How to become a ‘client of choice’

Making best use of an increasingly limited supplier market to deliver ambitious infrastructure programmes is a challenge for all government agencies today. When work is scarce, the choice between large and small contractors; and between local, regional and offshore suppliers is a luxury that plays into the hands of our buyers. But what happens when […]
Attention NZQA Procurement Trainees
Important update on assessments from 2018 If you’re currently progressing through your NZQA Procurement Qualification, you need to know about changes to our fee structures for assessment. Clever Buying now has two qualified Assessors who will be working with the 60-70 people who are currently registered and working through their qualification. Bruce Buxton and Caroline […]
Should our big spenders be qualified?

Isn’t it time that those who spend tens of billions of dollars of public money every year should be obliged to be trained and qualified to spend it wisely? We think a generic NZQA-accredited procurement qualification should be required for procurement practitioners of significant projects. The savings – both in procurement process efficiency and in […]
SQP25 – a new tool to select the right Attribute Weightings

It’s a breakthrough! A new tool that helps you pay the right premium for quality – every time. Setting weights in tenders has always been tricky. Even with the benefits of transparency provided by the Price Quality Method, tender evaluations vary considerably and sometimes produce recommendations that don’t appear to support Value for Money. Our […]
A Landmark Legal Decision exposes unfair Tendering Practices
A victory was scored by a supplier in late July this year, with a High Court decision against a Ministry that breached Government’s Procurement Rules. The tendering decision was overturned, and all legal costs of the plaintiff were borne by the defendant. The Problem Gambling Foundation has successfully challenged a tendering decision by the Ministry […]
Who are the best (and worst) rated procuring organisations in New Zealand?
A recent survey by the New Zealand Council for Infrastructure Development (NZCID) evaluated procurement processes of some of New Zealand’s leading public organisations. The diverse pool of respondents included 32 senior industry leaders across the full spectrum of industries – contracting and construction, engineering, banking and finance, and professional advisory services. Survey results, revealed at […]
Who Will Benefit?
Tender evaluators Managers responsible for preparing RFTs Council / local government managers and engineers Procurement senior and middle managers Consultants Commercial and business managers Purchasing managers CEOs, general managers and managing directors Divisional managers A class act. Interesting, thought-provoking, incredibly applicable and useful.
New Tools That Cut Tender Evaluation Costs

The NZTA’s Procurement manual (replacing the old CPP Manual), is now firmly established as the benchmark for local government procurement. Many councils have opted to use the NZTA’s procedures for procurement in areas that have no relation to the NZTA-funded transport projects (where the procedures are mandatory). A series of workshops for qualified evaluators held […]