Javna nabava inženjerskih konzultantskih usluga (Public procurement of engineering consulting services)

The process of public procurement of services and goods and the assignment of construction and/or execution of works in the Republic of Croatia is permanently accompanied by complaints from both public contracting authorities and economic operators. Contracting authorities understand the result of the public procurement process by coercion, and bidders too often challenge the result of public procurement by appeals through which they seek the protection of their rights, which, according to them, are violated in the public procurement process. Occasionally, voices from both positions can be heard saying that the application of the Public Procurement Act produces results that generate further misunderstandings about the assessment of the quality of the existing Act. Particularly drastic indicators are expressed by the processes of public procurement of engineering consulting services, where the application of the principle of the most economically advantageous tender is distorted to the point of absurdity, which, as a result, directly or indirectly, causes societal damage. This paper explores and analyses current legislation, confronts the provisions of individual laws that create the space for performing engineering consulting services, and analyses the practice of public procurement on illustrative examples. Proposals for possible improvement of both the legislation and the behaviour of public procurement participants in everyday practice are also presented.