Reykjavik traffic-light procurement halted over tendering rules

mbl.is reports that Iceland’s Public Procurement Complaints Committee has ordered Reykjavik to pause a traffic-light procurement while it considers a complaint. The committee found a significant likelihood that the city should have advertised the purchase across the European Economic Area (EEA).

The procurement covers the supply and installation of traffic-light equipment at the junctions of Snorrabraut and Hverfisgata, and Snorrabraut and Laugavegur, as part of the first phase of the Borgarlína project. The committee’s decision is dated 21 September and was published on Friday. It concerns only the request to suspend the process temporarily pending a final ruling on the complaint.

Dispute over the scale of the purchase

Reykjafell filed its complaint on 23 July. On 3 July, the city had invited selected companies, including Reykjafell and Smith & Norland, to bid for the work. It included replacing control cabinets and installing new signal lights, sensors, push-button units and audible signals for blind pedestrians.

Reykjafell argued that the tender requirements were tailored to products and services from Yunex Traffic, which Smith & Norland represents. It also raised concerns about the city’s earlier purchases of equipment for centralised traffic-light control. The company said the purchases formed part of a larger whole and should have been advertised across the EEA.

The city rejected those arguments, saying the purchases were separate and below the relevant thresholds. It also denied that the requirements favoured one manufacturer or prevented Reykjafell from offering its own equipment.

Committee rejects transport-services rules

The city argued that the purchases were connected to a joint project with Betri samgöngur and fell under special procurement rules for transport services, which have higher thresholds. The committee disagreed, finding that the equipment was for controlling traffic at junctions on the general road network. The fact that buses use those roads, alongside private cars, was not enough to make the special rules applicable.

The committee said the relevant threshold was the general one for municipal supply contracts: just under 31.9 million Icelandic krónur, excluding VAT. The city told the committee that its contracts for traffic-light equipment totalled more than 59.1 million krónur, excluding VAT, between 3 July 2025 and 3 July 2026.

The committee said it had not been shown evidence of a comprehensive plan to replace all the city’s traffic-light equipment.