Interactive tender processes

Shortly after the release of the RFP, the Procuring Agency may elect to conduct a single briefing with all short-listed bidders, outlining content and the intent of the RFP, providing guidance on key project issues and emphasising key messages.

Governments should also use an interactive tender process that involves holding a series of individual interactive workshops with short-listed bidders during the RFP bid phase.

An interactive tender process provides short-listed bidders with an opportunity to discuss the development of their concepts and designs and to seek clarification and feedback in the context of the government's output requirements, before lodging proposals. The workshops will also minimise the risk of any misunderstanding of the government's requirements.

The objective is to improve the quality of bid submissions and ultimately deliver better outcomes for the public, through clear communication of the government's requirements to ultimately influence the overall quality of proposals received from short-listed bidders.

Critical to the success of workshops is the level of preparation and willingness to be interactive. An efficient approach is to have the same people attending the workshops from both the bidding party and the Procuring Agency. In certain projects, design may be a key focus of the interactive process, and therefore early scheduling of master planning and design workshops is desirable. An interactive tender process typically involves a series of presentations and workshops. The workshops are resource intensive. Each will normally involve representatives of both the project team and a short-listed bidder. The workshops are held with individual bidders to enable open communication of the individual intellectual property.

An interactive tender process is appropriate where there is a high level of interface risk between the government (as operators) and the private sector infrastructure providers and/or where there is a potential for misinterpretation of the RFP requirements. A good example is in social infrastructure projects, where the infrastructure is generally designed and constructed by the private sector but substantially operated and managed by the public sector. In this instance, it is in both the government's and the bidder's interest to ensure that the proposed design appropriately addresses the functionality requirements.

The RFP should specify the procedures, timetable and protocols for the interactive tender process. Protocols or ground rules for the workshops should be established and provided to short-listed bidders before the workshops. Short-listed bidders should notify government in writing of their acceptance of the procedures and protocols.

Further guidance on the detail of the interactive tender process is provided in Section 15 and interactive tender protocols are in Appendix E.