Contract number: ECHA/2019/355  FWC conditions of October 2018 
17 
The parties agree that any communication made by email has full legal effect and is 
admissible as evidence in judicial proceedings. 
II.5.2. Date of communications by mail and email 
Any communication is deemed to have been made when the receiving party receives it, 
unless this FWC contract refers to the date when the communication was sent. 
E-mail is deemed to have been received by the receiving party on the day of dispatch of 
that e-mail, provided that it is  sent to the e-mail address indicated in Article  I.8. The 
sending party must be able to prove the date of dispatch. In the event that the sending 
party receives a non-delivery report, it must make every effort to ensure that the other 
party actually receives the communication by email or mail . In such a case, the sending 
party is not held in breach of its obligation to send such communication within a specified 
deadline. 
Mail sent to the contracting authority is deemed to have been received by the contracting 
authority on the date on which the department responsible referred to in Article I. 8 
registers it. 
Formal notifications are considered to have been received by the receiving party on the 
date of receipt indicated in the proof received by the sending party that the message was 
delivered to the specified recipient.  
II.5.3. Submission of e-documents via e-PRIOR 
1. If provided for in the special conditions, the exchange of electronic documents (e -
documents) such as requests for services, specific contracts and invoices between 
the parties is automated through the use of the e-PRIOR platform. This platform 
provides two possibilities for  such exchanges: either through web services  
(machine-to-machine connection) or through a web application ( the supplier 
portal).  
2. The contracting authority takes the necessary measures to implement and maintain 
electronic systems that enable the supplier portal to be used effectively.  
3. In the case of machine -to-machine connection, a direct connection is established 
between the parties’ back offices . In this case, the parties take the measures 
necessary on their side to implement and maintain electronic syst ems that enable 
the machine-to-machine connection to be used  effectively. The electronic systems 
are specified in the interface control document. The contractor (or leader in the case 
of a joint tender) must take the necessary technical measures to set up a machine-
to-machine connection and at its own cost. 
4. If communication via the supplier portal  or via the web services ( machine-to-
machine connection) is hindered by factors beyond the control of one party, it must 
notify the other immediately and the parties must take the necessary measures to 
restore this communication.  
5. If it is impossible to restore the communication within two working days, one party 
must notify the other that alternative means of communication specified in Article 
II.5.1 will be used until the supplier portal or the machine-to-machine connection 
is restored.  
6. When a change in the interface control document  requires adaptations, the 
contractor (or leader in the case of a joint tender) has up to six months from receipt 
of the notification to implement this change. This period can be shortened by mutual 
agreement of the parties. This period does not apply to urgent measures required 
by the security policy of the contracting authority to ensure integrity, confidentiality 
and non-repudiation of information and the availability of e-PRIOR, which must be 
applied immediately.