Supplier FAQs (page 4 of 6)
Public contract regulations 2006
How are COI frameworks set-up in accordance with the Public Contract Regulations 2006?
The Public Contract Regulations 2006 provides jurisdiction on the way that frameworks are managed. They require that all suppliers 'capable' of delivering a specific service must be allowed to compete for every contract.
This means that all suppliers on any one framework would have to be invited to compete for all the contracts issued. This would be a huge drain of resource for the industry and a logistical nightmare for COI and our clients.
To provide greater flexibility, while still ensuring full compliance with the new legislation, we now either:
- Segment our requirements within an individual framework to several 'lots' and 'labels' (groups and subgroups) or;
- Use a pre-selection questionnaire to reduce the whole framework in question to an appropriate short list or;
- Break the requirement down into more but smaller frameworks.
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What does this mean for applying suppliers?
The application of 'lots' and 'labels' effectively creates ready-made pitch lists. It also requires us to know more about each supplier's capabilities in specific areas.
Where 'labels' are not used and the potential pitch lists are too long, the procurement procedure requires us to operate a pre-selection questionnaire.
This process requires all suppliers in a particular 'lot' to respond to a pre-selection questionnaire if they wish to be considered for each new brief. The questionnaire enables us to select the most relevant suppliers, and the shortlist is then invited to pitch.
Opportunities to pitch will still largely depend on relevant skills and experience.
Do the new rules affect the level of work given to Framework suppliers?
As a result of this change, suppliers are now likely to be given more opportunities to respond to a brief.