Developing your procurement plan
You must develop a procurement plan before starting the tender process, i.e. before you advertise. It will help make sure all points are covered and planned and timing works.
Complete the procurement plan and seek board sign-off once you have completed your specification and evaluation plan. Once your board has signed off the procurement plan you can complete the tender documentation or tender package that will go out to potential tenderers.
What’s in a procurement plan
A written procurement plan details:
- the procurement method to be used, and why
- specification of the service required
- the evaluation process and
- the criteria that will be used to evaluate or mark each tenderer’s response.
Some typical headings and information in a procurement plan are:
Identification
- Project name
- Start date
- Author.
Contents page
- Content structure and page numbers.
Background
- What's being procured
- The procurement method being proposed and why
- Suppliers or contractors who may be canvassed/invited to tender.
Deliverables
- Deliverables for the project eg, selection of vendors offering best value for money, transparent procurement process according to Ministry of Education guidelines.
Approach
Detailing:
- the tender process - Request for Quotation (RFQ) / Registration of Interest (ROI) / Request for Proposal (RFO)
- ROI short-listing process (evaluation plan and criteria)
- RFQ/RFP evaluation process and evaluation tool
- evaluation panel
- tender open and close dates
- supplier or contractor checks
- engaging successful supplier process.
Timeframes
- A timeline including start and completion times for each project phase.
Risk mitigation
A table of identified risks for the process, including a risk rating for:
- probability
- consequence - if it happens
- risk rating, and
- any contingencies that will be applied.
Appendices
- Attachments to support the procurement plan.
Procurement plan template
The Ministry's procurement plan template can be used as a basis for your own procurement plan. The original plan was written to support a two-stage ROI/RFP tender process for preferred suppliers of long-term professional project managers.