Contracting guidelines
Contracting guidelines for contractors
Much of NZAID's delivery of official development assistance is achieved through the purchase of goods and services, or the provision of funding assistance. All contracting must flow from, and be specific to the New Zealand Government's stated objectives, policy direction and focus for NZAID. These are detailed in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade annual Statement of Intent and the Estimate of Appropriations for Vote Official Development Assistance.
NZAID requires a wide range of skills to plan, implement, monitor and evaluate aid activities. In addition, specialist expertise is often called upon in fields such as education, health, law and justice, humanitarian and emergency management, peace building and responses to conflict, sustainable livelihoods, and environmental management and governance.
Methods of procurement
The purchase of goods and services is done through a formal contracting process. Individual contractual arrangements will vary depending upon the size and scope of work, value and strategic importance. The basic guidelines for contracting are as follows:
Value of goods or services |
Method of procurement |
|---|---|
| Less than $20,000 | No tender is required |
| Between $20,000 and $100,000 | Closed tender required |
| Greater than $100,000 | Open tender required |
| Management Services Contract | Multi-stage open tender required |
Services falling within the scope of the Approved Contractor Scheme (ACS) can be contracted under the standing offer with the individual consultant. Selection for the ACS is undertaken through an open tender process.
In addition, NZAID may provide funding assistance to not-for-profit groups and agencies in respect to specific project objectives, capacity building or core funding. Such assistance is normally provided through a funding arrangement. Funding assistance can be obtained through the small grant funds operated at New Zealand embassies or High Commissions, or contestable funding processes.
How to access business opportunities
There are a number of ways in which you can keep up to date with new business opportunities with the agency.
- New tenders
Where work is advertised as an open tender this will be published on the NZAID website. Calls for proposals may take the form of Expressions of Interest (EOI) or Request for Proposals (RFP). - Approved Contractor Scheme
This scheme allows NZAID to retain a pool of pre-tendered, pre-selected consultants to undertake short-term assignments.
The contracting process
A variety of contracting processes are available depending upon the value of the contract to be awarded, its scope, complexity and strategic importance.
In general a selection of contractors undertaking short-term assignments is done under the ACS. Standing offers under the ACS are awarded through an open tender process. This involves advertising a request for proposals followed by tenderers submitting a completed application form, bio data and signed declaration. Selection is done by an assessment panel against set criteria. Successful tenderers are offered a standing offer with NZAID which sets out the agreed fixed fee rates and the standard terms and conditions under which parties undertake to contract. Where an approved contractor is subsequently requested to undertake an assignment a short form contract is entered into between the parties. Standing offers are for a period of three years, no retainer is paid and there is no guarantee of any work under this scheme.
Management Services Contracts are awarded through a multi-stage open tender process. This involves advertising for EOI, which are then assessed and short listed by an assessment panel. Short listed tenderers are then invited to submit a proposal in response to a Request for Tender (RFT). At this stage the tenderer is usually asked to provide details of the proposed management services team, demonstrate management capacity and capability, prepare a risk assessment matrix and work plan, and describe the proposed methodology and approach. At this stage reference checks are undertaken and each of the short-listed proposers are invited to be interviewed. Following the assessment of the written tenders and interviews the assessment panel identifies the preferred tenderer. Due diligence is undertaken at the same time as contract negotiations.
Where skills or specialist knowledge are required which are not provided for under ACS, NZAID may openly tender the work. This can be either through an EOI or RFT, or RFP.
Eligibility
There are no restrictions in relation to who may apply to become an approved contractor or submit a tender. Consultants are not required to be resident in New Zealand or be New Zealand citizens.
Assessment panels
Assessment panels are organised and impartially chaired by a contracts officer from the NZAID Contracts Unit. Panel members consist of a selection of key stakeholders which may include the relevant development programme manager, a specialist advisor from the Strategy Advisory and Evaluation Group, a partner government counterpart, and an external technical experts are required.
Each panel is required to assess tenders on the basis of weighted assessment criteria. The assessment criteria to be applied to each individual tender round are published along with the call for EOI's or RFP's.
Price is not normally included as a weighted criteria and tenderers are asked to submit their proposed contract price in a separate sealed envelope. Following selection the preferred proposer is invited to negotiate a contract. At that point reference will be made to the proposed contract price and benchmarked against other bids and known market rates.
In some cases price will form a weighted criteria and interested parties will be advised of this at the time of advertising the tender.
No contract is entered into between NZAID and any tenderer until both parties sign a formal written contract. Contractors must not start work on an assignment until the written contract is in place and signed by both parties.
How to improve your chances
Here are some helpful strategies to assist consultants and contractors with limited experience of working with NZAID to become involved in the agency's work.
- NZAID policies and direction
Take time to learn about NZAID's policies and become informed about its key partnerships, geographical focus and activities that it funds. - Network
Network with other consultants and contractors who do business with NZAID. You may obtain valuable experience working as a sub-contractor to a company that has an ongoing contract with the agency and it may present opportunities for you to gain further experience working in the arena of overseas development assistance. - Tender for work
Take a strategic approach when tendering for work and target those contracts where you can demonstrate good effective and relevant skills and experience. NZAID provides de-briefings to unsuccessful tenderers - this can provide valuable insight into improving future tenders. - Tender process
Understand how your tender will be assessed - address the assessment criteria and focus your tender according to the weightings. Make sure that you follow the process, check that your tender meets all the conditions (for example: number of pages, signed conflict of interest declaration included) and, in particular, plan for your tender to be delivered within the deadline.
When responding to the Terms of Reference avoid repeating sections verbatim. The assessment panel will be looking for you to demonstrate a strong understanding of the assignment and its constraints, and display insight into operational, financial and possible political issues. Focus curriculum vitae information on the skills required for that particular project. Do not make claims which cannot be substantiated - remember you may be subject to reference checking at a later stage in the process.
Adopt a quality control process to your tendering to ensure that all of your tender documents conform to, and meet the tender conditions.
