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A list of words and what they mean.
A generic term used in the Rules to refer to New Zealand government entities across the Public Sector.
A type of collaborative contract approved by the Procurement System Leader (the Chief Executive of MBIE).
AoGs are usually panel contracts established by MBIE or other agencies that are approved centres of expertise for common goods or services (like vehicles, laptops, and recruitment services).
Rule 12: Exemption from open advertising
Rule 38: All-of-Government Contracts
Rules roles and responsibilities
The formal process of giving notice of a contract opportunity to potential suppliers and inviting them to respond. An example of an approach to the market is a Request for Tender published on the Government Electronic Tender Service (GETS).
Beneficial ownership is the individual(s) who ultimately owns or controls a company, trust, or other legal entity, even if they are not the registered owner.
Rule 28: Reasons to exclude a supplier
Rule 29: Awarding the contract
A type of price-fixing, or collusive tendering, where there is an agreement between competitors about which of them should win a bid.
Rule 28: Reasons to exclude a supplier
Rule 29: Awarding the contract
A management tool that supports decision-making for an investment. It sets out the reasons for a specific project, considers alternative solutions and identifies assumptions, constraints, benefits, costs and risks.
Rule 7: Estimating monetary value
Rule 12: Exemption from open advertising
Rule 42: Business cases and investment decisions
Any weekday in New Zealand, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, New Zealand (national) public holidays and all days from Boxing Day up to and including the day after New Year’s Day.
A tender process where an agency asks a limited number of known suppliers to tender for a contract opportunity. The contract opportunity is not openly advertised.
Rule 12: Exemption from open advertising
A secret agreement or cooperation between two or more parties to cheat or deceive others by illegal, fraudulent or deceitful means.
Rule 28: Reasons to exclude a supplier
Information that, if disclosed, could prejudice a supplier’s commercial interests (like trade secret, profit margin or new ideas).
Rule 20: Additional information
Commissioning is how government and organisations plan, fund, procure and deliver social services, often through and with others, to meet the needs of individuals, whānau and communities.
Rule 10: Requirement to openly advertise
Rule 17: Notice of Procurement
Application of the Rules – General information
A legally-regulated exchange (market) where raw goods or primary products, such as agricultural produce, metals and electricity, are bought and sold using standardised contracts (for example, the London Metal Exchange and the Chicago Board of Trade).
Rule 12: Exemption from open advertising
A type of collaborative contract that has been approved by the Procurement System Leader.
CCs establish various supply agreements (like for ICT goods or services purchased across government with approved suppliers).
CCs differ from All-of-Government and Syndicated Contracts because, in a CC:
Rule 39: Common capability contracts
Rivalry between suppliers for sales, profits and market share. Competitive tension in the market can produce innovation, better-quality goods or services, better value and better pricing.
Rule 5: Protection of supplier information
Rule 10: Requirement to openly advertise
Rule 12: Exemption from open advertising
A type of open procurement process often used where there is no known solution in the market place. For more information, see the guide to competitive dialogue.
More information about conditional grants is available from the Office of the Auditor-General.
A conflict of interest is where someone’s personal interests or obligations conflict, or have the potential to conflict, with the responsibilities of their job or position or with their commercial interests. It means that their independence, objectivity or impartiality can be called into question.
Managing conflicts of interest and confidentiality
Rule 12: Exemption form open advertising
A notice containing the information listed in Rule 32.
Rule 12: Exemption form open advertising
Rule 32: Contract award notice
An opportunity for suppliers to bid for a contract for goods, services or works.
Defined in Cabinet's directions for the conduct of Crown Legal Business 2016 (reference: Cabinet Office Circular CO (16) 2). These are published in the Cabinet manual.
Public service departments, New Zealand Police and New Zealand Defence Force (and bodies, decision-makers, officeholders and employees within those agencies) must refer all their requirements for external legal services relating to Core Crown legal matters to the Solicitor-General. These matters are usually dealt with by the Crown Law Office.
Application of the Rules – General information
Companies established under the Crown Research Institutes Act 1992.
A full list of Crown Research Institutes is available from Te Kawa Mataaho Public Services Commission.
Central government organisations — Te Kawa Mataaho Public Service Commission
The closing time and date for responses to a Notice of Procurement or any other call for tenders. If a tender is submitted after the closing date, it may not be accepted by the agency.
Rule 21: Changes to process or requirements
A process where the agency asks a single supplier to respond to a contract opportunity, and the contract opportunity is not openly advertised.
An online reverse auction that takes place in real time. It gives suppliers the opportunity to bid against each other to improve their offers.
Rule 17: Notice of Procurement
The benefits to New Zealand which are generated through the procurement of goods, services or works.
Rule 8: Economic benefit to New Zealand
A generic term for public education services provided by government that includes:
eInvoicing is the direct exchange of digital invoice information between a supplier’s and a buyer’s software or systems using the secure Peppol (Pan-European Public Procurement Online) network and common standard. The New Zealand and Australian governments have committed to a joint approach to eInvoicing using Peppol, a global standardised framework that enables businesses to exchange procurement documents electronically.
Rule 44: eInvoicing capability
The criteria used to evaluate responses. These include measures to assess the extent to which competing responses meet requirements and expectations (for example, criteria to shortlist suppliers following a Registration of Interest or criteria to rank responses in awarding the contract).
A one-time event such as a sale by public auction or a sale resulting from liquidation, bankruptcy or receivership.
Rule 12: Exemption from open advertising
The recognised circumstances (for example, a procurement in response to an emergency) where an agency does not need to openly advertise the contract opportunity.
Rule 10: Requirement to openly advertise
Usually used in relation to panel contracts. It's the umbrella agreement that governs the relationship between the agency and the supplier(s). It sets out the terms and conditions (including pricing) that the parties agree to contract on in the event that the supplier is allocated the contract.
When the agency wants to buy something under the framework agreement, the parties then enter into a separate contract that refers to the terms and conditions contained in the framework agreement.
An acronym for Government Electronic Tenders Service. GETS is a website managed by New Zealand Government Procurement. It is a free service that advertises New Zealand government contract opportunities and is open to both domestic and international suppliers. All tender information and documents are made freely available through GETS.
The summary of a contract opportunity published on GETS. It includes key information such as the:
Rule 10: Requirement to openly advertise
Items which are capable of being owned. This includes physical goods and personal property as well as intangible property such as Intellectual Property (like a software product). It includes the goods related to achieving outcomes in an outcomes-based contract.
The Charter sets out government’s expectations of how agencies should conduct their procurement activity to achieve public value.
Rule 1: Principles and the Government Charter
This relates only to the acquisition of fiscal agency or depository management services, liquidation and management services for regulated financial institutions, and sale and distribution services for government debt.
These are central banking control functions on behalf of government such as those carried out by the Reserve Bank and Crown debt management functions such as those carried out by Treasury.
Ordinary commercial banking and financial services are not covered by this definition and are not valid opt-out procurements.
Financial assistance in the form of money paid by the government to an eligible organisation with no expectation that the funds will be paid back.
It can be either:
A generic name for a range of New Zealand Government good procurement practice guides, tools and templates.
A generic term for health services provided by government for the public good including:
‘Infrastructure’ means fixed, long-lived structures that facilitate economic performance and well-being. Infrastructure includes buildings and physical networks, principally: transport, water, social assets and digital infrastructure such as mobile and broadband infrastructure, however funded.
Also called LAP. A competitive sourcing approach, typically for complex sourcing projects, focused on collaboration, agility, and outcomes that lets a buyer tangibly evaluate respondents in a 'live' environment. It can improve buyer planning, cross-functional teamwork, and prompt decision-making during the planning phase, and can enable better collaboration and communication with suppliers while approaching the market.
LAP involves a 2-3 day structured event, sometimes called a ‘Big room event’, where a shortlist of respondents is brought together with the buyer in a shared space to create technical and commercial proposals, refine these throughout the event, and have them evaluated 'live'.
Market engagement is a process that allows you, at all stages of procurement, to:
Where a potential business partner approaches Government without being invited, and proposes to deal directly over a commercial proposition, project, or developed concept.
Market-led Proposals – The Treasury New Zealand
Market-led Proposals – National Infrastructure Funding and Financing – New Zealand
A genuine estimate of the total cost that an agency will pay over the whole-of-life of the contract. It covers the full contract cost of goods or services, and any other expenses such as maintenance and repairs, and the cost of disposing of the goods at the end of the contract.
Rule 7: Estimating the monetary value of a procurement
Non-statutory government board and advisory body appointments made by Ministers or Cabinet. A situation where a Minister instructs an agency to appoint a named consultant to undertake a piece of work is not a Ministerial appointment.
Application of the Rules – General information
A procurement process with more than one step (like a Registration of Interest followed by a Request for Proposals).
In the context of the Rules, the term relates to goods and services associated with developing new civil or building construction works. This includes buildings, roads, rails, bridges and dams. It covers new builds and replacement of an existing construction. This also includes related services such as design, architecture, engineering, quantity surveying, and management consultancy services. It includes various stages in the project such as:
Rule 7: Estimating the monetary value of a procurement
Rule 9: Planning for new construction works
A business that originated in New Zealand (not being a New Zealand subsidiary of an off-shore business), is majority owned or controlled by New Zealanders, and has its principal place of business in New Zealand. For purposes of Rule 8, the reference to New Zealand business includes Australian business.
The document published on GETS that advertises a new contract opportunity (like a Registration of Interest or a Request for Tender).
A New Zealand law that sets out the information that government must make freely available to the New Zealand public.
Rule 5: Protection of supplier information
What happens if the rules are not followed – General information
Publishing a contract opportunity on GETS and inviting all interested domestic and international suppliers to participate in the procurement.
Rule 10: Requirement to openly advertise
Rule 12: Exemption from open advertising
Rule 32: Contract award notice
An open competitive process means procurement opportunities are openly advertised on GETS and any supplier or provider can submit a response. This could involve traditional tenders, or alternatively an outcome-based contract, or an invitation to participate in a lean agile procurement or competitive dialogue event.
Rule 7: Estimating the monetary value of a procurement
Rule 10: Requirement to openly advertise
Rule 12: Exemption from open advertising
A type of collaborative contract that includes a common use provision allowing other, unspecified agencies to contract with the supplier on the same terms at a later stage.
Rule 44: eInvoicing capability
Specific types of procurement activities where agencies can choose to opt out of applying most of the Rules.
A type of framework agreement that governs the relationship between the agency and each panel supplier. It sets out the terms and conditions that the parties agree to contract on in the event that the panel supplier is allocated a contract to provide specific goods, services or works.
Rule 23: Pre-qualified suppliers list
Rule 32: Contract award notice
Rule 38: All-of-Government contracts
A document that sets out how the panel contract will be run and managed.
A list of suppliers an agency has pre-approved to supply particular goods or services and who have agreed to the agency's terms and conditions for supply.
Rule 12: Exemption from open advertising
Rule 17: Notice of Procurement
A supplier included in a panel of suppliers.
Short for the principles of government procurement. The six principles are:
Rule 1: Principles and the Government Charter
Rule 7: Estimating the monetary value of a procurement
All aspects of acquiring and delivering goods, services and works. It starts with identifying the need and finishes with either the end of a service contract or the end of the useful life and disposal of an asset.
The Chief Executive of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, who has been appointed by the Commissioner for State Services as the Functional Leader for procurement activities across government. See also 'Procurement System Leader'.
The Chief Executive of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, who has been appointed by the Public Service Commissioner under section 56 of the Public Service Act 2020 as the Procurement System Leader.
A plan to analyse the need for specific goods, services or works and the outcome the agency wants to achieve. It identifies an appropriate strategy to approach the market, based on market research and analysis, and summarises the proposed procurement process. It usually includes the indicative costs (budget), specification of requirements, indicative timeline, evaluation criteria and weightings and the economic benefits to New Zealand.
Rule 7: Estimating the monetary value of a procurement
Rule 9: Planning for new construction works
Rule 12: Exemption from open advertising
An early sample, model or pilot study used to test a concept or process.
Synonymous with supplier, frequently used in the social sector.
This includes agencies in the:
The Public Service is defined in section 10 of the Public Service Act 2020 (the Act) and means the departments, departmental agencies and interdepartmental executive boards listed in Schedule 2 of the Act.
The Public Service Commission has a list of these agencies.
Central government agencies – Te Kawa Mataaho Public Service Commission
A long-term contract for the delivery of a service, involving building a new asset or infrastructure (for example, a prison) or enhancing an existing asset. The project is privately financed on a non-recourse basis and full legal ownership is retained by the Crown.
Application of the Rules – General information
Public Private Partnerships – The Treasury New Zealand
Public value means the best available result for New Zealand for the money spent. It includes using resources effectively, economically and responsibly, and taking into account:
The principle of public value when procuring goods, services or works does not mean selecting the lowest price but rather the best possible outcome for the total cost of ownership (over the whole-of-life of the goods, services or works).
Selecting the most appropriate procurement process that is proportionate to the value, risk and complexity of the procurement will help achieve public value.
In the context of the Rules, the term relates to goods or services or works associated with delivery of refurbishment works in relation to an existing construction. Construction means buildings, roads, bridges and dams. Refurbishment works cover renovating, repairing or extending an existing construction.
Refurbishment works does not include replacing a construction. That is deemed to be new construction works.
Rule 8: Economic benefit to New Zealand
Rule 10: Requirement to openly advertise
Rule 23: Pre-qualified suppliers list
Application of the Rules – General information
Also known as an Expression of Interest. A formal request from an agency asking potential suppliers to:
It's usually the first formal stage of a multi-step tender process.
Rule 10: Requirement to openly advertise
Rule 20: Additional information
Rule 23: Pre-qualified suppliers list
A contract that seeks delivery of an outcome or outcomes, used most often in the social sector. May also be called an outcomes-based contract.
Rule 10: Requirement to openly advertise
A market research tool. A formal request from an agency to the market, for information that helps identify the number and type of suppliers and the range of solutions, technologies and products or services they can provide.
It is not a type of Notice of Procurement. It must not be used to select or shortlist suppliers.
Rule 17: Notice of Procurement
A formal request from an agency asking suppliers to propose how their goods or services or works can achieve a specific outcome, and their prices.
An agency may be open to innovative ways of achieving the outcome.
Rule 10: Requirement to openly advertise
Rule 17: Notice of Procurement
Rule 23: Pre-qualified suppliers list
A formal request from an agency asking potential suppliers to quote prices for ‘stock standard’ or ‘off-the-shelf’ goods or services or works, where price is the most important factor.
Rule 10: Requirement to openly advertise
Rule 23: Pre-qualified suppliers list
A formal request from an agency asking for offers from potential suppliers to supply clearly defined goods or services or works.
Often there are highly-technical requirements and a prescriptive solution.
Rule 10: Requirement to openly advertise
Rule 17: Notice of Procurement
A supplier's reply to a Notice of Procurement. Examples include:
A short name for the Government Procurement Rules.
Where an agency purchases goods, services or works from a panel of suppliers, an All-of-Government Contract, Common Capabilities Contract or Syndicated Contract.
Rule 12: Exemption from open advertising
Rule 32: Contract award notice
Rule 37: Future Procurement Opportunities
Acts or work performed for another party, for example, accounting, legal services, cleaning, consultancy, training, medical treatment, or transportation.
Sometimes services are difficult to identify because they are closely associated with a good (like where medicine is administered as a result of a diagnosis). No transfer of possession or ownership takes place when services are sold, and they:
A way of procuring services that links to the achievement of specified outcomes. This differs from most government contracting for social services, which ties funding to the delivery of specific services.
Rule 17: Notice of Procurement
Application of the Rules – General information
See 'Commissioning'.
The parts of the procurement lifecycle that relate to planning, market research, approaching the market, evaluating responses, negotiating and contracting.
This includes:
A list of these agencies is available on New Zealand's State sector organisations page of the Public Service Commission website.
Central government organisations – Te Kawa Mataaho Public Service Commission
Statutory appointments are made under statutory authority and include appointments made by warrant from the Governor-General under the Letters Patent, for example, Crown Solicitors.
Application of the Rules – General information
A person, business, company or organisation that supplies or can supply goods or services or works to an agency.
The Supplier Code of Conduct provides a minimum set of expectations that government expects of all its suppliers. Agencies may have their own codes of conduct for suppliers. These can exist simultaneously.
Rule 28: Reasons to exclude a supplier
Information an agency provides to a supplier who has been unsuccessful in a particular contract opportunity, that explains:
A type of collaborative contract that typically involves a group of agencies aggregating their needs and collectively going to market for common goods, services or works.
If the contract includes a common use provision (CUP), to allow other agencies to contract with the supplier on the same terms later, it is an open syndicated contract and needs to be approved by the Procurement System Lead.
If the contract is limited to a group of named agencies, it is a closed syndicated contract.
Rule 12: Exemption from open advertising
System leads are appointed under the Public Service Act 2020. System leads are mandated to lead across the Public Service in relation to a particular area or function. They do this by creating a common vision for the future, setting standards and frameworks for agencies to operate within, co-ordinating and supporting best practice and looking for opportunities to work better together.
System Leads are appointed by the Public Service Commissioner to lead and coordinate best practice in a particular subject matter across the whole or part of the State services.
A tendering requirement that either:
Rule 15: Technical specifications
Rule 17: Notice of Procurement
Rule 21: Changes to process or requirements
Codes used on Government Electronic Tender Service (GETS) to classify goods, services and works. They are based on the United Nations Standard Products and Services Code (UNSPSC). You can find these codes on the GETS website:
Rule 10: Requirement to openly advertise
Rule 23: Pre-qualified suppliers list
New Zealand is party to international agreements that include specific provisions preserving the pre-eminence of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. Te Tiriti o Waitangi exception provides flexibility for the government to implement domestic policies in relation to Māori, including in fulfilment of the Crown’s obligations under the Treaty. Pursuant to this provision New Zealand may adopt measures it deems necessary to accord favourable treatment to Māori, provided that such measures are not used as a means of arbitrary or unjustified discrimination or as a disguised restriction on trade in goods, trade in services and investment.
The short name for 'the Sovereign in Right of New Zealand' as the bearer of government rights, powers, privileges and liabilities in New Zealand.
A estimate of the total cost of the goods, services or works over the whole of their life. It is the combination of the purchase price and all other expenses and benefits that the agency will incur (for example, installation and training, operating and maintenance costs, repairs, decommissioning, cost associated with disposal and residual value on disposal). It is a tool often used to assess the costs, benefits and risks associated with the investment at the business case stage of a procurement.
Where there is agreement for a delay between supply of goods or services and payment for those goods or services. In other words, the good or service must already have been provided (to the required standard and quantity).
The minimum New Zealand dollar value at which the Rules apply to a particular procurement type. It excludes GST.
Rule 4: Non-discrimination and offsets
Rule 7: Estimating the monetary value of a procurement
Rule 8: Economic benefit to New Zealand
A generic term for public welfare services provided by government, which includes:
The whole of government direction regarding procurement functional leadership (now procurement system leadership), given by the Minister of Finance and the Minister of State Services (now known as the Minister for the Public Service).
This direction requires certain types of State Services agencies to apply the Rules. A list of these agencies is available on the public sector agencies page.
The direction is available from Te Kawa Mataaho Public Service Commission.
Application of the Rules – General information
See total cost of ownership (TCO).
Read construction-related guidance about whole-of-life costs:
Whole-of-life - Construction procurement [PDF, 858KB]
A generic term which covers new construction works for a new build or refurbishment works to an existing construction.
World Trade Organization (WTO) agreement on government procurement
Also known as the GPA. A free trade agreement established by the World Trade Organization (WTO). It is a legally -binding treaty between participating countries, based on the principles of openness, transparency and non-discrimination, and sets out detailed Rules for good procurement processes.
The main aim of the GPA is to improve access to government procurement markets and remove barriers to international trade.