UNDP Syria

Procurement

Procurement is the overall process of acquiring goods, civil works and services which includes all functions from the identification of needs, selection and solicitation of sources, preparation and award of contract, and all phases of contract through the end of a services’ contract. Within the framework of providing support services for nationally implemented programmes and projects, the UNDP Country Office in Syria provides procurement services in accordance with the UNDP regulations, rules, policies and procedures. The following sections will take you through each phase of the procurement process:

• Principles of Procurement
• Procurement Planning
• Procurement Methods
• Solicitation Process
• Evaluation of Quotations, Bids and Proposals
• Procurement Notice Awarded.

Principles of UNDP Procurement:

As per UNDP’s Financial Regulations and Rules, the following general principles must be given due consideration while executing procurement on behalf of the organization:
Best Value for Money
Fairness, Integrity, Transparency
Effective International Competition
The Interest of UNDP

Best Value for Money
By and large the core governing principle of UNDP is to obtain the best value for money. In the context of the procurement process, obtaining “best value for money” means selection of the offer, which presents the optimum combination of life-cycle costs and benefits, which meet the Country Office’s needs. The principle of best value for money is applied at the award stage to select the offer that effectively meets the stated requirement. To ensure that best value for money is obtained, the process of soliciting offers and selecting a Contractor should:

• maximize competition;
• minimize the complexity of the solicitation, evaluation, and the selection process;
• ensure impartial and comprehensive evaluation of solicited offers; and
• ensure selection of the Contractor whose offer has the highest degree of realism and whose performance is expected to best meet the Business Unit’s specifications, statement of works or terms of reference.

Fairness, Integrity and Transparency
As competition is the basis for efficient, impartial and transparent procurement; the Country Office is therefore, responsible for protecting the integrity of the procurement process and maintaining fairness in UNDP’s treatment of all Offerors. Sound procurement (i.e., openness of the process; probity; complete and accurate records; accountability; confidentiality) establishes and then maintains rules and procedures that are attainable and unambiguous.
 
Effective Competition
The objective of UNDP’s competitive processes as described in these Guidelines is to provide all eligible prospective Offerors with timely and adequate notification of UNDP’s requirements and an equal opportunity to tender for the required goods, civil works and services.

The Country Office should ensure that restrictions are not placed on the competitive processes limiting the pool of potential Offerors, as UNDP does not accept procurement awarded to exclusive Contractors or countries, unless otherwise explicitly mentioned in a Donor agreement. However, any such restrictive procurement provisions within an agreement must obtain prior approval of the Chief Procurement Officer.

Interest to UNDP
In practice, the specific procurement rules and procedures established for the implementation of a programme are contingent upon the individual circumstances of the particular case; however four considerations consistently guide the UNDP’s interest for the acquisition of inputs:
the need for economy and efficiency in the implementation of the programme, including the procurement of goods, civil works and services involved;
the access to procurement opportunities for all interested and qualified Offerors worldwide, except where other criteria mandated by the Security Council or General Assembly prevails;
giving all eligible Offerors the same information and equal opportunity to compete in providing goods, civil works or services; and
the importance of transparency in the procurement process.
 

Procurement Planning:

Procurement planning is essential for the timely solicitation of quotations, bids or proposals; cost efficiency; the award of contracts; and the delivery of inputs. Developing a strategic approach to procurement through appropriate and timely planning is a key element to the successful acquisition of goods, civil works or services at a reasonable cost. Early and accurate planning is essential to avoid last minute, emergency or ill-planned procurement, which is contrary to open, efficient and effective, and consequently fair and transparent procurement.Such planning allows the Country Office/Project to organize its requirements into requisitions, to enable on-time delivery and to take advantage of economies of scale. A resulting requisition specifies to the Requisitioner, Buyer, Project Manager and Programme Officers, what is required and when it is needed. The requisition enables the search for possible solutions to meet the desired needs and further facilitates the procurement action.

Procurement Methods:

The Country Office can use a variety of procurement methods for the solicitation and tendering of goods, civil works and/or services. The method selected depends upon a number of factors including the type of good or service being procured as well as its value.
The overall objective of the solicitation and tendering processes is to procure high quality goods, civil works or services as economically as possible.

1. Request for Quotation (RFQ) A Request for Quotation (RFQ) is commonly used for the procurement of goods, services and/or civil works where the contract value is between USD 2,500 and USD 100,000. If the inputs are required on a repetitive basis and the cumulative value of the contract exceeds USD 100,000 in the calendar year, the Country Office should use either an ITB or RFP depending on its particular requirements.A RFQ requests price, and other commercial terms and conditions for the required inputs from a roster of Suppliers. In compliance with effective competition, the Country Office should evaluate quotations amongst a minimum of three responsive [where the offer complies with the requirements (i.e., specifications, delivery terms, UNDP terms and conditions)], AND qualified [where the Supplier satisfies basic eligibility criteria] offers, upon which award is made to the lowest priced acceptable offer.
2.  Invitation to Bid (ITB) An Invitation to Bid (ITB) is generally used for the procurement of goods valued at USD 100,000 or more; or where technical approaches to the relevant project or the management/supervision of a project activity are not requested of prospective Vendors. ITBs request of prospective Vendors cost requirements to meet the precise specifications of goods sought by UNDP. ITBs may also apply for the procurement of civil works or services, which can be quantitatively and qualitatively expressed. ITBs warrant public advertisement or the solicitation of bids from a short-list of qualified Vendors. Where a short-list of Vendors is used to invite bids, adequate justification (i.e., prequalification of Vendors; advertisement of an expression of interest; open advertisement was conducted during the last 12 months; emergency) must be documented. To ensure economy and efficiency, the Country Office should evaluate bids amongst a minimum of three responsive [where the offer complies with the requirements (i.e., specifications, delivery terms, UNDP terms and conditions)], AND qualified [where the Supplier satisfies basic eligibility criteria] offers, upon which award is made to the lowest priced acceptable offer.
3. Request for Proposals (RFP)A Request for Proposal (RFP) is recommended for all contracts exceeding USD 100,000 where the desired inputs and/or outputs cannot quantitatively and qualitatively be expressed in sufficient details at the time the invitation is made, for example, where consulting or such similar services or complex goods are sought by the Country Office. Although RFPs may also be used for the procurement of goods, civil works or services valued at less than USD 100,000, they are generally more complicated than RFQs and ITBs, involving many different processes hence further adherence to formal procedures of procurement. RFPs invite from prospective Vendors proposals offering a solution to the requirements specifications, statement of works or terms of reference describing the business need. In addition to the proposed solutions generally offered in the form of a technical proposal, prospective Vendors should indicate all associated costs as a separate financial proposal.
4. Direct Contracting This method is used where a the Country Office Business Unit engages IAPSO or another UN Agencies’ services; or employs an IAPSO or HQ executed global long-term agreement (LTA); or alternatively, a local LTA.
5. Local Shopping Shopping is a procurement method based on the comparison of informal price quotes obtained from potential Suppliers to assure best value for money, and is an appropriate method for the procurement of goods valued less than USD 1,000, or simple civil works also valued less than USD 1,000.

Solicitation Process:

Upon a determination of which procurement method (i.e., RFQ, ITB, RFP) to employ, solicitation documents assist the Country Office in obtaining qualified offers for the intended programme. Although the details and complexity of the solicitation documents vary according to the nature and value of the requirements they contain all information necessary to prepare a bid, proposal or quotation that should provide the best value for the required inputs. Solicitation documents generally include the following:
an invitation to offer;
instructions to the Offerors;
form of the offer requested (i.e., bid, proposal, quotation)
form of the proposed contract (i.e., purchase order, contract for professional services);
conditions of contract, both general and special;
technical specifications or terms of reference or statement of works;
evaluation criteria; and
minimum qualification requirements.
Solicitation documents should clearly define the scope of work to be performed; the location of the work; the goods to be supplied; the place of delivery or installation; a schedule for delivery or completion; minimum performance requirements; and the warranty and maintenance requirements, as well as any other pertinent terms and conditions. Where appropriate, the documents should also define the tests, standards and methods that will be applied to assure the conformity of delivered equipment, performed civil works or services, in accordance to the specifications, SOW or the TOR.Once a solicitation method and a forum for competition has been determined and tender documents distributed to potential Offerors, a Business Unit must ensure that adequate controls are in place for the receipt and evaluation of offers. Regardless of how effective each phase of the procurement process is executed, if the offers - quotations, bids or proposals - are not evaluated in a fair and transparent manner, the overall process fails. The purpose of evaluation in accordance to UNDP principles is to ensure that the most qualified and responsive offer affords best value for money.
 

Evaluation of Quotations, Bids and Proposals:

Once a solicitation method and a forum for competition has been determined and tender documents distributed to potential Offerors, the Country Office must ensure that adequate controls are in place for the receipt and evaluation of offers. Regardless of how effective each phase of the procurement process is executed, if the offers - quotations, bids or proposals - are not evaluated in a fair and transparent manner, the overall process fails. The purpose of evaluation in accordance to UNDP principles is to ensure that the most qualified and responsive offer affords best value for money. The preliminary examination of quotations, bids or proposals determines whether the offers meet the procedural requirements of the solicitation documents. The purpose of such examination is to eliminate unsatisfactory offers from further and more detailed consideration, which fail to meet minimum standards of acceptability, thus rendered substantially unresponsive.

1. Evaluation of Quotations: Upon the receipt of quotations, the offers should be opened and assessed in the presence of an evaluation team appointed by the Country Office. A RFQ evaluation team should generally be comprised of a minimum three members to ensure fairness and transparency. All quotations should be evaluated against the minimum selection criteria to determine (1) if goods, civil works or services conform to designated criteria, and (2) if the Supplier is reliable. In the case of quotations, price serves as the overriding measure upon which to award a contract unless the offer is rejected for a specific reason (e.g. Offeror failed to quote on the product requested or failed to deliver the quote within the specified time frame).
2. Evaluation of Bids: Upon the receipt and opening of bids, the offers are to be evaluated by an evaluation team appointed by the Country Office. An evaluation team should be comprised of three to five members, providing objective and independent advice and knowledge of the specific subject matter.All bids must be evaluated against the specifications, statement of works or TOR stipulated in the solicitation documents. The relative scoring system and evaluation criteria must be established before an ITB is sought. All bids should be tabulated on a summary sheet duly signed and certified by the evaluators. Only bids offering goods, civil works or services with the characteristics meeting or exceeding those in the specifications and commercial terms shall be considered acceptable.In the case of bids, price serves as the overriding measure upon which to award a contract unless the offer is rejected for a specific reason (e.g. Offeror failed to bid on the product, civil works or services requested or failed to deliver the bid within the specified time frame).
3. Evaluation of Proposals:Upon the receipt and opening of proposals, all offers are to be evaluated by an evaluation team appointed by the Country Office. An evaluation team should be comprised of three to five members, providing objective and independent advice and knowledge of the specific subject matter. In the case of professional services, proposals should provide a detailed cost estimate (e.g., consultancy rate per day; number of workdays; travel estimates). Such cost estimate is applicable to goods, civil works and/or services (e.g., equipment, installation, civil works) that are interrelated in order to assist the Country Office determine which items may be negotiated, where applicable, or which items can be modified as per the budget.Received in two separate envelopes (i.e., technical, financial), the evaluation team must first open the technical proposal, followed by the financial proposal. A proposal shall be considered non-responsive and rejected, if it fails to substantially satisfy the specifications, SOW or TOR, or it fails to achieve a minimum technical score as specified in the RFP. An Offeror’s response to the solicitation document is evaluated and points are attributed based on how well they meet the defined desirable criteria. The financial proposal of only those Offerors that met the minimum technical score should be opened. The remaining financial proposals of Offerors whose technical proposals are deemed unacceptable shall be remain unopened.