Procurement life cycle
All NT Government procurement follows the same three-stage life cycle.
This approach ensures procurement is consistent, fair and transparent across all agencies.
It ensures decisions are planned, offers are assessed fairly and contracts are monitored and finalised in a controlled way.
The lifecycle diagram is available in the procurement rules and guidelines documents.
Planning
Agencies plan their procurement before going to market.
This includes:
- defining the need and expected outcomes
- conducting market research
- preparing procurement plans and approvals
- setting assessment criteria and weightings
- including requirements for local content and Aboriginal participation
- advertising Future Tender Opportunities where appropriate.
Planning determines the type of procurement process, the criteria that will be used and how offers will be evaluated.
This stage means suppliers can see the upcoming work through Future Tender Opportunities.
Sourcing
Agencies source goods, services or works by going to market.
This includes:
- conducting market research for capable Territory businesses
- inviting businesses to quote for tier 1 and 2 procurements
- advertising opportunities on QTOL or other approved channels for tier 3 and above
- issuing request documentation and response schedules
- receiving offers before the closing time
- assessing offers against the published criteria
- seeking required approvals before awarding
- notifying suppliers of the outcome and offering debriefs.
- documenting evaluations to ensure fairness and defensibility.
Suppliers can continue to submit offers for other tenders while their offer is being assessed.
Debriefs are offered at the end of the tender evaluation process for suppliers to understand how their offer was assessed and ways they could improve future offers.
It’s also an opportunity for the supplier to provide the agency feedback on the tender process.
Contract management
Agencies manage contracts from award to close-out.
This can include:
- monitoring performance and compliance
- managing variations and extensions
- recording contractor performance
- finalising deliverables and payments
- completing ‘lessons learned’ reviews.
Contract performance is recorded and may be considered in future procurements and reported to Contractor Accreditation Limited where relevant.
Contract managers are appointed to oversee delivery and ensure agreed outcomes are met.