## IV.2. COMMON TECHNICAL PROVISIONS 

## IV.2.1. Quality and standards 

IV.2.1.1. The contractor shall perform the Services and provide the Products in full knowledge and consideration of the contracting authority 's computing environment. It shall perform it in accordance with technical norms, standards and procedures based on best professional practice in the informatics and/or telecommunications field, for instance the ISO 9000 standards. 

IV.2.1.2. The contracting authority shall supply, without delay, all the assistance, data and information for providing its Products and Services . 

IV.2.1.3. The contracting authority and the contractor shall notify each other by a Means of communication of any factor likely to impair or delay the proper execution of the framework contract. 

IV.2.1.4. The contractor guarantees that Software  delivered under this framework contract, whether or not developed in execution of this framework contract, will not fail to execute its programming instructions due to defects and workmanship when properly installed and used on the device designated by the contractor. It shall be devoid of any deliberate mechanism which leaves it under the contractor's control after supply to the contracting authority. It shall meet the operating requirements, specifications and characteristics specified in the contractor's documents or laid down in the framework contract. 

IV.2.1.5. The quality of the contractor's Products  and Services  shall be measured by reference to the definitions, quality standards and procedures defined in the present General Terms and Conditions for Information Technology Contracts, framework contract or the specific contract, and by reference to the Quality indicators defined in a Service level agreement . Quality standards may be revised in line with developments on the market. 

IV.2.1.6. The contractor undertakes to comply with those quality standards. Compliance with the standards shall be monitored by the contracting authority. Unless otherwise stated in the framework contract, in accordance with Article I.16 of the General Conditions, in the event of non–compliance with one or more of the standards over a sliding period of three (3) months, the contractor shall submit an improvement plan. In the event of non–compliance with one or more of the standards for three (3) months, consecutive or not, over a sliding period of six (6) months, a Product whose quality has proved substandard may be withdrawn from the framework contract, or the Contract may be terminated where the overall quality of the Services is substandard. 

IV.2.1.7. Stand–by System (outside the guarantee  period) Unless otherwise stated in the framework contract, in the event of a complete System failure lasting more than twenty-four (24) hours from the time it is notified by a Means of communication to the contractor, or in the event of intermittent failures lasting more than forty-eight (48) hours for any reason whatsoever, the contractor shall, upon a duly substantiated request, make available to the contracting authority within twenty-four (24) hours at the most, an equivalent S ystem or the necessary hardware and software enabling the contracting authority to run its applications in the interim. The cost of such equivalent material shall be charged to the contractor. If the contractor can demonstrate that the failure is not attributable to it, it may charge the cost to the contracting authority at the rates shown in the Annexes. 

