- Purpose
- Procurement Objectives
- The Role of the Chief Procurement Officer
- Application and Scope
- Policy Development
- Policy Administration
- Code of Ethics
- Definitions
- Acronyms
- Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act
1. Purpose
This Public Procurement Policy (“Policy”) has been developed to provide direction to all public bodies on the procurement of goods, services, public works and lease of space (“commodities”). It supplements the Public Procurement Act (“Act”) and the Public Procurement Regulations (“Regulations”) and forms part of the framework.
The Policy supports the Purpose of the Act, which is to establish a statutory framework which, through its operation, enables public bodies to achieve best value, transparency and accountability in procurement. The acquisition of commodities in an efficient, effective and ethical manner is paramount in public procurement. Sound principles such as fairness, competition, transparency, equality, and supplier diversity are valued to ensure public confidence in procurement by all public bodies.
It is the responsibility of public bodies and their employees involved in procurement to ensure that the acquisition process is conducted in accordance with the Act, Regulations, this Policy and relevant trade agreements. All procurement is to be carried out by staff with the required knowledge, skills and expertise to work effectively within the framework.
In the event of inconsistencies between this Policy and the Act or Regulations, the following order of precedence in the interpretation hereof or resolution of such conflict hereunder shall prevail:
- The Act
- The Regulations
- The Public Procurement Policy
2. Procurement Objectives
The objectives for procurement as undertaken by public bodies are:
- Ensuring that commodities are obtained through an open, fair, consistent and transparent process that maximizes competition.
- Adhering to the framework and relevant trade agreement requirements.
- Utilizing best practices to obtain best value for money.
- Ensuring processes and practices are managed consistently.
- Encouraging supplier involvement to identify new and innovative ideas and products.
3. The Role of the Chief Procurement Officer
The role of the Chief Procurement Officer (“CPO”) is to administer the Public Procurement Agency (“Agency”) and provide oversight for the procurement activities of all public bodies. The oversight function includes, but is not limited to, compliance monitoring, reporting, coordinating purchasing, performing best value and other procurement-related analysis.
The CPO will determine opportunities for the coordination of purchases on behalf of all public bodies. In this role, the CPO will review information on the procurement activities of public bodies, including the annual procurement plans. The CPO will also provide advice/recommendations to public bodies relating to the interpretation and application of the framework and develop training programs for the procurement of commodities for use by public bodies. All procurement activities by public bodies shall be subject to review by the CPO and public bodies shall make their records accessible and available upon request.
The CPO is responsible for developing and publishing general procurement policies and may determine a preferred procurement approach for use by all or select public bodies for specific commodities or thresholds, or both.
Additional information regarding the role of the CPO is included in the Public Procurement Act.
4. Application and Scope
The governing principles outlined in this Policy apply to all public bodies as defined in the Act. Public bodies may establish additional internal policies, guidelines or procedures that are consistent with the framework to supplement the governing principles contained in this document.
This Policy shall address all steps of the procurement cycle as outlined in the Regulations including planning for the acquisition, solicitation of bids, evaluation of bids, awarding of contracts and post award processes.
Legal services and financial services relating to the provision of credit and instruments of monetary policy are considered “professional services” in accordance with the Act and are not governed by this Policy. As per Section 8 of the Act, Treasury Board may establish a policy for the procurement of these services by public bodies.
Government departments should note that the Agency is responsible for the acquisition of all commodities that are required by the departments of the public service in accordance with Section 20 of the Act. The Agency has the authority to delegate this authority, or a portion thereof, to departments. Any such delegation will be in the form of a delegation letter prepared by the Agency and will outline any terms and conditions of the delegation.
5. Policy Development
The Agency is responsible for the ongoing review and monitoring of public procurement activities regionally, nationally and internationally to ensure that the province is utilizing best practices in its purchasing activities. In some instances, government may identify social, economic or environmental priorities and the Act provides for the application of these priorities in the development of procurement policy where directed by the Lieutenant-Governor in Council. The Agency will incorporate direction on these priorities into this Policy, where applicable. The Agency will consult with line departments that have these priorities within their mandate to ensure all views are represented and considered in the procurement process.
6. Policy Administration
The Chief Procurement Officer is responsible for maintaining the Public Procurement Policy and communicating updates to all public bodies. The Policy will be reviewed on an ongoing basis to identify and implement any revisions or interpretive notes that may be required.
7. Code of Ethics
The Code of Ethics sets out the basic overarching principles of conduct for public officials within government and other public bodies. It is essential that the public procurement function be discharged with probity, transparency and accountability in a manner that secures best value for public money while utilizing best practices.
All public officials involved with or responsible for procurement shall adhere to the following Code of Ethics:
- Honesty/Integrity – Maintain a high standard of integrity in all business relationships. Honesty, care and due diligence shall be integral to all procurement activities. Public officials shall, in the discharge of their duties, act in a professional manner and make decisions with the best interests of the organization in mind without consideration of personal gain.
- Equality – Provide fair and equitable treatment to all suppliers. All suppliers shall be provided with the same information and public officials shall not impose any personal bias or prejudices in their decisions. All actions taken will be impartial and based on the merits of the matter. Purchasing documents shall not contain any unnecessary bias in specifications, terms and conditions or evaluation criteria.
- Professionalism – Foster the highest standards of professional conduct. Respect shall be demonstrated to each other. Individuals shall not engage in any activity that may create a conflict of interest, such as accepting gifts or favors, providing preferential treatment or publicly endorsing suppliers or products. Public officials shall maintain strict confidentiality in their procurement activities and should continuously work to improve their procurement knowledge and skills to promote leading edge procurement practices.
- Accountability/Transparency – Ensure procurement activities are open, transparent and accountable. Purchasing activities shall be conducted in a fair, consistent, and transparent manner with a view to obtaining the best value for public money. Public sector resources shall be used in a responsible, efficient and effective manner. Public officials shall act in such a manner that will bear the closest of public scrutiny.
- Compliance/Conformity – Comply with all applicable laws, regulations, trade agreements, policies and procedures and not engage in any activity to circumvent the clear intention of the law. All activities should respect the principles of ethical business practices. All duties and responsibilities shall be performed in an independent manner without any undue pressure or interference.
8. Definitions
For the purposes of this Policy, the following definitions are provided:
“Act” means the Public Procurement Act;
“Agency” means the Public Procurement Agency continued under section 14 of the Act;
“best value” includes the best balance of cost, quality, performance and support, as achieved through a transparent, efficient and competitive procurement process using clear and fair evaluation and selection criteria;
“bid” means an offer from a supplier, submitted in response to a call for bids, to supply commodities;
“buying group” means a non-public body that uses the leverage of the purchasing power of a group of member organizations to achieve cost efficiencies for these organizations based on their collective buying power;
“change order” means an amendment within the requirements of an existing contract, or an extension of a contract, that is accessory to and does not change the nature of the contract;
“commodities” means goods, services, public works and lease of space;
“contractor” means a supplier that has been awarded a contract by a public body;
“day”, unless otherwise specified, means a calendar day;
“electronic notification system” means an internet website or linked websites through which information about procurement is broadly and openly communicated;
“estimated value” means an estimate of the contractual value of a commodity based on current market information;
“framework” means the sum of the Act and its regulations, and the policies that govern procurement of commodities;
“goods” means goods, chattels, material, personal property, movable property and other physical objects of every kind, including items required to be manufactured or on which a labour or skill is required to be expended before, upon or after delivery to a public body;
“group purchasing” means the purchasing of commodities by 2 or more public bodies;
“head of a public body” means
- in the case of a department, the deputy minister,
- in the case of a public body referred to in subparagraph (q)(iv) of the Act, the council or local service district committee, and
- in the case of other public bodies, the person responsible for the administration of the public body;
“insurance services” means services provided by an insurance company, broker or agent;
“joint purchasing agreement” means an agreement entered into by the province and one or more other governments to provide for joint acquisition of commodities required by public bodies;
“lease of space” means a transfer of the possession of space for a fixed period of time at a specified rent, and includes a renewal of a lease;
“limited call for bids” means an invitation to specific suppliers to submit a bid;
“local supplier” means a supplier of goods or services or public works that has a place of business in Newfoundland and Labrador;
“minister” means the minister appointed under the Executive Council Act to administer the Act;
“open call for bids” means a publicly-advertised invitation to suppliers to submit a bid;
“place of business” means an establishment where a supplier regularly conducts its activities on a permanent basis;
“preferred supplier” means the supplier who submits the lowest priced bid meeting all terms, conditions and specifications of the invitation to tender or who submits the highest ranking proposal meeting all the criteria in a request for proposals;
“pre-qualified supplier” means a supplier who has met the public body qualification requirements in response to a request for qualifications, and has been approved for participation in a proposed procurement by the public body;
“private sector entity” means a corporation, partnership or other entity in which the Crown or a Crown corporation is not a majority shareholder and a corporation, other than a Crown Corporation, without share capital;
“provincial supplier” means a supplier of goods or services or public works that has a place of business in Newfoundland and Labrador;
“public body” means
- a department of the government of the province, or in the case where procurement is on behalf of a department of the government of the province by the Agency, the Agency,
- a corporation in which not less than 90% of the issued common shares are owned by the Crown,
- a corporation established by an Act under which the corporation is made an agent of the Crown,
- a municipality or local service district under the Municipalities Act, 1999, the City of Mount Pearl established by the City of Mount Pearl Act, the City of St. John’s established by the City of St. John’s Act and the City of Corner Brook established by the City of Corner Brook Act,
- a school board elected under the Schools Act, 1997,
- an agency or authority of the province,
- a regional health authority established under the Regional Health Authorities Act, and
- a board, commission, corporation, Royal Commission or other body designated by the Lieutenant-Governor in Council as a public body for the purpose of the Act;
“public work” means the construction, re-construction, extension, enlargement, repair, maintenance, improvement and demolition of real property, including improvements to leased property;
“public-private partnership or P3” means a performance-based contract between public and private sector parties, where the private sector party assumes a share of the risks involved in the integrated delivery of public infrastructure (for example, design, build, operate, maintain, finance/capital at risk). Under the contract, the risks and rewards are allocated between the parties;
“real property” means land, buildings, structures, improvements and fixtures erected or placed upon, in, over or under land or affixed to land, and includes an interest in any of them;
“request for qualifications” means an open call used for the qualification of commodities or to invite suppliers to seek registration on a pre-qualified supplier list;
“services” means all services incidental to the supply of goods including the provision of transportation of all kinds; printing and reproduction services; accounting, land surveying and voice telephone services; engineering services; architectural services; banking services not captured by subparagraph (p)(ii) of the Act; insurance services; services that require the giving of an opinion, creativity, the preparation of a design, or technical expertise except those services defined in paragraph (p) of the Act; and all other services not considered to be professional services; and
“supplier” means an individual, partnership, corporation, joint venture or other form of business organization engaged in the lawful supply of commodities.
9. Acronyms
For the purpose of this Policy, the following acronyms are provided:
- ITT – Invitation to Tender
- RFQ – Request for Quotations
- RFI – Request for Information
- RFEI – Request for Expressions of Interest
- RFSQs – Request for Supplier Qualifications
- RFP – Request for Proposals
- SOA – Standing Offer Agreement
10. Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act
Suppliers, occasionally request information on the bids of their competitors from public officials. The information requested can range from bid prices and products supplied to internal bid evaluations. The Act and Regulations allow for the release of certain information through public openings. Procurement officials should be cognizant of the information they are permitted to release and should familiarize themselves with the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act, 2015 as well as any other internal policies that may exist in their organization. Section 5 of this Policy provides additional information on statements that relate to the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act, 2015, which are to be included within an open call for bids document.