Background

Financed by the Government of Switzerland and implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Municipal Environmental and Economic Governance (MEG) Project is an intervention in the domain of local governance in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Project’s overall goal is defined as follows: Local governments (LGs), assigned with appropriate competences and finances, have improved their democratic governance, apply sound public policy and performance management systems, and provide public services in an inclusive, effective and efficient manner, particularly those related to economic and environmental sectors. The expected concrete improvements the Project will contribute to are clustered in three outcomes, as follows:

• Outcome 1: Supported local governments apply effective development management systems characterized by stronger oversight of the legislative and greater accountability towards the citizens.
• Outcome 2: Citizens and businesses in target localities benefit from good quality services provided by LGs in the economic and environmental sectors.
• Outcome 3: Improved regulatory framework at higher and local government levels and pro-active networking accelerate sector-specific reforms and enable more effective local public service delivery.

The Project’s territorial focus is on the North-West part of the country (including Una-Sana Canton and Prijedor region) and the North-East region (the wider Doboj-Tuzla area), covering 18 partner LGs: Bihac, Bosanska Krupa, Cazin, Doboj, Gracanica, Gradacac, Gradiška, Kalesija, Kostajnica, Kozarska Dubica, Prijedor, Prnjavor, Sanski Most, Tešanj, Teslic, Tuzla, Velika Kladuša and Žepce.
The Project is implemented in partnership with the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Ministry of Development, Entrepreneurship and Crafts of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH), the FBiH Ministry of Agriculture, Water Management and Forestry, the Ministry for Administration and Local Self-Government of Republika Srpska (RS), the RS Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management and both entity Associations of Municipalities and Cities (AMCs).
The purpose of this consultancy is to provide technical assistance and expert support to the Ministry of Construction, Spatial Planning and Environmental Protection of Una-Sana Canton (the Ministry) in reforming the legislation governing issues of urban planning and construction, as well as the issues of legalization of illegally constructed buildings.    
The objective of this consultancy is to provide full analysis, conduct consultations, and define conclusions and concrete recommendations as a way of expert support to Ministry’s legislation reform efforts in mentioned areas.
 

Duties and Responsibilities

Following the initiative of LGs on the territory of Una-Sana Canton (USC), the Ministry initiated necessary procedures in preparing amendments to the Law on Spatial Planning and Construction and the Law on Legalization of Illegally Built Structures, as a part of the Ministry's 2019 work program. For this purpose, the Ministry organized a meeting with LGs representatives from USC on April 16th, where proposals for legislative amendments were discussed. LGs recognized that the favorable business environment and conditions for increasing investment activity heavily depend on the efficiency in the process of issuing the necessary construction related permits. In addition, the Ministry identified certain areas that need to be improved through its administrative oversight over implementation of these regulations.
In order to provide support in these reform efforts, upon request and in agreement with the USC Government and the Ministry, the MEG Project will engage a Consultant for strengthening legislation on spatial planning and construction in Una-Sana Canton (hereinafter – the Consultant), who will provide expert assistance in the process of preparing amendments to “Law on Spatial Planning and Construction” and “Law on Legalization of Illegally Built Structures”.
The Consultant will initially conduct a comprehensive analysis of applicable existing regulations, problems in their practical implementation, including a comparative analysis of regulations and practices in the country and the region, and will conduct consultations with all relevant actors. After that, the Consultant will prepare a report capturing results of the previously conducted analysis and consultations and be available to present the report findings as necessary to the Ministry and eventually to other interested actors.
The entire service will be delivered in the languages of BiH peoples. The expected timeframe for delivery of the service is June - August 2019.
More specifically, the Consultant will be expected to perform the following tasks:
Task 1 – Analysis and consultations
As part of this task the Consultant will:

• Review current cantonal regulations in the field of spatial planning, construction and the legalization of illegally built structures, as well as other relevant documents based on which the problems in applying these regulations in practice can be examined. The Ministry will provide the Consultant with all the necessary documentation at this stage of analysis;
• Examine all initiatives, proposals and suggestions for legislative amendments that LGs in the USC have already addressed to the Ministry, as well as those discussed at a meeting between the Ministry and representatives of local governments on April 16th. In particular, the Consultant will pay special attention to the relationship and possible inconsistency of these regulations with other sectoral laws (regardless of the level of government that these laws have been enacted). The Consultant will also be provided with all relevant documents that have been produced as a result of the activities implemented by the MEG Project with the partner LGs in the area of USC;
• Carry out a comparative analysis of regulations and explore examples of best practices that could be applied in the context of the USC legislature. This part of analysis and research will include regulations and practices both in Bosnia and Herzegovina (cantonal and entity regulations and practices) and in at least two countries in the region. Within this research, the Consultant will focus to practices of introducing and applying the system of electronic processing of building permits;
• Conduct interviews and consultations with all relevant stakeholders in order to gather as much information as possible about the problems and obstacles occurring in implementation of subject regulations in practice. These consultations will include interviews with at least representatives of the Ministry, local governments from USC and local business community. Before conducting interviews, the Consultant will determine the list of interviewees and discussion questions in cooperation with the Ministry and the MEG Project. The Consultant will have a responsibility to participate in an eventual debate organized by the Ministry in the form of a round table or a similar kind of expert debate, with the aim to come to a quality legislative solution through a participatory discussion. Travel to Bihac for conducting interviews and consultations with relevant stakeholders is expected to take up to maximum 5 days of Consultant’s time.

It is envisaged that this task will be delivered by the end of July 2019 and the level of effort will not exceed 15 expert days.

Task 2 – Preparation of report and presentation 
Based on the analysis and consultations carried out under the Task 1, the Consultant will prepare a report that will cover all the findings that he/she has come to. As a minimum, but not limited to, the report will include the following:

• a brief description of activities and methodology applied during research and analysis phase;
• all findings and conclusions related to problems in practical implementation of regulations and weak points thereof;
• results and conclusions of a comparative regulations analysis;
• specific proposals for legislative changes along with explanation of their rationale and, in case of multiple options and solutions, justification of proposed/preferred solutions;
• eventually proposals for addendum to the legislation, i.e. introduction of additional legal instruments in order to improve the licensing procedure, with the accompanying rationale;
• proposals for improvement of regulatory framework coming from comparative analysis;
• proposals for improvement and amendments to other sectoral regulations with the aim of horizontal and vertical harmonization of legislation and efficient implementation of cantonal regulations on construction;
• explanation and reasoning behind rejecting certain initiatives for legislative changes;
• a special section that includes the assessment of possibilities and necessary measures that should be taken in order to establish a system of electronic processing of construction permits in the USC.

If necessary, the Consultant may include additional elements in the report. The final content of the report will be defined in agreement with both the Ministry and the MEG Project, after the completion of the Task 1.
The Consultant will present the report to the Ministry and, if necessary, to other USC institutions expressing interest. If certain comments and suggestions are collected during the presentations that may affect the final content of the report, the Consultant will duly review all of them and prepare a final version of the report eventually incorporating these remarks. Final report will be subject to approval by the Ministry and the MEG Project.
It is envisaged that this task will be delivered by the mid-August 2019 and the level of effort will not exceed 10 expert days.

Competencies

Corporate Responsibility and Teamwork:

• Demonstrates commitment to UNDP’s mission, vision and values;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
• Plans, prioritizes and delivers tasks on time;
• Strives for and promotes excellence in performance continually;
• Participates effectively in a team-based, information-sharing environment, collaborating and cooperating with others;
• Generates ideas and seizes opportunities to support corporate strategic objectives.

People Skills:

• Demonstrated ability to work harmoniously with persons of different national and cultural backgrounds;
• Recognizes and responds appropriately to the ideas, interests, and concerns of others;
• Builds trust and engenders morale by displaying open, transparent and credible behavior;
• Respects individual/cultural differences; utilizes diversity to foster teamwork;
• Ensures others’ understanding of, involvement in, and adaptation to a change process.

Partnering and Networking:

• Communicates sensitively and effectively across different constituencies;
• Ability to work as a member of a team as well as work autonomously.

Results-Orientation:

• Plans and ensures quality results to meet established goals.

Communication:

• Formulates written information clearly and persuasively;
• Shares information openly with co-workers and partners while using discretion to protect confidences;
• Presents information in a clear and articulate manner.

Job Knowledge and Expertise:

• Excellent knowledge of spatial planning and construction regulatory framework, practices, challenges and processes;
• Knowledge of matters related to issuing construction-related permits at the local level;
• Strong analytical skills;
• Advanced presentation skills;
• Advanced writing skills;
• Initiative and sound judgment.
   

Required Skills and Experience

Academic Qualifications/Education

• University degree in law, architecture, civil engineering, public administration or a related field.

Experience

• At least 5 years of experience in practical work and provision of expert support in reforms of public policies and legislation at various levels of government;
• Professional experience in development and implementation of regulations in the field of spatial planning and construction will be considered as an advantage;  
• Experience and knowledge of public policies and relevant regulatory framework in BiH on local self-government and spatial planning and construction;
• Proven analytical and presentation skills and ability to conceptualize and write concisely and clearly.

Languages Requirements

• Fluency in official Bosnia and Herzegovina languages, and in English.

Other Requirements

• Excellent computer skills (MS Office applications) and ability to use information technologies as a tool and resource.

Documents to be Included When Submitting the Proposals
Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications:

1. Proposal:

• Cover Letter;

      2. Completed and signed the Offeror’s template Confirming Interest and Availability (please follow the link: https://popp.undp.org/_layouts/15/WopiFrame.aspx?sourcedoc=/UNDP_POPP_DOCUMENT_LIBRARY/Public/PSU_%20Individual%20Contract_Offerors%20Letter%20to%20UNDP%20Confirming%20Interest%20and%20Availability.docx&action=default);

      3.  Latest personal CV, including past experience from similar projects, and email, telephone and any other contact details for references;

     4. Financial proposal which will separately specify professional fee, indicating number of anticipated working days, travel costs (air-ticket or use of private vehicle), living allowance, and all other applicable costs.

Financial Proposal
Lump sum contracts
The financial proposal shall specify a total lump sum amount, and payment terms around specific and measurable (qualitative and quantitative) deliverables (i.e. whether payments fall in installments or upon completion of the entire contract). Payments are based upon output, i.e. upon delivery of the services specified in the TOR.  In order to assist the requesting unit in the comparison of financial proposals, the financial proposal will include a breakdown of this lump sum amount (including travel, per diem, and number of anticipated working days).
Travel: All envisaged travel costs must be included in the financial proposal.

Shortlisting/Qualification Criteria

Evaluation

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the following methodology:

Cumulative analysis

When using this weighted scoring method, the award of the contract should be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:
a) responsive/compliant/acceptable, and
b) Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.

• * Technical Criteria weight-70%
• * Financial Criteria weight- 30%

Please scan all above mentioned documents and upload as one attachment only online through this website.

Note:

• For an assignment requiring travel, consultants of 65 years or more require full medical examination and statement of fitness to work to engage in the consultancy.
• Due to large number of potential applicants, only competitively selected candidates will be contacted for remaining steps of the service procurement process.