Tenders and Purchasing

Procurement is the buying of goods, services and/or works for the best value, in a way that is fair and transparent for everyone.

Western Australian local governments are required to follow specific rules in relation to procurement, these can be found in the Local Government Act 1995 and the Local Government (Functions and General) Regulations 1996. In addition, local governments are required to follow internal policies and procedures.

Councils spend money on a broad range of items including; roads, recreational and community facilities, waste collection, parks, trees, vehicles, professional services, utilities and more.

Any supplier interested in doing business with the City, should familiarise themselves with the following documents:

CP 4.1.8 Purchasing(PDF, 175KB)
City’s Statement of Business Ethics(PDF, 307KB)

When trying to decide how best to spend public money, the City considers a range of factors:

• Ensuring the City is compliant with all legislative obligations.
• Ensuring goods and services purchased meet the City’s needs.
• Ensuring value for money is achieved by calculating price based on total life cycle costs and other factors.
• Ensuring community expectations and values are achieved.
• Ensuring the most efficient and effective procurement process is used.
• Ensuring that procurement transactions are carried out in an accountable, fair, transparent and equitable manner.

The City’s Purchasing Policy outlines the spending limits that apply when purchasing goods or services. It also provides guidance on how purchase values are calculated and the procurement process required for each spending threshold.

The City’s purchasing thresholds are based on the estimated purchase value, exclusive of GST, as follows:

Purchasing goods or services worth up to $10,000 - Direct sourcing
City staff are able to go directly to a supplier to purchase goods and services as long as the value for money principle is satisfied.

Purchasing goods or services worth more than $10,000 and less than $50,000
City staff must seek a minimum of two quotes from different suppliers to determine the best value option for the City.

Purchasing goods or services worth more than $50,000 and less than $250,000
City staff must seek a minimum of three quotes from suppliers to determine the best value option for the City. Often, a more formal Request for Quote (RFQ) process is undertaken which may require suppliers to submit a methodology to complete project works and/or provide goods or services, in addition to their quote.

Purchasing goods or services worth more than $250,000 and Panel Arrangements
By law, when procuring goods or services worth more than $250,000, the City must go through a public procurement process, this includes:

• Expressions of Interest (EOI’s)
• Requests for Tender
• Requests for Quote worth more than $250,000 from WALGA Preferred Suppliers or State Government CUA’s.
• Invitations to Apply to join a Panel of Pre-Qualified Suppliers.

The Procurement team manage the purchase of goods or services worth more than $250,000 on behalf of the City.

All EOI’s, Tenders and Invitations to join a Panel of Pre-Qualified Suppliers are advertised in each of the following locations:

• West Australian newspaper
• City’s website, on the YourSay public notices page
• City’s public notices Facebook group
• City’s eProcurement Portal 360, where specifications and pricing information can be found.

The City uses an eProcurement Portal called 360. The portal allows suppliers to:

• Register for notification of procurements released to the market and relevant to their company.
• Access open procurements.
• Submit an application to an open procurement.

The portal provides ‘Getting Started’ guides detailing how to register for the portal and how to select the ‘Subscription Filters' relevant for your business. Once registered, your business will automatically receive email notifications of any relevant procurement opportunities that are published.

Details of currently advertised tenders, panels and expressions of interest can be viewed on the City’s eProcurement Portal.

Q: Is doing business with the Council complicated?
A: The larger the value of the procurement, the more complex the process becomes. For example, supplying refreshments for a small City event may just be a matter of introducing yourself and supplying a menu. For large catering contracts worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, a public tender may be required.

Q: Why do council decisions take so long?
A: The length of time taken to complete a procurement process is directly related to the number of approvals required within the City. For example, a parks officer may have sought quotations, but another officer (likely their coordinator or manager) will be required to approve the quotation. In the case of a formal quotation or tender process, a Council determination or approval by the CEO may be required, which will result in timelines being extended.

Q: Is being a local supplier an advantage?
A: The City is committed to supporting local businesses wherever possible. For lower value purchases, staff are encouraged to seek quotations from suitable local suppliers. For procurements worth more than $250,000 a buy local weighting is included as part of the tender evaluation process. This weighting applies to businesses that can demonstrate they are based within the City of Gosnells, or businesses that can show they will be engaging subcontractors located within the City's boundaries. 

Local businesses are encouraged to submit tenders for larger procurement opportunities where they have the capacity and capability to deliver the goods or services.

Q: I was told my tender did not address all the qualitative criteria. How can I improve?
A: The eProcurement portal used by the City (360) includes a series of question and answer sections. When applying for a tender businesses are required to provide relevant information in each section. Answering each question thoroughly is recommended to obtain a good score. Your response to each question is assessed separately, so you should ensure that each response entered answers the question it is entered against. Tender evaluators base their assessment of your tender response strictly against what is written in your submission and cannot consider any personal experience with your company.

Q: The price my company offered was the cheapest. Why were we not awarded the tender?
A: A low tendered price is not the only consideration when evaluating tender submissions. Other factors affecting the total life cycle cost to the City are taken into account, including:

• lifetime operating costs and/or the City's contract management costs;
• the technical merits of the goods or services offered in accordance with the specification and quality assurance;
• the financial viability of the supplier; and
• the capacity of the supplier to deliver.