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Auctioneer: the complete GUIDE to the profession!

Posted: Sun Dec 22, 2024 4:46 am
by mostakimvip04
The auctioneer is the professional responsible for conducting electronic auctions, from the publication of the notice to the award of the object to the winning bidder.
It is a job that must be carried out by a civil servant who has passed a public exam and has undergone special training and who is appointed by a competent authority.

Learn more about the auctioneer's role in the bidding process below:

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What is an auctioneer?
The auctioneer is a professional appointed by the competent authority to conduct tenders in the electronic auction modality.

This function can only be performed by people who are part of the civil servants of the body or entity responsible for the bidding, unless there is no availability of a qualified civil servant.

In these cases, it is possible to make a special designation, as long as it is justified, of someone outside the administration to carry out the competition.

What is the auctioneer's role?
What is the function of the auctioneer?

The auctioneer is nothing more than the operator responsible for conducting the external phase of the electronic auction, a phase that begins with the publication of the notice and continues until the award of the object to the winning bidder of the event.

The requirements, skills and powers of the Auctioneer are exactly the same as those of the President of Bidding Committees, both with regard to the judgment of the contest and the direction of the contracting.

However, so that we can clearly define the auctioneer's role, we will resort to a comparative analysis , contrasting the New Law with some of the laws and decrees that deal with the subject, but which are no longer in force .

What does the New Bidding Law say about the auctioneer?
The New Bidding Law states that the Auctioneer is responsible for conducting bids in the auction modality, however, it does not define his functions in detail nor does it clarify what the technical requirements are:

Art . 8, § 5 In a bidding process in the auction format, the agent responsible for conducting the event will be designated as the auctioneer .

And what was it like with the old laws?
In older laws, we can find much clearer definitions of the auctioneer's duties and functions. For example, we can see a definition of the auctioneer's duties in an earlier decree, Article 9 of Decree No. 3,555 /2000 :

Art. 9 The auctioneer's duties include: I - accrediting interested parties; II - receiving the envelopes containing the price proposals and the qualification documentation; III - opening the envelopes containing the price proposals, examining them and classifying the bidders; IV - conducting the procedures relating to the bids and choosing the lowest-priced proposal or bid; V - awarding the lowest-priced proposal; VI - preparing the minutes; VII - conducting the work of the support team; VIII - receiving, examining and deciding on appeals; and IX - forwarding the duly completed process, after the award, to the higher authority, with a view to approval and contracting.

Another document that also describes the auctioneer's duties is Decree No. 10,024 of 2019 , which is also no longer in force, and which states:

Art. 17. The auctioneer shall be responsible, in particular, for: I - conducting the public session; II - receiving, examining and deciding on objections and requests for clarification regarding the notice and its annexes, in addition to being able to request formal subsidies from those responsible for preparing these documents; III - verifying the compliance of the proposal with the requirements established in the notice; IV - coordinating the public session and the submission of bids; V - verifying and judging the qualification conditions; VI - correcting errors or flaws that do not alter the substance of the proposals, qualification documents and their legal validity; VII - receiving, examining and deciding on appeals and forwarding them to the competent authority when his decision is upheld; VIII - indicating the winner of the contest; IX - awarding the object, when there is no appeal; X - conducting the work of the support team; and XI - forwarding the duly instructed process to the competent authority and proposing its approval.

Sole paragraph. The auctioneer may request technical feedback from the legal department or other sectors of the body or entity in order to support his/her decision.

With this, it is now possible to clearly define that the auctioneer's main mission and greatest responsibility is to conduct negotiations and mediate conflict situations.

To this end, when conducting an electronic auction, the auctioneer must use his skills to operate the digital tools of the electronic bidding provider systems to ensure a transparent bidding process that complies with the rules.

Who can be appointed and who can act as an auctioneer?
According to the New Bidding Law, the auctioneer is the agent responsible for conducting the event.

Therefore, to know who can be appointed and can act as an auctioneer, just look at Article 8 of Law 14,133/21.

Art. 8 The bidding process will be conducted by a contracting agent, a person appointed by the competent authority, among effective civil servants or public employees of the permanent staff of the Public Administration, to make decisions, monitor the bidding process, give impetus to the bidding process and carry out any other activities necessary for the smooth running of the event until approval.

However, there is another document that provides who can be appointed as auctioneer in more detail than the New Bidding Law.

This is Law No. 10,520 /02 , which is scheduled to be revoked on March 31, 2023 (i.e., it is in force until that date), as stated in Articles 189 and 193 of the New Bidding Law:

Art. 189. This Law applies to the cases provided for in the legislation that make express reference to Law No. 8,666 of June 21, 1993 , Law No. 10,520 of July 17, 2002 , and to articles 1 to 47-A of Law No. 12,462 of August 4, 2011.

Art. 193. The following are revoked: I (...) II - Law No. 8,666 of June 21, 1993, Law No. 10,520 of July 17, 2002, and articles 1 to 47-A of Law No. 12,462 of August 4, 2011, after 2 (two) years have passed since the official publication of this Law.

For this reason, for comparison purposes , it is interesting to observe what Law No. 10,520 /02 says, in its Article 3 , about how the auctioneer is appointed, by which authorities and for which functions:

Art. 3 The preparatory phase of the auction shall observe the following: (...) IV – the competent authority shall designate, from among the employees of the body or entity promoting the bidding , the auctioneer and respective support team, whose duties include, among others, receiving proposals and bids, analyzing their acceptability and classification, as well as qualifying and awarding the object of the contest to the winning bidder.

In other words, we can see that in both the old and new legislation , the auctioneer must be appointed by a competent authority.

However, this choice must be made taking into account some criteria.

Firstly, the auctioneer must be chosen from among the public mobile phone number database administration's employees. In other words, the auctioneer is a professional who is part of the public administration's staff.

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To be appointed as an auctioneer, it is necessary to be part of the permanent staff (public competition), to be invested with administrative authority to receive proposals and documentation and to process and judge bids in accordance with the rules of the notice.

Unlike the judging committees, the auctioneer is a singular authority and, as such, his presence alone is enough to start a session.

For this reason, its support team performs auxiliary functions, that is, it does not participate in the judging of the contest.

The auctioneer's support team must be composed, for the most part, of civil servants holding an effective position or administrative employment, that is, preferably belonging to the staff of the body or entity promoting the event.

Unlike the auctioneer and the Bidding Committee, in principle, the support team does not need to undergo a training course to operate, since the activity is auxiliary and, therefore, does not assume responsibility regarding the legality of the procedure.

What does an auctioneer do? See what this professional's responsibilities are
what does the auctioneer do

Even with the changes imposed by the New Bidding Law, the auctioneer's work should not change much, since most of the functions involve coordinating the bidding process and teamwork.

Among the auctioneer's responsibilities, we can highlight the following:

Coordinate the entire bidding process
Conduct the public session on the Internet
Negotiate the price
Lead the work of the support team
Define the winning proposal
Propose supplier approval.
Skills and characteristics of an auctioneer
Among the auctioneer's skills, he must be well aware of the New Bidding Law , Law No. 14,133 /21, as well as the Electronic Auction Decree 10,024/19, which we mentioned earlier in the text and which dictate how bidding processes occur in Brazil.

Nowadays, because auctions are electronic, auctioneers must be trained to use electronic bidding provider systems to be able to conduct a transparent bidding process that complies with all regulations.

Therefore, in addition to specializing in the use of these systems, a good auctioneer must also know how to negotiate in favor of the administration and lead the work of the support team, in addition to being a resolute person, that is, capable of making the best decisions.

Does an auctioneer need to have higher education?
Auctioneer must have higher education

This is a controversial issue. Many people believe that an auctioneer must have a higher education in law to perform the role, as it requires a broad understanding of Administrative Law in order to perform it properly.

However, there is no law that clearly states that, in order to work as an auctioneer, it is necessary to have higher education.

Therefore, the auctioneer does not need to have higher education , especially considering section II of Article 5 of the Federal Constitution , which states :

Art. 5 - (...) II - no one shall be obliged to do or refrain from doing anything except by virtue of law;

Despite this, as we have seen throughout the text, the auctioneer must preferably be a civil servant who has passed a public examination and has specific training to perform the role.

What is an auctioneer's salary?
In the position of auctioneer, the starting salary is R$2,112.00, and can earn up to R$5,399.00. In Brazil, the average salary is R$3,068.00 and the most common training for these professionals is in the area of ​​Law.

Is there an auctioneer course?
Yes . The auctioneer training course is currently offered by Enap .

Can an auctioneer be a commissioned position?
No ! The auctioneer's role is to coordinate the entire bidding process and he must do so in a technical, transparent manner, ensuring the best possible result for the administration.

Furthermore, the Special Body of the Court of Justice defined that the auctioneer cannot be a commissioned position in February 2021.

As we have seen throughout the text, it does not even make sense for the position of auctioneer to be commissioned, since this would go against all laws that seek to bring transparency to the bidding process in general.

The auctioneer is a professional appointed by the competent authority, however, he must have the technical skills to conduct the bidding process.

To do this, he needs to have autonomy, that is, he needs to know how due process works and understand enough about administrative law to avoid making mistakes that could cause rework and more expenses for the public administration.

Can an auctioneer be outsourced?
Auctioneer can be outsourced

As we saw earlier throughout the text, the auctioneer must preferably be a public servant appointed by a competent authority.

However, it is possible to have a bidding process with an outsourced auctioneer. This only happens, however, when there is no qualified employee available to perform this function, and a special designation can be made, as long as it is justified.

On the Public Procurement Portal, the auctioneer has support in all phases of the public session: from the publication of the notice to the holding of the first electronic auctions! Sign up for free right now!
Conclusion
The auctioneer is one of the most important parts of the electronic auction.

This professional will coordinate the entire bidding process to carry out a transparent purchase or contract within all the rules established by law.

Therefore, among the auctioneer's skills, leadership must be included, since he will lead the support team.

A necessary strength is the ability to negotiate, after all, the auctioneer must be able to bring the best prices to the administration.

Furthermore, the bidder must be qualified to operate the systems used for the electronic bidding process and be resolute, that is, have the ability to make difficult decisions and resolve any conflicts that may occur during the bidding process.

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