You are here: Home / Procurement Services / Tendering / Planning your tender

Planning your tender

Tender project plan

Procurement Services has a six step process for engaging suppliers.



6 step project plan




To start planning your tender, contact us to arrange a consultation.

 Stage  Process
1 Planning/establish goals
  • Clarify roles and responsibilities
  • Understand and validate requirements
2 Expenditure analysis
  • Collect and asses raw data
  • Validate data with stakeholders
  • Assess for historical, current and future trends
  • Assess contracts
  • Review with stakeholders
  • Classify opportunities
3 Review internal and external market
  • Analyse buying power
  • Identify key cost drivers
  • Validate supply base
  • Develop market and supplier profiles
  • Conduct vulnerability and risk assessment
4 Develop sourcing strategy
  • Define sourcing objectives
  • Assess supplier perspective
  • Develop category strategy and tactics
5 Implement strategy and establish contract
  • Prepare and send Request for Price (RFP)
  • Analyse results
  • Begin negotiations
  • Complete supplier selection analysis
  • Negotiate terms
  • Review with management
  • Sign agreement
6 Manage supplier relationship
  • Develop communication plan
  • Develop reporting and compliance
  • Establish method of tracking savings and benefits
  • Determine supplier development program once supplier selected
  • Ensure payments are on time
  • Monitor expenditure and market conditions
Back to Top

Types of tenders

There are three types of tendering for the acquisition of goods or services:

  • Open tender
  • Multi-stage tender
  • Invited tender
Open tender

Open tendering tests the market in a transparent manner. Tenders are advertised publicly and no restriction is placed on the number of tenderers. All prospective bidders are given the same tender documentation.

Multi-stage tendering

Multi-stage tendering may be used to cull a large number of respondents and identify the best service providers in a particularly well-supplied market that are interested in providing the relevant goods or services. It also limits the number of tenderers to those able to demonstrate the requisite capability in the first stage.

Multi-stage tenders may be used to:

  • establish a panel of suitable suppliers for a specific category of goods or services;
  • identify suppliers with suitable proposals for complex procurements.

The first stage in multi-stage tendering is an Expression of Interest (EOI) or Request for Proposal to invite interested suppliers to register their interest against the requirements listed in the EOI document.

The second stage is a selective Request for Tender (RFT) to invite suppliers shortlisted in the first stage to submit proposals in response to specific criteria outlined in the RFT document.

Invited tendering

Invited tendering may be used:

  • in emergency situations
  • for specialist work
  • in special circumstances where only one or a limited number of suppliers are known to be able to carry out the work, or
  • for low value, low risk activities.

Invited tendering involves issuing RFT documents to known available suppliers assessed as the most capable of delivering the goods or services required.

Procurement Services must approve all proposals for invited tendering.

Back to Top

Tender specifications

Specifications are prepared by Procurement Services in conjunction with the area requesting the tender.

The specifications will be clear, specific and written in a way that is not restricted to a particular brand or supplier, to ensure that the tender selection is fair.

Back to Top

Tender Evaluation Committee

All tenders must have a Tender Evaluation Team to ensure the integrity of the tender process. The Tender Evaluation Team must consist of at least three members, including a representative from Procurement Services, as well as other people with the relevant technical knowledge of the goods or services required.

Back to Top

Tender evaluation overview

For a detailed overview of how tenders are evaluated, refer to the tender evaluation page.

Back to Top

Tender Contract

The successful tender will require the execution of a formal Agreement.

Agreements will be prepared on templates provided by the Office of General Counsel, approved in accordance with the Delegations of Authority – Administrative Functions, and signed by the Director Procurement Services.

Back to Top