Government Procurement Policy - Post-Award Transparency - Guidelines and Rules for Publication of Contract Award Notices

The Rules for Post-Award Transparency have been superseded by the Mandatory Rules for Procurement by Departments.

Post-Award Transparency Policy

1. The Government has adopted a policy of improved transparency of information on government contracts awarded for the purchase of goods and services. The policy is consistent with open government and accountability for the use of taxpayer funding. It supports the Government's procurement policy by improving market information for all potential suppliers (including international suppliers) and potential sub-contractors, and promotes competition and value for money. The policy will assist Industry NZ to monitor the effectiveness of measures to ensure full and fair opportunity for domestic industry. The Post-Award Transparency Policy is also consistent with New Zealand's advocacy of government procurement transparency in APEC and WTO discussions and commitments under bilateral agreements e.g. with Australia and Singapore.

2. This guidelines/rules document has been jointly approved by the Minister of Commerce and the Minister for Economic Development as guidance for departments in implementing the Post-Award Transparency Policy. As from 30 November 2001, each department is to publish contract award notices via the Internet, using either its own website or the Industrial Supplies Office (ISO) GETS website as the primary point of publication, with hyperlinks between the two. Detailed implementation is to be as set out below.

Review

3. A review of this policy and the associated measures set out in these guidelines will be undertaken at the conclusion of one year's operation or earlier in the context of the design of an E-tenders website under the E-Government procurement project.

4. The review will be undertaken by the Ministry of Economic Development in consultation with departments, the ISO and business groups, reporting to the Ministers of Commerce and Economic Development. The review will include an assessment of:

1. the impact of the departmental compliance costs;
2. any operational constraints; and
3. the appropriate exceptions to the publication requirement.

5. All departments should keep a record of the implementation costs and continuing costs associated with contract award publication so that these can be assessed during the review.

Coverage of Post-Award Publication Requirement

6. All contracts for purchases of goods and services above a threshold of $50,000 (excluding GST), paid from departmental vote funds, are covered by the post-award publication requirement unless an exception applies as below. Contracts for ongoing supplies of goods or services whose total value is not determined in advance, but is likely on an estimated annual basis to exceed the $50,000 value threshold, are also covered by the requirement.

7. Departments are not to select a valuation method, or divide procurements into separate contracts, for the purpose of avoiding the obligation to publish award notices for contracts above the $50,000 threshold.

Exceptions

8. Award information is not required to be published in relation to

1. Contracts about which information may be withheld under one or more of the grounds provided in the Official Information Act 1982 (see also paragraph 9 below).
2. Contracts for services concerning litigation, or other contentious or sensitive matters, where disclosure of the existence of the contract is premature or inappropriate for policy, privacy, legal or financial reasons.
3. Employment contracts for permanent staff or staff engaged under term contracts.
4. Individual purchases or consignments under a term supply contract provided that an award notice for the term supply contract has previously been published on the department's website and/or the GETS website in accordance with these guidelines.
5. Proprietary spare parts or extensions needed to maintain integrity of existing supplies, services or installations and available from only one source.
6. Subcontract purchases by a supplier who has been awarded a prime contract (award of the prime contract must be published in accordance with these guidelines).
7. Public utilities services and fuel.
8. Real property leases.
9. Supplies procured and used overseas.
10. Contracts for provision of public health, education and social welfareservices (this exception does not apply to contracts for IT services to support such public services).

9. When considering whether one of the grounds for withholding information under the Official information Act 1982 applies, it is important to also determine the extent to which the information should be withheld. It may not be necessary or appropriate to withhold all the information relating to the contract. For example, the nature of a contract may be published with the name and address of the successful supplier or tenderer, but the value of the contract may be omitted if one of the grounds for withholding information under the Official Information Act applies.

Method of Publication

10. As from 30 November 2001, departments are required to adopt one of the following alternatives as standard practice
either

1. post on their departmental website brief details of contracts awarded for purchases of goods or services above a threshold of $50,000 (excluding GST) and, in relation to contract awards which are the outcome of an open invitation to tender/register interest, provide the same information directly to the ISO, for posting on the ISO's GETS website; the department must also arrange with the ISO the establishment of a permanent hyperlink from the GETS website to the page on the departmental website where all published contract award information is posted
   or
2. provide directly to the ISO for posting on the GETS website, brief details of contracts awarded for purchases of goods or services above a threshold of $50,000 (excluding GST) and establish a permanent hyperlink from the departmental website to the GETS website page where contract award information is posted.

11. All contract award information posted on the GETS website will be accessible to the public without restriction.

Details to Be Published

12. Contract award notices are to contain the following information:

1. A brief description sufficient to identify the nature of the goods or services and the quantities involved; and a contract reference number.
2. The name and address of the successful supplier or tenderer.
3. An indication of the total value of the contract, unless withholding of this information is justified under these guidelines. The value is to be indicated in one of the following ways:
   either
1. by stating the values of the highest and lowest offers taken into account in the award of the contract.
   or
2. by stating a price band within which the actual or estimated value of the contract falls, specified as follows:
1. a $25,000 band where the contract value is more than $50,000 but not more than $250,000 (first band $50,000/$75,000, last band $225,000/$250,000)
2. a $50,000 band where the contract value is more than $250,000 but not more than $500,000 (first band $250,000/$300,000, last band $450,000/$500,000)
3. a $100,000 band where the contract value is more than $500,000 but not more than $1m (first band $500,000/$600,000, last band $900,000/$1m)
4. a $250,000 band where the contract value is more than $1m but not more than $2.5m (first band $1m/$1.25m, last band $2.25m/$2.5m)
5. a $500,000 band where the contract value is more than $2.5m but not more than $5m (first band $2.5m/$3m, last band $4.5m/$5m)
6. a $1m band where the contract value is more than $5m but not more than $10m (first band $5m/$6m, last band $9m/$10m)
7. a $2m band where the contract value is more than $10m but not more than $20m (first band $10m/$12m, last band $18m/$20m)
8. a $5m band where the contract value is more than $20m but not more than $50m (first band $20/$25m, last band $45m/$50m).
   Note: for contract values above $50m the principle to be applied is that the notified value and actual value variance must be no greater than 20 percent and no less than 10 percent.
   or
3. by stating the total Government-approved project cost, if applicable.
4. The term of the contract, where the contract is a term supply contract.
5. A departmental e-mail address for any inquiries (individuals do not need to be identified).

Template

13. An electronic template for standardisation of the information to be provided to the ISO under these guidelines is available from the ISO.

Timing of Publication

14. Notices of contracts awarded during a quarter are to be published on the departmental website and/or the GETS website (according to the publication option chosen under paragraph 10 A or B above) no later than 10 working days after the conclusion of the quarter.

Duration of Publication

15. The published contract award details must be retained on the department's website and/or the GETS website (according to the publication option chosen under paragraph 10 A or B above) for the duration of the following quarter.

Tenderer Debriefing

16. In accordance with existing Government purchasing policy guidelines, departments must be prepared to debrief unsuccessful tenderers on request.

Record Keeping

17. Departments must keep internal records of decisions regarding an assessment not to publish contract award notices.

Official Information Act

18. Departments will be aware that information about contracts not published according to this policy will nevertheless be subject to the Official Information Act 1982 on an ongoing basis.

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