Tenders, purchasing and expressions of interest (EOI)

Prior to lodging a tender with Council, please read the guidelines on how to submit a tender and our Code of Conduct - A Guide for Contractors, Consultants and Suppliers(PDF, 494KB).

Current Tenders / Expressions of Interest

 


Purchase Orders

Council's General Conditions of Contract(PDF, 155KB) apply to every purchase order issued by Council for goods and services, unless expressly modified in writing at the time the order is issued to the supplier.


How to submit a tender

Step 1

Find and review the tender advertisement

Information on current tenders can be viewed at VendorPanel as announced in the tender advertisement- check the tender advertisement for the correct portal.

Step 2

Obtain a copy of the tender

Copies of all tender documents are available at VendorPanel. All record of meeting from Pre-Tender meetings and any Addenda issued will be available on the relevant tendering portal website as applicable. Generally, tender documents can be downloaded from the particular tender portal at no cost. If you require a hard copy to be printed by Council there will be a charge for this.

Step 3

Decide whether or not you are suitable for the project

Read the tender document very carefully and familiarise yourself with the conditions of tendering, the advertised selection criteria, the specifications, and the conditions of contract, especially the clauses dealing with delivery and price variations, before deciding whether you are suitable or not.

Step 4

Understanding the contract and conditions of tender

If you are unsure about Council's proposed contract, either discuss it with the contact officer nominated in the tender advertisement or have the tender reviewed by your legal representative.

Specific questions relating to the tender can be lodged via the online portal. Answers to these questions will be posted to the portal and available for ALL registered tenderers.

Step 5

Completing your tender forms

Ensure you have filled out all the necessary fields from the document and any Addenda, and answered each of the criteria. You are then ready to lodge your tender documents.

Tenders submitted by Tenderers must be complete and must include responses to all details required in the Tender Schedules. In electronically providing those details, Tenderers must not in any way change or edit the structure or drafting of the required details or declarations in the Tender Schedules.

The Word Tender document provides greyed fields to indicate the sections of the document which need to be completed OR where additional information should be attached.

Tenders received are treated in confidence during the evaluation and reporting stages (see Steps 9 to 10), and subsequently retained on Council's Tender File. They may at some time be the subject of a Freedom of Information application to inspect.

Tenderers who require any information provided with a tender to be kept permanently confidential should advise this in writing and give reasons, e.g. to protect a commercial interest or intellectual property.

Step 6

Tender period

Council will offer the same tender documents to all those who respond to an invitation to tender.

The tender period is usually three weeks. During the tender period, you may wish to seek further information or clarification from the contact officer. If advice, verbal or in writing, is given to a respondent clarifying the meaning of the tender documentation, the same information will be issued to all other respondents. Council will maintain a written record of all advice given.

Council may invite prospective tenderers to a pre-tender meeting to provide further information and to respond to questions raised. The minutes of this meeting will be distributed to those who attend the meeting, or who have registered their interest with Council.

Step 7

Lodging your tender documents

Tenders must be lodged through the specific applicable portal. Hardcopy tenders will no longer be accepted.

Please ensure you upload your tender PRIOR to the closing time, as partially/incomplete uploads WILL NOT be registered as a submitted tender. We recommend you allow at least one hour prior to the closing time to commence uploading your submission.

The tendering portal electronically register the date and time of the lodgement of each tender, and the system will not accept any lodgement after the closing date and time.

Step 8

Opening of tenders

Council's tender opening panel will log the received tenders via download from the tendering portal. An electronic record of the lodgement date and time for all tenders will be attached.

The panel will list the tenders received in alphabetical order, and the list will be displayed in the Customer Service area.

Step 9

Evaluation of tenders

Every submission will be reviewed by a tender evaluation panel. While other criteria may be used which are more specific to each tender, the following are examples of commonly used criteria in an assessment:

  • operational capability
  • technical and methodological assessment
  • financial capacity to undertake tender
  • occupational health and safety assessment
  • environmental considerations
  • quality
  • price.

The tender evaluation panel will examine all tenders for compliance with the conditions of tendering, including completion of all the relevant tender forms. Each tender submission is read in detail and its strengths and weaknesses are assessed and recorded. The submissions are then scored against the advertised criteria, and ranked.

Step 9A (optional)

Post-tender interviews

The tender evaluation panel may invite you to a post tender interview to seek further details of your capability to carry out the works. Following the interview, the panel may review the scores and ranking of tenderers.

Step 10

Recommendation to Council

The panel will prepare a report to Council's Finance, Community & Services Committee with a recommendation either to accept no tenders, with reasons given, or to enter into a contract with one tenderer. The Committee's resolution will then go as a recommendation to full Council.

You will be advised in writing if your tender was unsuccessful.

If your tender is successful you will be advised in writing and contract documentation will be completed.