All tendering procedures shall conform with:
The three main methods of tendering are:
Under this system advertisements called Expression of Interest (EOI) are placed in a major metropolitan newspaper, and local paper for rural projects, inviting tenderers to register their interest in tendering for the project. The advertisement should indicate the selection criteria applicable to the project and state that a shortlist will be made from those registering.
Registrants are evaluated from which a number of tenderers are then selected by the Principal Consultant and approved by the Project Control Group (PCG). Tender documents are issued to selected tenderers. The number of tenderers in this situation is usually four to six. The PCG may interview some or all of them.
Under selective tendering of builders, except if any obvious mistake has been made, it is usual to accept the lowest conforming tender, as the preselection process above should have eliminated any cause for rejection of a tenderer’s price on any other grounds.
This method of tendering is the most commonly adopted for the Department’s Capital Works projects over $3-5M range.
Public tendering is a system by which an invitation to tender is advertised in the press and Builders/Contractors are asked to apply for tender documents.
Advertising for registration of tenderers and shortlisting is not regarded as fulfilling Public tender requirements. Pre-registration of tenderers may be carried out to establish the number of contractors who will be tendering for the issue of tender documents.
This method of tendering is most suitable for small (less than $1M), non-complex and remote area projects where it is difficult to obtain contestable tenders.
Under the system of Invited Tendering, a number of Contractors are chosen from a list of pre-qualified contractors, such as the contractor supply register (CSR) lists held by the Department of Infrastructure, or through an annual registration and evaluation process that complies with Government guidelines.
The selected firms are approved by the selection panel nominated by the Project Control Group (PCG), having regard to the acceptability and capability of the tenderers to satisfactorily carry out the project.
The tenderers chosen are then invited to tender for the project and tender documents are issued to them in the normal manner.
Under this system, except if any obvious mistake has been made, it is usually obligatory if any tender is accepted to accept the lowest tender as the preselection should have eliminated any cause for rejection of a tenderer’s price on any other grounds.
This method of tendering is suitable for projects where there is a need to expedite the process, remote regional works, construction management type projects, where special expertise is required or where there may be a number of ongoing small individual projects.
The standard Conditions of Tender for Victorian public sector projects shall be used when seeking contractors for capital works projects.
Reference to the Conditions of Tender need to be included when advertising for expression of interest or inviting tenderers to make submissions for the project. The advertisement should state that these documents will be made available to those firms proposing to make submissions, upon request.
Each tenderer should be advised that in submitting its tender, the tenderer accepts that the Department will publish certain information in respect to the successful tenderer, including the tender value in accordance with the Victorian Government’s Probity and Disclosure Policy (VIPP).
Where necessary a Probity Advisor/Manager shall review the process and attest as to the suitability of the tender, evaluation and ward activities. Of particular interest will be that all tenderers are treated equally and fairly, that all material is kept confidential and that the audit trail of decision-making is retained for proof of process.