Tenders and contracts

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New: Existing suppliers of goods and services should read about our No Purchase Order, No Pay procedure



Once you complete the tendering process, we trust you'll find us a good partner to do business with.

Our Corporate Procurement Unit works with council services to develop contracts and procedures which achieve Best Value.

Our useful links and documents page contains links to local and national procurement websites and council policies and procedures which you may find useful to know.

Frequently asked questions (FAQs)

Public sector procurement is often seen as complex, so we've published answers to some of the most frequently asked questions (FAQs) we receive about each of the topics listed below:

• The procurement process
• Tenders
• Contracts
• Electronic procurement
• European Union (EU) Directives
• No Purchase Order, No Pay

You can find out more about our payment methods and terms from our creditors section page.

Find more information on electronic tendering, and view current contract and tender opportunities, below:

• How the system works
• How to register and bid
• Contract awards
• Find a tender

How the system works

Most council tenders are advertised electronically using one of three tender procedures:

• open
• restricted
• negotiated
• competitive dialogue

In an open tender procedure, we provide tender documents to all suppliers who respond to an advert.

The restricted tender is a two stage process. We invite interested suppliers for an assessment before inviting them to tender. Suppliers may need to complete a pre-qualification questionnaire (PQQ.)

The negotiated procedure involves approaching one or more suppliers and negotiating the terms of the contract with them. There are strict rules concerning its use and very few contracts qualify for this procedure. The type of circumstances where this procedure would be used include cases of urgency, technical, artistic or copyright reasons and when we receive no replies to an open or restricted tender.

The competitive dialogue procedure would normally be appropriate only in circumstances where the Council has a requirement but does not know in advance what the best technical, legal or financial solution is for meeting that requirement.

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How to register and bid

1. Register your details on Public Contracts Scotland (PCS) - the council uses this website as a main reference point when conducting market research.
2. Monitor Public Contracts Scotland and Tenders Electronic Daily (TED) regularly for any relevant tender opportunities. (Public Contracts Scotland is also available as an iPhone app, and can be viewed on YouTube, flickr, and followed on twitter. Links to these are available on the Public Contracts Scotland home page).
3. To register your interest for participating in any tender opportunity, follow the instruction in the PCS or TED advertisement.
4. You will then be sent:

• A Pre Qualification Questionnaire (restricted tenders only)
• The tender documents consisting of instructions to tenderers, contract terms and conditions, a specification, a questionnaire and offer sections.

To make sure your bid is considered, you must:

• provide all the information requested
• answer all questions accurately
• provide a response in the requested format
• return the documentation by the specified closing date .

Returned tenders will be assessed against the evaluation criteria. Evaluation will focus on how the tenderer proposes to deliver the service or goods in relation to cost, service and quality. The balance between quality and price will be determined by the service or goods to be procured. In most cases, council contracts will be awarded on the basis of the most economically advantageous offer received.

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Contract awards

Where contract value is below £173,934 the contract may be awarded as soon as the award decision has been made. The council will contact all tenderers whether successful or not to advise them of the outcome. All contracts valued in excess of £173,934 need board approval before the contract can be awarded. Where the contract value is in excess of the European Union thresholds (currently £173,934 for goods and services and £4,348,350 for works contracts), the unsuccessful tenderers will be told of the outcome. The successful tenderer will notified that, subject to there being no challenge to the award decision, the contract will be awarded after a period of 10 days.

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Find a tender