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Rule 22:
Panel of suppliers

Primary requirement

  1. Agencies must, before establishing a panel of suppliers:
    1. determine the ongoing need and demand for a panel
    2. have the capacity and capability to manage the panel once established.

Application

  1. Agencies must openly advertise an opportunity to be selected for a panel of suppliers in accordance with Rule 10.
  2. Agencies must, in addition to the information required in the Notice of Procurement under Rule 17, include:
    1. the terms and conditions of supply  
    2. the secondary procurement method/s (Rule 22.8) that will be used to award contracts to suppliers on the panel
    3. the period of time the panel will run for and how often it will be refreshed
    4. whether or not the panel is ‘open’ or ‘closed’; if open, the frequency at which it will be refreshed
    5. any circumstances that may lead to a supplier being removed from the panel.
  3. Agencies must, unless they have good reason not to:
    1. appoint more than one supplier to a panel
    2. have a developed contract management plan for the panel and discuss it with suppliers, including with any new suppliers added to the panel during the contract’s life
    3. provide a Panel Guide that:   
      1. identifies appropriate methods for allocating secondary contracts (Rule 22.8) based on the anticipated size, value, and risk of contracts likely to be awarded through the panel; and
      2. provides clear guidelines about the secondary procurement process
    4. inform suppliers of the panel guides
    5. ensure the Panel Guide is accessible for anyone purchasing from the panel at any time.
  4. When the panel has been established, agencies must:
    1. publish a contract award notice on GETS with the names of all of the suppliers that have been appointed to the panel
    2. publish a list of the categories of procurement that it manages through panel contracts and the end dates for each contract.
  5. When purchasing from a Panel the agency must use only the secondary procurement method/s specified in the Notice of Procurement and detailed in the Panel Guide to select a supplier.
  6. Agencies must use competitive secondary procurement processes, unless there is a good reason not to.
  7. Agencies must use only the following accepted methods of secondary procurement:
    1. competitive quotes which could be based on the supplier’s expertise, proposed solution and/or best public value: Ask for quotes from an appropriate selection of Panel suppliers and award the opportunity to the supplier who has the right level of expertise, can offer the best public value, and deliver on time
      1. The request must indicate how many panel suppliers you are approaching (suppliers must not at this stage be asked to resubmit information that has already been submitted in the primary process)
    2. direct source, based on the best fit for purpose: A fair evaluation of all panel suppliers, which must include a best value assessment documenting (in accordance with Rule 46) how the supplier was chosen based on capacity, capability, risk, public value, and due diligence and include this information in the contract award notice
    3. rotation: Award opportunities to each supplier in turn provided they are able to offer good public value  
    4. equal division of the work: Fix an upper limit for the amount of work that can be awarded to each panel supplier and award opportunities on a rotational basis. When a panel supplier reaches the upper limit, the agency chooses the next supplier from the panel
    5. location: Award opportunities to the panel supplier who is best able to deliver based on their location and the location of the work.
  8. Agencies must either:
    1. publish a contract award notice for secondary procurements when the value is $100,000 or greater, or
    2. report panel spend annually to the Procurement System Leader (Rule 45), where they have not published a contract award notice under point 9a, setting out:
      1. estimated total spend
      2. actual total spend
      3. number of contracts awarded to each supplier on the panel
      4. value of contracts awarded to each supplier on the panel. 

More information

When a panel of suppliers is appropriate

A panel of suppliers is a list of suppliers who have been pre-approved by an agency and who have agreed to the terms and conditions for supply. This applies to agency specific panels and any panels set up under All-of-Government contracts (Rule 38), Common capability contracts (Rule 39) or Syndicated contracts (Rule 40).

A panel of suppliers is appropriate when an agency wants to:

    1. verify which suppliers are capable of delivering specific goods, services or works
    2. agree in advance with each supplier the terms and conditions of supply of the goods, services or works, including the pricing or pricing mechanism (for example, an agreed hourly fee)

Agencies setting up a panel should make sure suppliers are aware that being appointed to a panel is not a guarantee of work.

Rule 38: All-of-Government contracts

Rule 39: Common capability contracts

Rule 40: Syndicated contracts

Secondary procurement

Once a panel has been established through an open process under the Rules, an agency does not need to openly advertise individual contract opportunities. It may purchase directly from the panel. This is called secondary procurement.

The agency will need to select suppliers from the panel in accordance with the secondary procurement method(s) outlined in the panel guide (Rule 22.4.c).

Secondary procurement process

Agencies may use more than one method for secondary procurement depending on the volume of work that will go through the panel. In most instances, agencies should not use more than two secondary procurement methods. This should be explained in the Notice of Procurement and the panel guide.

Competitive secondary procurement processes (like a Request for Quote) involving a selection, or all of the panel suppliers will usually result in better public value. It also gives capable panel suppliers the opportunity to compete.

There may be situations where a competitive process is not appropriate. For example, if the procurement is low-risk and low-value, or if you already have all the information you need to make a decision. 

Whatever secondary method you use, you need to specify it in the Notice of Procurement.

Regardless of the method/s used, agencies should be able to show that they are achieving public value.

Transparency of agency panels in place

It’s useful for suppliers to know which categories of goods and services agencies procure through panel contracts. It helps them to target their engagement with agencies to areas where there’s a real prospect of supplying government.

Transparency of spend through panels

It’s useful for suppliers, other government agencies and New Zealand Government Procurement to know how much is being spent through panel contracts. 

This information improves panel transparency and provides a better understanding of government procurement spend. Rule 22.9 applies to secondary procurements from:

  • All-of-Government contracts
  • Common Capability contracts
  • Syndicated contracts 
  • any panel set up by an agency. 

Some of this panel spend will be small and transactional, meaning it may not be practical to publish a contract award notice. It may be more practical to report transactional panel spend to the Procurement System Leader annually. 

The Notice of Procurement

The Notice can be:

  • a one-off Notice to establish the panel
  • a standing Notice, made available continuously on GETS which lets interested suppliers respond on an ongoing basis
  • an occasional Notice that is published when an agency wants to refresh or expand the panel. 

It’s a good idea to refresh a standing notice from time to time so that it comes to the attention of potential new suppliers.

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