In response to the economic downturn, the Minister for Finance and Personnel announced the formation of a Construction Industry Forum for Northern Ireland (CIFNI) Procurement Task Group in the Assembly on the 15 December 2008.
The CIFNI - Procurement Task Group Report (PDF, 149KB) was finalised on 30 April 2009 and was presented to the Procurement Board on 7 May 2009. The Report included 7 principles to be applied to future Government construction procurement and some 25 associated actions. Whilst some of these actions could be introduced with immediate effect, full implementation of others required further detailed development work. A number of CIFNI Working Groups were established to agree specific proposals including, for example, those designed to benefit SMEs by:-
- increasing their opportunities to bid for Government contracts by setting proportionate minimum standards for experience and financial standing;
- accommodating applications from consortia;
- standardising and streamlining the pre-qualification process; and
- examining how the assessment of contractors’ health and safety competence can be evaluated more efficiently as part of the procurement process.
In order that the actions agreed by the CIFNI Working Groups can be clearly communicated across the public sector and the construction industry, the CIFNI - Procurement Task Group Report Addendum (01 March 2010) (PDF, 167KB) has been published.
Standard template PQQ for construction works projects. The proposals emerging from the Working Groups have also been incorporated into a standard template Pre-Qualification Questionnaire (PQQ) to be used to shortlist firms for invitation to tender for works projects. CIFNI agreed the template at its meeting on 17 February 2010. Government Construction Clients will pre-qualify enterprises for works projects commenced after 1 March 2010 using a PQQ based, as far as practicable, on the template PQQ...
- Document 1: Memorandum of Information (PDF, 198KB) ...to provide Economic Operators with preliminary information to enable them to prepare their Pre-Qualification Questionnaire Package (PQQP) responses.
- PQQ1: Economic Operator Pre-Qualification Questionnaire (PDF, 136KB) .
- PQQ1A: Economic Operator Financial Addendum (PDF, 103KB)
- PQQ1B: Economic Operator Health & Safety Addendum (PDF, 99KB)
- PQQX: Subcontractor Pre-Qualification Questionnaire (PDF, 65KB)
TheTask Group's Report recognises that enterprises have the opportunity to benefit from participation in Government contracts either as a main contractor or as a subcontractor. Proposals have been developed to expand the Code of Practice for Government Construction Clients and their Supply Chains (PDF, 274KB) to include a Fair Payment Charter.
[Page last updated: 02 March 2010]