*3.1. Collaboration in the Tendering Process*

Quebec's legislation and regulations are mostly silent regarding collaborative practices in the procurement process. Instead, those practices are included in the request for qualifications (RFQ) and the request for proposals (RFP) contractual documents. Three main mechanisms are provided for requests for information (RFI), requests for optimization measures (ROM) and commercially confidential meetings (CCM).

RFIs allow tenderers to clarify, lightly correct or modify project requirements. If the RFI is not confidential in nature, the response is published to all tenderers, thus ensuring the honest and fair treatment of tenderers. If confidential, the response will be communicated only to the appropriate tenderer. ROMs, also subject to confidentiality, aim to significantly alter the technical requirements while ensuring the optimization of quality, costs or delivery schedule of the project. Tenderers can propose solutions that would not be valid without changes to project requirements.

Mandatory CCMs allow tenderers to provide comments and ask questions to facilitate their understanding of the project and ultimately develop compliant proposals. While CCMs have become a staple in the procurement for Quebec's latest major infrastructure projects, public bodies need a derogation from the Treasury to use them since the legislative and regulatory framework do not specifically provide for them. CCMs differ from integrated design workshops—where participants can suggest solutions, freely interact and create value for the project—and rather represent a compliance validation exercise regarding project requirements.
