Changes to the operation of the National Registry of Construction Companies and Public Works Consulting Firms

On January 14, Provision No. 3/2021 (hereinafter, the “Provision”) was published in the Official Gazette of the Nation issued by the National Contracting Office (hereinafter, the “ONC”) was published in the Official Gazette of the Nation, amending the operating regulations of the National Registry of Construction Companies and Public Works Consulting Firms (hereinafter, the “RCOP”) that were approved by Provision 16/2019.

Powers

With the amendment of subsection g) of Article 2 of Annex I “Operating Regulations of the RCOP,” the RCOP is empowered to proceed with the ex officio registration of sanctioned construction, supply, or consulting firms for public works that are not registered, for the purpose of enforcing their sanction.

In turn, it incorporates subsections to the aforementioned article through which it may:

1. Review registrations when processing updates to registrants. The purpose of this review is to complete the documentation and information existing in the RCOP.
2. Bring to the attention of the ONC the conduct provided for in Article 1, section 2.3 of Annex II of Decree No. 1169 of December 12, 2018.
3. Issue the operating rules for the RCOP.
4. Intervene in requests for rectification made by interested parties and registrants.
5. Maintain a list of builders, consultants, and public works suppliers registered in the RCOP.

 

Pre-registration and registration

Prior to applying for registration, pre-registration must be completed through the CONTRAT.AR website[1], establishing an electronic address for legal purposes and completing the information and documentation required in the forms. The information provided and the documentation submitted shall be considered an Affidavit, in accordance with Articles 109 and 110 of the Administrative Procedures Regulations, Decree No. 1759/72 T.O. 2017.

However, in the event of an error or omission in the information/documentation provided, a request for correction or incorporation may be made by submitting a substantiated note accompanied by documentation supporting the request, prior to the issuance of the registration certificate.

With regard to documentation containing information covered by any of the exceptions in Article 8 of Law No. 27,275 on Access to Public Information and its amendments, the interested party, through their representative before the RCOP, must report and prove such circumstances in a well-founded manner, providing the required information and documentation in part, and may use the redaction system under the terms of Article 12 of the same law. Such rectification shall proceed to the extent that it does not affect the rights of third parties.

Those registered must keep the information in their electronic file permanently updated. The documentation must be submitted in digital format, which must be legible, complete, and scanned from the original by the Legitimate Administrator of the firm or whoever has the power to act on its behalf.

When the reference contracting and execution capacities have been calculated on the basis of false or altered documentation or information, such information shall be brought to the attention of the ONC in accordance with the terms of Article 1, section 2.3 of Annex II of Decree No. 1169/2018.

Additional documents

In addition to the documents required under the Annex to Article 4 of the RCOP, depending on the type of registration and legal status, the following shall be added:

For builders: a) Individuals:

1. Updated certificate issued by the Institute of Statistics and Registration of the Construction Industry (IERIC). (as subsection VIII)
2. Registration as a Merchant in the Construction sector. (as subsection IX)

 

Review procedure

If, during the registration review procedure, it becomes necessary to request additional documentation and/or information, the registrant will be required to submit it within a peremptory period of ninety (90) calendar days.

If the requested additional documentation and/or information is not submitted within the established period, the registration will remain outdated in the RCOP. In order to resume the update process, the corresponding procedure must be restarted.

In the event of a partial submission of the required documentation, or if the RCOP requests clarification in this regard, the registrant will be required to submit the required documentation and/or clarify the requested information within a peremptory and non-extendable period of thirty (30) additional calendar days. Once this period has elapsed and the requested information has not been submitted or has been submitted again in an incomplete form, the registrant will remain in an outdated status in the RCOP.

The review procedure will not alter the capacity arising from the registration certificate issued prior to that procedure and which is valid at the time of its completion.

Reference capacity

The calculation of the Reference Economic and Financial Execution Capacity (hereinafter, “CE”) is derived from the product of the Basic Capacity (a) and the Enabling Factor (b).

(a) Understood as the amount derived from averaging the three (3) closed fiscal years with the highest work certification.

These fiscal years will be selected after analysis by the RCOP of the construction performance records declared by the builder, taking a maximum of ten (10) consecutive fiscal years, including the last closed one. For this purpose, the total verified work certification for these years will be updated to constant values using the Construction Cost Index published by the National Institute of Statistics and Census (hereinafter, the “INDEC”).

In the case of companies less than FIVE (5) years old, they must submit all their fiscal years, including the last closed one.

With regard to “Production,” this is the total verified certification of a closed fiscal year, obtained on the basis of the builder’s sworn statement of work history, which will be updated by the CH at the time of calculating the Basic Capacity.

In order to update and maintain their registration and CE, builders must submit their latest closed balance sheet within six (6) months from the end of their fiscal year, along with supporting documentation of the progress of works and/or commitments undertaken. The CE will be updated based on this information.

In the case of builders who do not have a track record of works, the value of the subscribed share capital on the date of the last closed fiscal year will be used as the minimum computable base.

For foreign companies, only those works carried out in the country will be counted as production. If there is no history to declare, the basis for calculation will be the subscribed capital stock from the balance sheet of the last closed fiscal year of the parent company, quoted in national currency, and the amount will be calculated based on the selling exchange rate of the Banco de la Nación Argentina (hereinafter, “BCRA”) in effect at the close of the previous day of said fiscal year.

(b) is derived from the sum of the elements Seniority and Economic and Financial Indices. This sum can reach a value between zero (0) and six (6).

Seniority refers to the number of years that the builder has been operating in the country. For legal entities, the start date of operations is taken to be the date of registration or amendment of their corporate purpose in the relevant Public Registry, provided that this reflects their activity as a builder.

In the case of individuals, their registration as merchants with the relevant Registry will be taken as the starting point, provided that their field of activity is construction; otherwise, the date of expansion of that field will be taken as the starting point.

The values of the components of the Qualification Factor indicated in the amendment to the RCOP Operating Regulations are for the years 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022 and impact the calculation of Reference Capacity, in accordance with the Progressive Adjustment scheme provided therein.

This scheme can be consulted at the following link:

https://www.boletinoficial.gob.ar/detalleAviso/primera/239778/20210113?busqueda=1

This report cannot be considered as legal or any other type of advice from Allende & Brea.

[1] https://www.contratar.gob.ar