Responsible Agencies should consider approaches to minimising bid costs by:
• only requesting information in the returnable schedules that is required to effectively evaluate proposals
• deferring requesting information that is not required for evaluation to the post-preferred bidder or post-contract award stage
• where practicable (and subject to ensuring a competitive and robust evaluation process, on a project-by-project basis), deferring the requirement for full detailed designs until a preferred proponent is chosen
• considering whether full documents are required to be prepared by the bidders (for example, communication plans, operating plans, or full subcontracts) or if less developed documents would be sufficient (for example, outlines of plans, a selection of plans but not all, or term sheets instead of full documents)
• ensuring that there is a clear link between each piece of information requested and the evaluation criteria to which they apply; and
• working with proponents to minimise the impact of Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) applications across the RFP phase
Responsible Agencies, in consultation with NSW Treasury, should develop the RFP documentation based on the NSW Treasury PPP templates. The RFP documentation should be complete and accurate and include comprehensive contractual and technical documentation. Providing complete and accurate documentation will ensure short-listed bidders are aware of, and have sufficient time to consider, the contract terms that the Responsible Agency is seeking. Bidders should also be asked to submit a fully marked up project deed.
Prior to releasing the RFP documents, the Responsible Agency must submit a completed checklist to NSW Treasury to demonstrate its readiness to release quality RFP documents and effectively manage the RFP process. This will assist the likelihood of receiving quality bids from bidders on time with few addenda.
The checklist is designed to ensure that the RFP has been prepared such that:
• bid costs are minimised
• NSW Government's project and services objectives are clear; and
• only quality and necessary information is received at the RFP stage.
Responsible Agencies should contact NSW Treasury for the RFP Checklist template.