CAPITAL AND MINOR WORKS

TENDERING PROCEDURE

Version 01/09/03

© Borders College

Borders College

Capital and Minor Works Tendering Procedure

1Introduction

This policy provides the rules for the purchase of goods and services in relation to the College’s Estate Management function.

2General Principles

  • This policy applies to all purchases and expenditure under the control of the Property Services Manager.
  • In common with all of the College’s expenditure, “Estate’s” purchases and expenditure must comply with
    - The College’s Purchasing Procedures

- The College’s Financial Regulations
- Scottish Executive Regulations
- European Community Laws

  • The tendering policy must ensure that, not only are all Estate’s purchases legitimate and represent value for money, but also that they are seen to be so.
  • In emergencies, the policy can be over-ridden with the express written approval of the Head of Finance.

3Tiered Tendering Requirements

In order to encompass the full range of Estates expenditure, the levels of quotes/tenders and the corresponding documentary back-up will vary as follows:

Level of Expenditure*1 / Action Required / Category of Purchase / See Section
Less than £2,000 / Normal purchasing procedure / 4
£2,000 to £9,999 / Three quotations required / 5
£10,000 to £749,999 / College tendering procedure / 6
£750,000 to £3,000,000 / SFEFC Procedure Notes for Capital Projects*2 / 7
Over £3,000,000 / Supplemental European Union Procurement Rules / 8

*1 The level of expenditure equals the total expenditure that will be incurred with the one supplier, on a discrete capital project or, in cases of “preferred suppliers” (e.g. on-call plumbers), the total expenditure estimated to be incurred in a financial year on items to which the preferred supplier status refers. The EC procurement threshold fluctuates as Sterling fluctuates against the Euro, therefore, current rates should be confirmed before embarking on any project with a value greater than £500,000.

*2The SFEFC Procedure Notes also apply to any contract to which SFEFC have contributed capital grant funding.

4Normal Purchasing Procedure

It is recognised that the Property Services Manager has a working knowledge of the local industry and has built up documented contract notes over the years since incorporation. (See “Suppliers” Section 9)

Therefore, for items of expenditure in this category the Property Services Manager will use his/her judgement to contact appropriate suppliers and negotiate prices.

The purchase would then be made in accordance with the College’s Purchasing Policy and no additional supporting documentation would be required.

5Three Written Quotations Required

For items in this category the same procedure as in section 4 should be followed except in that:

  • At least three suppliers should be contacted.
  • Suppliers should be given a written specification.
  • Suppliers should respond in writing.
  • The Property Services Manager should document the results of the exercise and the reasons why he/she has chosen a particular quote and a copy of this document together with the quotes should be attached to the Purchase Order Request form.

Once this exercise has been completed, the normal Purchasing Procedures should be followed, and a copy of the quotation summary together with the quotes should be attached to the Purchase Order Requisition.

Note:Where the purchase relates to the same materials for which a written quotation exercise has been carried out within the previous 12 months, then the Property Services Manager can “place” the order with the previously successful supplier if the original price can still be obtained.

6College Tendering Procedure

For items in this category the following procedure should be applied:

  • A list of at least three potential suppliers should be drawn up. The Property Services Manager will document why the suppliers have been chosen and will not include them on the list until he has contacted them and ensured that they would be interested in tendering.
  • A full specification for the purchase/works should be drawn up. The specification must include the criteria on which it is intended to judge the tender submissions.
  • The specification should be sent out to all of the suppliers at the same time and should included a reply paid envelope which should :
    - be addressed to the Principal’s Office
    - should state the fact that it is a “tender return”
    - should state the tenderer’s name
    - should state the “project name” and tender deadline time
  • Upon return, the envelopes will be received by the Principal’s Office and stored in the safe until the tender deadline.
  • At the tender deadline, or shortly thereafter, a senior member of the Finance Department will collect the tenders from the Principal’s office/safe and arrange for them to be opened in the presence of the Property Services Manager.
  • If less than two replies are received, the tender will be declared void and the submitted tender returned unopened to the supplier. The tendering exercise will then be recommenced using a supplier list which must include the supplier who returned on time and must exclude those suppliers who failed to tender.
  • When the tenders are opened the tender values will be recorded on a standard “tender opening sheet” and the tenders will then be assessed by the Property Services Manager.
  • The results of the assessment will be documented by the Property Services Manager and passed to the Finance Department for checking. The authority of the Head of Finance will be required before the tender is awarded.
  • Tenders will be awarded by notifying the successful contractor in writing. Once the College has received the successful contractor’s written acceptance of the contract, the unsuccessful tenderers should be notified of this fact and given an alphabetical list of the suppliers who were asked to tender and a numerical list of the tender values.

Once this exercise has been completed, the normal Purchasing Procedures should be followed and a copy of the tender summary attached to the Purchase Order Requisition.

Note: It is recognised that some of the above stages may be carried out either by or in conjunction with a College appointed consultant, e.g. a Quantity Surveyor. Where this occurs, the Property Services Manager must ensure that the College’s project file contains all of the necessary documentary back-up.

7SFEFC Contract Requirements

The SFEFC “Procedure Notes for Capital Projects” reinforce the underlying principles outlined in the following Funding Council documents in relation to the undertaking of capital projects:

-Estate Strategy

-Business Planning

-Procedure Notes for the Disposal of Exchequer-funded Assets and the Retention of Proceeds

-Financial Memorandum.

They also provide colleges with information on the detailed procedures that should be followed in the monitoring of these projects.

These Notes also apply to any contract to which SFEFC have contributed capital grant funding.

In addition, projects with a value of greater than £20,000 require approval of the College Board of Management (see “Delegated Financial Authority”).

8European Union Procurement Rules

Reference should be made to H.M. Treasury’s Central Unit on Procurement Guidance Note 51 “Introduction to EC Procurement Rules”. It is envisaged that, for projects of this size, professional consultants would be employed and a criterion for their selection should be their familiarity with European Union requirements.

9Suppliers

Through the day to day management of the College’s estate, the Property Services Manager will build up a “database” of suppliers and their performance. This database will then be used to assist the Property Services Manager select suppliers to be contacted for quotations and tenders.

Matters to be noted and considered when selecting suppliers include combinations of:

  • the type of job/contract
  • the type of work carried out by the supplier
  • the performance of the supplier on previous similar jobs
  • the performance of the supplier on previous College contracts
  • the locality of the supplier

Note: “Performance” encompasses quality, price and post contract service.

10Purchasing Consortia

The College is a member of three Purchasing Consortia, namely

  • The Scottish Borders Council Buying Consortium
  • The Office of Government Contracts
  • The Joint Consultative and Advisory Committee on Purchasing

The Scottish Borders Council Buying Consortium (“the SBCBC”) was set up to harness the buying power of a number of purchasing bodies. The College has the ability to join this consortium through the payment of an annual membership fee. As a member, the College has access to “preferential” rates for certain goods and services. In practice the SBCBC system has limitations both in terms of the restricted goods which can be purchased and the fact that sometimes the prices quoted in the SBCBC guide can be bettered locally.

The Office of Government Contracts (“OGC”) is an Executive Agency of the Crown Office that harnesses the purchasing power of the Crown and of publicly funded bodies. For the purposes of the OGC the College is considered to be a publicly funded body and, therefore, is automatically entitled to “piggy-back” on the contracts and contract rates that have been negotiated. (The College is not required to become a member and no fee or commission is payable.) In practice, the OGC has the same limitations as the SBCBC but to a much lesser extent, indeed many of the contracts offered under the SBCBC are actually OGC contracts to which the SBCBC has signed up. A significant advantage of the utilisation of an OGC contract is that they guarantee that all Government and European Union procedures have been fully followed and documented when selecting the supplier and, therefore, the College can let the contract without any further tendering/qualification procedures.

The Joint Consultative and Advisory Committee on Purchasing (“JCACP”) is the Purchasing Consortium representing the Higher Education and research communities in Scotland and Northern Ireland. The College has the ability to join this consortium through the payment of an annual membership fee. The JCACP provides a service to its member institutions by actively seeking better value for money arrangements through collaboration in the procurement of specific commodities, through commodity groups. It also maintains a watching brief over wider procurement issues with a view to influencing the direction of purchasing interests and development of new ideas within the consortium that might require to be considered.

The Property Services Manager should use the Purchasing Consortia as follows:

  • The Property Services Manager should always consider what the Purchasing Consortia have to offer in relation to the proposed purchase of any goods or services.
  • The price in any Purchasing Consortia catalogue can automatically be used a “written quotation” when considering the above requirements.
  • For expenditure up to £9,999, the Property Services Manager can proceed to utilise a Purchasing Consortia supplier without the need to obtain other written quotations.
  • For expenditure up to £9,999, the Property Services Manager can decide to pass over the Purchasing Consortia recommended supplier but the project file should contain a note of the justification for this (e.g. “better price locally”, “specific goods required not covered”, etc.)
  • With contracts for services, such as electricity or gas, the Property Services Manager can utilise a Purchasing Consortia contract and, therefore, negate the need to tender, if he/she prepares a written justification which is then authorised by the Head of Finance.

11Emergencies

In cases of genuine emergency, such as burst pipes or storm damage, the tiered policy can be over-ridden if the Property Services Manager prepares a file note and has this retrospectively authorised by the a senior member of the Finance Department.

Page 1 of 7

Version 01/09/03

© Borders College