Consultation on proposed Government Procurement Rules 4th Edition

Summary

Government procurement can and should be used to support wider social, economic and environmental outcomes that go beyond the immediate purchase of goods and services.

The New Zealand Government spends approximately $51 billion each year buying goods and services from third-party suppliers and providers.

The Government Procurement Rules (the Rules; formerly known as the Government Rules of Sourcing) support good practice for procurement planning, approaching the supplier community and contracting.

Government departments, NZ Police, NZ Defence Force and most Crown entities must follow the Rules if procurement is worth more than $100,000 (or $10 million for new construction works).  All other government agencies are encouraged to follow the Rules.

In 2018 Cabinet agreed that government contracts could be more explicitly leveraged to support the Government’s economic strategy and broader outcomes, and that the Government Procurement Rules  should be updated to enable this.

More information on Broader outcomes (external link) — New Zealand Government Procurement

About the consultation

We consulted with government agencies, suppliers and interested public to get their feedback before we presented suggested amendments to Government. This was the 4^th edition of the Rules since their inception in 2013.

The Government Procurement Rules 4^th edition replaced the 3^rd edition of the Government Rules of Sourcing.

The principal changes that we requested feedback on are:

• the new Broader Outcomes Rules (Rules 16-20)
• changes to construction procurement (Rules 18, 65 and 70)
• new Rules around procurement capability (Rules 71 and 72), reporting (Rule 53) and planning (Rule 15)
• the removal of outdated Rules (Extended Procurement Forecasts and Registered Suppliers Lists) and amending requirements relating to Significant Procurement Plans
• amending the construction threshold to $9 million and reviewing the thresholds annually
• changes to expectations around subcontracting and the conduct of suppliers (Rule 25 and Rule 44)
• the Draft Government Procurement Charter 

The new Rules on Broader Outcomes refer to guidance released before the new rules came into effect, which was consulted on as it was being developed. Guidance that was under development is marked by square brackets.

A draft Government Procurement Charter, which sets out Governments’ expectations for how agencies should conduct their procurement activity, is included in the Government Procurement Rules 4^th edition.

The Charter and its companion piece, the Supplier Code of Conduct, reflect the aim to achieve broader social, economic and environmental outcomes through the annual $41b procurement on behalf of Government.

We also sought feedback on the Supplier Code of Conduct. This consultation closed on 19 February 2019.

Go to the consultation on proposed Supplier Code of Conduct

Once all feedback on the Rules was received, we presented suggested changes for Cabinet approval in May 2019.