Market Notification
All tenders over NZ$100K are competitively tendered and advertised through the Government Electronic Tendering Service (GETS) website. Selective tendering is formally authorised by a NZDF Tenders Board. The path to login to GETS is: www.gets.govt.nz. Once successfully logged into GETS, click TenderWatch or to view the full range tenders and opportunities, click on GETS Tender Opportunities.
Tender Document Structure
NZDF Tender documents traditionally consist of a cover letter and four parts. These parts and their purpose are:
- Cover letter – Contains details on the points of contact, submission requirements and proposed timeframes for the process.
- Part One – Statement of Requirement - Specifies NZDF’s requirements for the Deliverables.
- Part Two – Form of Tender - Sets out the format in which responses are to be submitted.
- Part Three – Tender Rules - Sets out the rules that apply to the tender process, including the requirements for submitting a valid tender.
- Part Four – Conditions of Contract - Contain the terms and conditions under which the Contract will operate.
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Responding to Tenders
Tenderers are to respond to tenders by completing Part Two – Form of Tender in accordance with the instructions. Referring to a website or a current contract with NZDF instead of providing the information as requested is not acceptable.
For national tenders the signed original and copies must be received by the closing date and time advised and for international tenders the signed original and copies within three working days after the closing time.
Registering with GETS
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If you wish to register on GETS to be advised of Govt tender opportunities, please go into: www.gets.govt.nz and click on "Register / company registration". Then complete the details and what is not relevant, type in N/A.
Once complete click on "submit". You will be advised the registration has gone through and not long after that you will receive an email that the registration is approved.
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Complying with NZDF Requirements
Hospitality
When NZDF is tendering for goods and/or services all eligible suppliers are not permitted to offer hospitality or gifts to Defence Force employees (military or civilian).
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Procurement Model
NZDF has developed a model which reflects the stages a procurement project goes through. The stages are initiation, strategy development, sourcing, implementation and contract management. The process is represented by the flowchart below:
The rationale behind developing this model are:
- To ensure consistency in approach to procurement projects which ensure NZDF Defence Force Orders, Office of the Auditor-General guidelines and generally good practice are met.
- To develop a shared understanding of how to go about conducting a procurement project.
- To establish the requisite tools and outcomes relevant to each stage.
The procurement model is the top-most layer of how NZDF conducts a procurement process and is well supported by related SOP and sub-models for specific components of the process.
The model, whilst appearing prescriptive, has nonetheless been designed to promote flexibility through understanding and is subject to periodic review to ensure it continues to meet the needs of NZDF.
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Procurement Timelines
A procurement project (just as any other type of project) takes significant time and effort to achieve a valid outcome. Considering the stages NZDF needs to go through to achieve a contracted outcome, the time period can be up to 40 weeks or more from initiating a project to having a signed contract. In some cases, it may take more than a year!
Below is a diagram with abbreviated procurement phases taken from the procurement model to allow a timelines to be shown. This shows what the main requirements are and generally the NZDF function (ie, Procurement, Contracts and/or Relationship Management) that would take the lead at the time. The approach used by NZDF is a team-based approach using all the Commercial Support functions to deliver the outcomes so involvement of all three will start at the initiation stage.
Note that for each procurement project, specific timeframes are developed to meet customer needs and NZDF requirements.
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Briefings and Debriefings
NZDF holds briefings on procurement projects during the tender period where this is deemed beneficial to the suppliers involved in the process. Generally such sessions will cover NZDF expectations on deliverables, what the process will look like and the rules around the tender process. Suppliers will also be given an opportunity to ask questions. Generally, supplier representation is limited depending on the venue for the briefing.
NZDF offers supplier debriefings for unsuccessful tenderers following the award of a contract. This will allow suppliers to determine where NZDF considered their offer to not meet NZDF requirements sufficiently to be awarded the contract. In all cases, discussions will only centre on the supplier’s own offer, not that of other tenderers. Commentary will be provided by NZDF on both price and non-price attributes of any offer.
All processes outlined above are conducted in accordance with NZDF and government procurement guidelines.