Rule 31:
Allowable reductions
Explains the circumstances when an agency can reduce the time period for suppliers to respond.
Changing annual procurement plans to future procurement opportunities
From 1 October 2020, future procurement opportunities (FPOs) replaced annual procurement plans (APPs). Rules 21, 31 and 34 have been impacted by this change, which all refer to APPs. We're treating an FPO as the equivalent of an APP and agencies will still meet their obligations under these rules by using FPOs instead of APPs.
Read more on the impacts on the Rules.
Changing annual procurement plans to future procurement opportunities
Read more on future procurement opportunities.
- An agency can claim allowable reductions if it complies with the requirements in any of the following circumstances:
- Prior listing in Annual Procurement Plan - The agency must have listed the contract opportunity in its Annual Procurement Plan not less than two months and no more than eight months before the Notice of Procurement is published on GETS.
- All documents available electronically - All tender documents must be available electronically on GETS at the same time as the Notice of Procurement is published.
- Responses accepted electronically - An agency must state in its Notice of Procurement that it will accept electronic responses and tell suppliers how to send those responses (eg by email).
- An agency may make documents available electronically (under Rule 31.1.b) through another website or e-procurement system. An allowable reduction can be claimed only if:
- the URL address for the other website or e-procurement system is published in the GETS listing, and
- the tender documents are free for suppliers to access and download, and
- access to the documents is instant. If suppliers need to register, the registration process must be automated and instant.
- The allowable reductions for each type of procurement process (eg Request for Proposal) are shown in Rule 34.