Connecting Local Governments and Structural Reform
International Examples of Collaborative Partnerships
Case Study: Combined Tendering for Roading Contracts
Below is a summary of a paper prepared by Gene Thomsen, Roading Manager, Hauraki
District Council, for the New Zealand Society of Local Government Managers Shared
Services conference, April 2007, on the combined road tendering project.
The Issue: In the Coromandel Shire roading costs per kilometre tended to be high, and few
companies were willing to tender for the work.
What was Proposed: That tender timing and
documentation be coordinated into a single
system of proactive searching for tenders,
inviting companies to submit, and establishing
a tender evaluations team and overall process,
with one member from each Council and an
independent team leader. This process
provided assurance that the process delivered
competitive prices.
What Happened: The various Councils had
been working cooperatively for some time already and had seen its benefits. Aims were to
set up:
• a tender environment that offered competitive tendering;
•
contracts being given to best tenderer;
• opportunities for work team rationalisation;
• achievable benefits of scale based upon;
-
geographic location
-
differing nature of networks
- means of service delivery
-
timing of contracts.
Three alternatives were considered;
1. A Single contract combining work of all Councils.
2. Separate contracts on each locality.
3. Performance specified hybrid contracts.
The Councils resolved to progress with an option that provided the least amount of risk,
whilst still progressing towards consolidation, which was to combine the document
presentation, tendering and selection processes while maintaining individual contracts.
Results and what was learned: Better results were delivered to participating Councils than
if they had been working independently. Cooperation created opportunities of cross
subsidisation between local governments.