Engineering Consultant Scheme Questions December 2014

Transcription

1 Engineering Consultant Scheme Questions December 2014 BUYER QUESTIONS 1. Are there thresholds for obtaining a certain number of quotes when buying off the Scheme? The Engineering Consultant Scheme (ECS or Scheme) does not set the sole invitee threshold. Each agency determines the applicable threshold based on their requirements. The business area will determine a suitable number of invitees for each work package, considering if inviting more suppliers (creating more competitive tension) may result in better value for money. 2. Are buyers required to use the ECS if a different government panel exists for the same services? If there is crossover with other government panels buyers are encouraged to use the ECS. 3. When can buyers go off-scheme and is justification required? Government buyers are able to buy Off-Scheme if the Scheme does not satisfy their buying requirements. For example, if the current Scheme Members do not have specialist skills or the required level of prequalification. Buyers are required to complete the Off-Scheme Justification template outlining the reasons for purchasing off-scheme. The Scheme Management Team is not required to approve the Off-Scheme Justification. The Scheme will use the information to inform any changes to the Scheme at the next Scheme Refresh. 4. Can engineering services be engaged under the Goods and Services Procurement process? No. Engineering Services must be procured using documentation suitable to the risk and complexity of the engagement. If the supplier is not a Scheme Member they will need to be engaged Off-Scheme subject to Part B of the terms and conditions for the Engineering Consultant Scheme. These terms and conditions provide adequate protection to the department for the type of work being undertaken. 5. What documentation do buyers use to evaluate/assess Requests for Quotes (RFQ)? Consistent with agency procurement procedures need to evaluate the service. The evaluation methodology is at the discretion of the buyer and its business area. The procurement area for each agency can provide more guidance on appropriate evaluation methodology. 6. What form do we use to gain both Financial and Procurement approval? Following on from Question 5, the evaluation report requires approval from both the Procurement and Financial Delegates within the relevant business area. These approvals support the purchase order requisition. Additional requirements particular to a business area can be added if required. 7. What form do buyers use to obtain approval to engage a supplier? As per the Buyer s process map, the approval process is determined by the relevant business area as per the agency s procurement requirements. The Scheme does not have specific documents to address the approval process, as the requirements are different in every agency and even between business areas of one agency. SUPPLIER QUESTIONS 8. When will the full list of Scheme suppliers be published? A list of all Scheme Members is published on the QTender website for each discipline and sub-discipline within each zone. 9. Were firms penalised for not having recent experience in regions when there has been very little work (excluding flood work) issued in recent times? Scheme Applicants were assessed based on their local knowledge and presence within the offered zones. 10. How many smaller, regional firms have been appointed? The number of Scheme Members with only one office within each zone is set out in the table below:

2 ZONE 1 ZONE 2 ZONE 3 ZONE 4 ZONE 5 SMALL MEDIUM LARGE TOTAL Table 1: Suppliers with one office within each Zone 11. When will unsuccessful Scheme applicants be de-briefed? Formal feedback sessions commenced on 25 November 2014 for unsuccessful Scheme Applicants. We are providing feedback face to face, over the phone or via depending on the preference of the Applicant. Suppliers who still wish to receive feedback should PTD- ECTenderBox@hpw.qld.gov.au to organise feedback. 12. How will potential tenderers know the extent (number of) tenderers being asked to provide an offer (Informed decision to tender avoiding unnecessary cost to industry if too many tenderers and likelihood of award is low)? The Scheme has been optimised at a subdiscipline and zone level. This means there is a greater opportunity for Scheme Members to receive a RFQ or sole invitation for a service delivery. That said, there is no guarantee for work and it is the responsibility of Scheme Members to market their services to government buyers. 13. Will suppliers who are at full capacity be penalised for not tendering? Vendor Panel (the cloud based operating system for ECS) will record the number of RFQ a Scheme Member receives and whether they submit an offer or decline the opportunity. 14. Following on from Question 13, how will the Scheme Management know the Scheme Member is unable to tender for a good reason? The Scheme Manager will gather information from Vendor Panel as it will provide statistics informing of the number of times a Scheme Member either declines or submits a RFQ. If a Scheme Member displays a pattern of declining the opportunity to submit an offer, the Scheme Management Team will contact the Scheme Member to clarify / understand why. Following their investigation, the Scheme Management Team will either recommend removing or maintaining their Membership on the ECS. 15. When are the Vendor Panel Webinars due to be held or available? Vendor Panel will be running a number of Webinars for buyers and Scheme Members in February Details of the Webinars will be sent out to Scheme Members as soon as they are confirmed. 16. When will suppliers receive log in details for the Vendor Panel? The implementation process is underway and all Scheme Members have received log in details to allow them to register their business and develop their Vendor Panel profile. Vendor Panel has a number of online video tutorials available. In particular, go to for a video on creating a company profile. 17. Partnering/Joint Ventures are common when tendering for work how will suppliers be able to facilitate this via Vendor Panel? Subject to government approval, Scheme Members are able to engage sub-consultants or sub-contractors under the terms and conditions of the Scheme. 18. When will suppliers receive notification of what they need to do if they are accepted in a sub-discipline that requires pre-qualification, but are not currently pre-qualified? Details of prequalification requirements are included in the Supplier s Guide. The Supplier s Guide was ed to all suppliers on 11 November 2014 post the Launch Event. This information is also available on our website at

3 Scheme.aspx 19. When will the Scheme be refreshed where new suppliers can apply to come onto the Scheme, Unsuccessful Applicants can reapply or Scheme Members can increase the number of awarded sub-disciplines? A Scheme refresh will be demand driven. At this stage there is no set time. It is anticipated that the Scheme will be refreshed at least each calendar year. New suppliers, Unsuccessful Scheme Applicants and Scheme Members who would like to join the Scheme or increase their awarded sub-disciplines are encouraged to register their interest in the Scheme at Scheme.aspx. 20. Will there be an opportunity to review contract terms and Scheme conditions at the time of refresh? At this stage the state is satisfied with the current agreement and expects that the agreement will remain in place until the end of the Scheme. 21. During the launch it was stated that contract terms were agreed with industry. Please clarify that there has not been full agreement on terms or the Scheme. This feedback is noted. To clarify the contract terms and conditions were based on the Department of Transport and Main Roads contract for engineering services (C7545) and the Department of Housing and Public Works AS4122 Specials. Both of these agreements were developed in consultation with industry. When the Scheme was announced the Procurement Team informed the market that the contract would be based on the above two agreements to take advantage of previous negotiated positions, as timing did not allow for government to develop a new contract. All parties expressed comfort in using the existing contracts as the basis for the ECS terms and conditions. Over the course of the tender process Scheme Applicants proposed a number of changes. Each change was considered from a global perspective of the Scheme, which led to a number of changes to the terms and conditions. In the interest of transparency and fairness the state did not negotiate with individual suppliers. 22. Future changes to prequalification may justify an increase in the maximum daily rates if for example it costs the supplier more to achieve the higher prequalification level. How can a supplier request an increase? At this stage there is no ability to increase the maximum daily rate apart from the annual CPI increase outlined in Clause 9.2 of the ECS terms and conditions. 23. What happens when a supplier gains a higher level employee whose rates are not included in the panel (for example, previously only at Practice Leader level, but now has Partner)? All Scheme Members have been awarded based on the nominated role levels in the offer response document. In order to expand the awarded role levels the Scheme Member must complete a registration of interest available at Scheme.aspx. Roles will only be expanded during a Scheme Refresh. a. Additionally how are Mergers & Acquisitions dealt with? Scheme Members are able to assign the Consultancy Agreement subject to government approval. Refer to Clause of Schedule 2. b. Can additional skill levels be added? Additional skill levels can be added as part of any future refresh opportunities. These requests will be dealt with on a case by case basis by the Scheme Management Team and Management Committee. 24. Can a supplier on a lump sum for a deliverable complete the work early and still expect payment of the lump sum? Yes, if requested or agreed to by the buyer at RFQ Work Order level consistent with Clause 9.1 of Part A of the Contract, the service fee may be by way of reference to the rate card or be a fixed lump sum price. If a lump sum, payment is based on the delivery of the agreed product.

4 25. Supplier confusion continues over how many working hours are representative of the Max Score Card Daily Rate. Clause 9.2 of Part A states that the rates set out in the rate card of the contract are the maximum rates a Scheme Member can charge for services for any one day. The 7.5 hours is only to be used to calculate a pro rata rate meaning if the Supplier does not complete a full day of work. This clause is supported by Clause 9.3 where it allows the Principal to conduct an audit of the Scheme Member s performance including the accuracy of invoices rendered and reports supplied by them. If suppliers were required to gain prequalification and are unable to will they be immediately removed from the Scheme? The requirement for prequalification is established at a government agency level based on the needs of the buyer. Each agency has their own prequalification arrangements. If a Scheme Member is unable to achieve prequalification for a particular agency at a sub-discipline level they will not be able to provide a service for that agency. If they fail to achieve prequalification the Scheme Member will only be removed from the sub-discipline not the whole Scheme (assuming they have been awarded more sub-disciplines). 26. If suppliers are removed, will new ones be appointed from those who previously applied or have submitted EOIs? The Scheme Management Team will constantly monitor the movements within each sub-discipline to ensure sufficient coverage in each zone for each size supplier (that is small, medium and large). If suitable the Scheme will draw from the pool of shortlisted quality applicants that missed out due to competitiveness only, subject to endorsement by the Scheme s Management Committee. 27. Is there ability to negotiate items such as travel time and max daily hours on a project by project level? As part of the tendering process all Scheme Applicants were required to comply with the Queensland Government's Disbursements Policy. The pre-agreed maximum Disbursement Policy is designed to limit the state s commercial exposure and to standardise engagement terms. The Policy is outlined in the ITO Response Document Tab If suppliers were appointed to the panel but were not selected in areas that they already have pre-qualification, how can they go about gaining acceptance on additional areas midpanel? In order to expand the awarded sub-disciplines the Scheme Member must complete a registration of interest available at Scheme.aspx. Sub-disciplines will only be expanded during a Scheme Refresh. 29. Default insurance is quite high ($10m or $25m). What systems are in place to ensure that appropriate levels of insurance are included at work order level? It is the responsibility of the buyer to determine the required insurance level. It is a requirement of all Scheme Members to have the minimum $10m insurance coverage. 30. Do the C7561 performance reports remain or are they replaced by the 'survey monkey'? If so, how does the supplier provide input? The Prequalification arrangements are managed separately from the Engineering Consultant Scheme. It is outside the scope of the Scheme to change how existing performance reports are managed. 31. Do the Consultants for Engineering Projects manual invitation thresholds remain (Ch 4)? Eg. Sole Invitation up to $250k and QBS vs VBS? Government buyers are accountable for achieving best value for money outcomes and deploying the most appropriate strategies to facilitate the delivery of best procurement outcomes. The Scheme does not set spend thresholds for sole invitees or competitive requests for quotes. The threshold for sole invitation is at the discretion of each government business unit and will change for different buyers. 32. How will buyers select potential tenderers for projects that require multi-disciplines? The Scheme includes a high number of multi-disciplinary Scheme Members. Supplier profiles on Vendor Panel will provide the details of the supplier s capability. a. Will suppliers who have been appointed to some but not all of the sub-disciplines be eligible to tender if they are pre-qualified with HPW or TMR in all disciplines?

5 Scheme Members will only be invited (eligible) to quote for a service delivery if they have been awarded to the required sub-discipline. Prequalification is a requirement of the buyer. 33. Can the number of salary bands be increased? Considering the top band is for a managing partner, there are basically four bands to deal with anything from a young engineer to someone with 40 years of experience, a band from $50k to say $250+k. Each Scheme Member was awarded per sub-discipline based on the nominated skill levels in the ITO Response Document. The skill levels captured the different bands based on experience, as outlined below: a. Partner / Director / Managing Director / Executive b. Practice Leader / Specialist c. Senior Consultant / Senior Associate d. Consultant / Associate e. Graduate 34. Will there be transparency on who the successful firms are on each panel? Yes all successful Scheme Applicants are published at Scheme.aspx. 35. How will the phasing out of the pre-qualification system occur? The existing prequalification systems will remain in place for the foreseeable future. Queensland Government will advise industry if a decision is made to change current practice. a. Over what time period and in what way will pre-qualification be added to the Consultant Scheme, if at all? See question With regard to the application of discounts on fees, it is presumed that the fees of subconsultants engaged by a panel member as part of a panel contract (for example, surveyors and geotechnical on a civil project) and reimbursable expenses (for example, travel and accommodation) will not be included in the calculation of fees for the application of discount. Can this be confirmed? Yes that is correct. Disbursements are outside the application of discounts on service fees. 37. With regard to the application of discounts, what is the start and finish times for the annual period? Is it a calendar or financial year or other annual period such as 1 Nov to 31 Oct, based on the Scheme start date? Yes that is correct it is based on an annual period from the anniversary of the Scheme 1 November to 31 October each year. a. Will there be a transition period(s) in the first (and last??) year? A formal transition period is not required as existing contracts will continue outside of the Scheme where relevant. Contracts can be created through the Scheme can occur anytime during the term. 38. When engaging sub-consultants as part of a panel contract, will panel members have to ensure that the sub-consultant is appropriately panel qualified? The buyer will outline their requirements in the Project Brief which will form part of the Work Order. It is the responsibility of the successful Scheme Member to comply with the agreed terms and specifications of the Work Order. If the Work Order requires a level of Prequalification to carry out a service delivery then it will be the responsibility of the Scheme Member to satisfy this requirement. 39. When panel members are invited to bid for a project but then it is determined that their prequalification level (eg under existing TMR or DHPW arrangements) is insufficient for the project and the panel member is forced to withdraw from the bid, will this be taken to be a refusal to bid or will there be some safeguard in Vendor Panel to ensure no black mark is held against the panel member eg leading to a failure of a KPI? No. Vendor Panel will only indicate the number of times a Scheme Member declines an invitation to submit a quote. If the results indicate a poor score for KPI 3.3 (Level of participation), the Scheme Manager will

6 contact the Scheme Member to understand what is driving the low level of participation. A change to the required prequalification levels would be considered outside the control of the Scheme Member. 40. At the Scheme launch, it was indicated that the work packages on the Scheme would be put to industry via the Vendor Panel and a full record of projects invited to bid for/ submitted for/ won would be able to be obtained through Vendor Panel. Such a full record would provide a good check that all projects are included in panel members own accounting systems for the purpose of discount application noting the responsibility of the panel member to accurately record fees and apply discounts. a. The first project invited from TMR last week was via direct invitation (with noting that it was under the panel). Will this information be included on the Vendor Panel at some stage to ensure that it has the full record as indicated at the Scheme launch? No, there is no mechanism to update Vendor Panel to include the number of tenders that government buyers have released while waiting for Vendor Panel. b. Will future requests under the panel be confined to the Vendor Panel or will ad hoc direct requests continue? Once Vendor Panel is fully implemented all government buying will be facilitated through Vendor Panel for the Engineering Consultant Scheme. It is expected there will be a ramp up period while users familiarise themselves with the system. 41. Could you clarify if Vendor Panel will be the only portal for tender information (and that these will be mostly limited invite tenders). That is, will QTenders still be used at all? Our understanding was that public tenders would be mostly replaced by limited invite and only to those suppliers on the panel. Once Vendor Panel is fully implemented all government buying will be facilitated through Vendor Panel for the Engineering Consultant Scheme. Other government buyers will continue to use QTenders. As above in 41.b there is a ramp up period expected. 42. The original bid request also indicated that contract terms and Scheme conditions were accepted by industry. Consult Australia confirmed prior to bid closing that the terms and conditions had not been agreed by it and there were various concerns. A section in the bid document allowed for concerns with terms and conditions to be raised and suggested amendments listed. Essentially, none of our firm s suggested amendments (eg to reduce liability and indemnity provisions and in relation to the 7 year run off PI insurance provision of Clause 7 and respectively in the General Conditions of Contract and with these generally mirroring the limitations in the CA Long Form Conditions of Contract) have been incorporated into the final panel contract with QLD Govt. Wide and generally unreasonable terms and conditions are now part of the contract, with the terms and conditions being nonnegotiable. This is arguably unconsciousable conduct by QLD Govt with the bids being made with rates etc offered under a reasonable expectation that more reasonable terms and conditions (as per the suggestions in the bids) would be considered and accepted. Will CA/ Industry be able to negotiate better/ more appropriate/ more reasonable terms and conditions with QLD Govt? This question captures most of the same points raised in Question 21. Refer to the answer for Question 21. Regarding the additional question for Professional Indemnity (PI) Insurance, the additional length of time reflects the nature of the insurance. PI Insurance will only come into effect if the policy is current at the time of the claim. Therefore, the risk will remain over the life of the engineering project. The state has limited the life of the liability to only 7 years in recognition that most risks should crystallise within the first 7 years of a project. Ideally the state would require the PI to extend over the life of the final project. b. When, if ever, will the terms and conditions be considered for review and amendment? As stated in response to Question 20, the state is satisfied with the current agreement, which will remain in place until the end of the Scheme.

7 43. Could you clarify if Vendor Panel will be the only portal for tender information (and that these will be mostly limited invite tenders). That is, will QTenders still be used at all? Our understanding was that public tenders would be mostly replaced by limited invite and only to those suppliers on the panel. See answer to Question New tenders being released under the ECS are not including weightings for the evaluation %s. This a step change from majority of TMR QBS and VBS processes which have an open and transparent process. The evaluation methodology, including whether to disclose the weightings for the evaluation criteria, is at the discretion of the buyer and its business area. a. Is price the only criteria being evaluated? Quality outcomes remain a priority for QLD government. The evaluation criteria is at the discretion of the buyer and will be aligned to project complexity and objectives. b. If it isn t can weightings please be re-included so suppliers know where to put their efforts in the tender process? The decision whether to disclose the weightings for the evaluation criteria is at the discretion of the buyer and its business area. 45. If price is the main driver is there consideration of naming the budget and then all the tenders can say what they will provide for that fee? That is, get the best for the money available. This method has been used on a few projects recently and it really pushes innovation in to the project/bid. Focussing on fee (or being silent on weightings) drives spiralling low prices which undermines the industry. Companies end up spending more time bidding to get less and less fees. Clients also often end up unhappy as no one can do what they require for the fees agreed. Thank you for your feedback. These questions and answers will be distributed to government buyers who will be able to consider your feedback.