Tender Notices (Public Construction – Guidance 3.4)

Effective date: 2 August 2019

Objective: To promote awareness in the market of available government procurement opportunities

Summary

Publish a tender notice for each open or Selective Tender.

Tender Notices must be published on the website or system nominated by the Secretary of the Department of Treasury and Finance.

A Tender Notice may also be published on the Agency’s website or an electronic tender system.

This Guidance sets out the content of a Tender Notice and describes where Tender Notices must be published.

Tender Notices

Publish a Tender Notice for each open tender or Selective Tender.

The information that must be included in a Tender Notice is listed in Tender Notices (Instruction 3.4).

The Tender Notice should contain:

• a project summary
• a listing of the Tender Documentation and how it can be obtained
• key dates, such as briefing times, site visits and tender closing time
• the Agency’s contact details
• the number of copies and format required for submission (electronic or hard copy)
• details of the tender submission location and timing.

If Tender Documentation is not included in the Tender Notice, then the Tender Notice must provide details about how to obtain or access the Tender Documentation.
Agencies should ensure that the Tender Documentation provides the information tender participants need to understand the:

• project requirements
• terms and conditions applicable to the tender process
• terms on which the successful supplier will be engaged to perform the Works or Construction Services.

Publish Tender Notices on the nominated website or system

For open tenders, the Tender Notices must be published on the website or system nominated by the Secretary to the Department of Treasury and Finance.

For Selective Tenders and Limited Tenders, Tender Notice must be sent to each potential tender participant invited to participate in the tender process from the website or system nominated by the Secretary to the Department of Treasury and Finance where the expected value of the Selective Tender or Limited Tender is greater than:

• for Works – the upper limit stated in Instruction 3.2.1(a)(ii)(1)
• for Construction Services - the upper limit stated in Instruction 3.2.1(a)(ii)(2).

In addition to the website or system nominated by the Secretary to the Department of Treasury and Finance, Agencies may publish the Tender Notice on their own website or through an electronic tender system.

Tender Notices should give potential tender participants participating in the tender process sufficient notice that it has begun. Sufficient notice means:

• for an open tender, notifying all local and international potential tender participants
• for a Selective Tender or a Limited Tender, notifying each tender participant invited to participate.

In addition to this notice requirement, consider other appropriate places to publish a Tender Notice. For example:

• regional newspapers for a regional project
• relevant specialist websites or publications when specialist Construction Services are required.

Agencies affected by the restrictions on print advertising should be aware of the requirements of this policy.

Tools and support

The Practitioners Toolkit includes key documents, guidance and information about the Ministerial Directions and Instructions for public construction.

For further information about the Ministerial Directions and Instructions for public construction procurement, please contact the Construction Policy Team.