Kuwait's Central Agency for Public Tenders (CAPT) has issued two new resolutions on the classification rules of general contractors and consultancy services, reported state news agency Kuna.

The Law No 49 of 2016 on public tenders is aimed at classifying companies whether public companies or consulting firms, stating that the new resolutions defined the criteria for this classification, said the report citing CAPT Secretary-General Shoaa Akbar.

The first resolution was devoted to the rules and procedures of classification criteria for consultancy services, while the other was allocated to the rules, procedures and criteria for the classification of public contractors, stated Akbar in an interview.

According to her, contractors were categorised financially, while CAPT set the rules for technical criteria for contractors’ classification.

She pointed out that the rules are based on new criteria such as the contractor’s experience, years of work and all technical requirements. The contractors are divided into four segments according to the main specialties: construction, building works, mechanical works and electrical works.

The first category includes major projects’ contractors, and the second includes contractors of technical and financial capacity who may participate in tenders with a value not less than KD5 million ($16.5 million) and not more than KD100 million ($330 million).

The third category includes contractors who are allowed to participate in tenders with a value not less than KD1 million ($3.3 million) and not more than KD10 million ($33 million), she said, adding that the fourth category includes local contractors who are allowed to participate in tenders with a value not exceeding KD2 million ($6.6 million), she added.

Akbar said that these classifications are reviewed periodically, and the certificate of classification of contractors for general contracting is valid for a period not exceeding three years, adding that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are in the fourth category.