Civil Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
and that it also captures their individual objective rationales. The tool
shows how many of the questions have been opened and reviewed, and
whether or not the evaluation has been completed. This allows the
evaluation management team to monitor and manage the progress of
the evaluation in real time, alerting the team of any issues that could
affect the procurement timetable, and gives them an opportunity to
intervene to ensure timetables are met.
Aspects of managing systematic procurement processes
Standard processes
Standardised procurement processes in a programme tend to lead to
consistency in delivery and a reduction in errors. Standardisation gives
all stakeholders involved a clear understanding of their inputs and
responsibilities. Standardising the processes also gives participating
fi rms clarity regarding the specifi c expectations and requirements of
others. The different steps in the formal procurement process, their
associated documents, and an assurance review together form a set of
standard procedures for each stage of procurement.
Mobilising large teams of people in a relatively short space of time
requires special measures, especially when the people involved are
working on diverse projects. This is further complicated by the fact that
the staff working on behalf of the client may be either internal to the
organisation (directly employed) or external consultants (indirectly con-
tracted and therefore employed by any of a number of outside fi rms). To
reinforce standard procedures, all parties involved need to be issued with
a clear defi nition of the formal practices expected of them. This may
take the form of a hard-copy document stating the responsibilities of
the various client teams, such as the technical, commercial and legal
teams and external advisors, including designers and engineers. Simi-
larly, codifying the procurement procedures has a number of advantages
for the client's team. Developing a code of practice formalises the gov-
ernance and assurance procedures, so that all parts of the client organi-
sation can understand the required steps to be taken to complete a
procurement and award a contract. The code of practice can also be used
to indicate the skills and experience that are needed by individual
members of the procurement team.
