Massey University Tenders Board: Terms of Reference
Introduction
Massey spends a significant amount of money with many suppliers on an annual basis. To ensure compliance to the standards expected by Government, and to ensure appropriate commercial relationships are established, on sound financial and economic basis, Massey undertakes open tendering processes on a regular basis.
All tenders released by Massey must first be approved by the Tenders Board.
Purpose of Tenders Board
The Tenders Board is a centrally operated forum whose role is to approve the release of all tenders, irrespective of value. If a document is being released to the open market seeking an expression or a response from the market, then it is to be approved prior to release by Tenders Board. The role of Tenders Board is expressed as follow;
Tenders Board role is to ensure that any tender process fully complies with University policies and guidelines, which includes, but not restricted to reviews of the process, advertising, selection of potential tenderers, relevant evaluation criteria, selection of preferred suppliers and complying with appropriate financial approvals that are in place.1
Members of Tenders Board
The members of Tenders Board are;
University Vice Chancellor – Chair
Assistant Vice Chancellor Finance & Asset Management Director Finance & Asset Management
Procurement & Contracts Manager- Secretary
Participation at Tenders Board meetings is by invitation to those submitting a tender document for approval. Minutes are taken by the Secretary.
Tenders Board Meeting Dates
Tenders Board is generally held every second Monday in the month, or in accordance with the Vice Chancellor’s diary. A calendar of Tenders Board Dates can be found at
www.massey.ac.nz/massey/staffroom/national-shared-services/finance-asset-
management/procurement-insurance/procurement-insurance.cfm with the current tentative dates.
Tenders Board meetings are deferred if there are no submissions for approval.
1 All procurements submitted to Tenders Board must comply with Massey’s Delegated Financial Processes including but not limited to the RFA process, ISSOC, SLT and University Council approval before proceeding to Tenders Board.
The Tenders Board meetings are subject to change dependent upon the Vice Chancellor’s availability therefore it is advisable to check with the Secretary on the available dates.
Use of Tenders Board
There are a number of steps to be considered when engaging in the Tenders Board processes;
a) The release of a Tender on behalf of Massey must be approved prior to formal release;
b) Once the Tender evaluation process has been undertaken, the recommendations pertaining to the next activity or steps to proceed in the form of a report and set of recommendations need to be submitted to Tenders Board.
c) Any final recommendation post contract negotiations and prior to contract execution (e.g an update on the recommendations in “b” above where final agreement between Massey and the third party has been achieved) need to be submitted back to Tenders Board for
approval.
Tender Release (“a”)
All invitations to submit a registration or proposal document including;
Registrations of Interest (ROI)
Expression of Interest (EOI)
Request for Tender (RFT)
Request for Information (RFI)
Request for Proposal (RFP)
The submission to Tenders Board is irrespective of any open or closed tender process, or
procurement or contract value. Project or procurement planning is to be undertaken in accordance with the Massey University Procurement Procedures
http://www.massey.ac.nz/massey/staffroom/national-shared-services/finance-asset- management/procurement-insurance/procurement-insurance.
The submission of documents to Tenders Board is to be included into all procurement planning processes related to the subject matter of the procurement or project.
Update of Tender Process (“b”)
Once the tender has been evaluated the results of the evaluation, including the recommendations on the next stages to proceed within the project or procurement are to be submitted to Tenders Board for approval. This may include for example;
Progressing from RFI to RFP (open tender)
Shortlisting from RFI to RFP (Closed tender)
Shortlisted presentations
Shortlisting from the RFP process
Recommending contract negotiations from the shortlisting process
Any other stage that enables Massey to further clarify information submitted in the tender response
The next documents to be released will need to follow the same process above, before they are approved for release.
Final Recommendation (“c”)
On completion of phases “a” and “b” as described above, a final recommendation will be required for Tenders Board to approve any commencement into a final contract negotiation, or sign off of the negotiations already undertaken.
All contracts entered into as part of the tender process will be required to adhere to the Contract Policy www.massey.ac.nz/massey/staffroom/national-shared-services/finance-asset-
management/procurement-insurance/procurement-insurance.cfm and the delegated authority limits set out with respect to the total value of the contract. Tenders Board approval does not provide for the approval for signing of the actual contract by the submitter.
How to Submit a Document to Tenders Board - Expected Service Levels
The following requirements are expected for any submission to Tenders Board.
a) A Tenders Board reference number is to be requested from the Secretary Tenders board (example TBC 11/xxx). This reference number will be used for the tender reference number when the document is released.
b) The draft Tenders Board submission is to be provided to the Secretary Tenders Board for review no less than 10 working days from the Tenders Board meeting. This is to ensure that the draft submission and recommendations conforms to the required standard, prior to the meeting.
c) The secretary of Tenders Board will provide any required comments/amendments within 2 working days from receipt of the draft Tenders Board submission.
d) The final draft is to be provided to the Secretary Tenders Board no later than 5 days prior to the Tenders Board meeting. The final draft will require;
i. A covering memo, in the format in the following link
http://www.massey.ac.nz/massey/staffroom/national-shared-services/finance- asset-management/procurement-insurance/procurement-insurance.
ii. All Financial approvals referenced within the memo, including meeting minute references (e.g ISSOC, SLT or University Council meeting minutes reference numbers)
iii. Five (5) copies of the submission, including any supporting documentation to be prepared and submitted to the Secretary Tenders Board.
iv. The submission to be signed as a minimum by the submitter and Head of Department
v. Dependent upon the context of the tender, AVC of submitting business unit or College may be required to counter-sign the submission. Advice to be provided regarding AVC sign off by the Secretary.
e) Any submission not provided in accordance with “a” through “d” above will be deferred until the next sitting of the Tenders Board.
f) Any final submission not submitted to Secretary Tenders Board by the timetable set out in
“b” through “d” above will be deferred until the next sitting of the Tenders Board.
g) Once approval (or otherwise) by Tenders Board has been given the Secretary Tenders Board will notify the submitter. This will be undertaken within 24 hours of the Tenders Board meeting.
Massey tender templates for all tenders can be found at
http://www.massey.ac.nz/massey/staffroom/national-shared-services/finance-asset- management/procurement-insurance/procurement-insurance.
Tender Register
The Secretary is responsible for managing the Tender Register.
Definitions
The following definitions are provided to assist users of this term of reference;
AVC: Assistant Vice Chancellor at Massey University.
RFx: The tender templates or tender documents approved for release and use by Massey Procurement Group.
Tender or Tender Process: The formal process adopted by Massey to invite expressions from suppliers to respond to Massey’s tender documentation.
Tenders Board: The review board that approves all Tenders for release on behalf of Massey.
Tender Document: the tender documentation prepared and submitted to Tenders Board for release (see RFx).
Tender Register: Massey University’s register for all tenders released on behalf of the University.
VC: Massey University Vice Chancellor.
Additional Guidelines and Documentation
Please refer to the Procurement intranet site for all policies, processes and guidelines related to procuring products or services http://www.massey.ac.nz/massey/staffroom/national-shared- services/finance-asset-management/procurement-insurance/procurement-insurance.
Assistance
The Procurement Group is available to assist in all aspect of the project or procurement planning process. For assistance visit http://www.massey.ac.nz/massey/staffroom/national-shared- services/finance-asset-management/procurement-insurance/procurement-insurance.
