies currently to the hard copy procedure.