How to work with Council
We love to #SupportLocalCessnock and are big customers when it comes to buying locally!
Council seeks businesses who stand out with innovation, customer focus, and great value for money. Goods and services are required to support Council operations and are sourced through:
• Quotations;
• Preferred supplier agreements; and
• Tenders.
Quotations
Council requests quotes in a number of ways and may publicly advertise a Request for Quotation (RFQ) for goods or services below $250,000. RFQ documents and schedules will generally be a shortened version of a tender document.
Preferred Supplier Agreements (PSA)
A PSA is a contractual agreement between your company and Council. This then identifies you as a supplier so that approved quotations can be sorted under the agreements terms and conditions that are pre-established.
Tenders
Tendering in Local Government is regulated under section 55 of the Local Government Act 1993 (NSW) and Part 7 of the Local Government (General) Regulation 2021 (NSW). Additionally, Council has its own Tendering Procedures.
Register into VendorPanel
Registering onto VendorPanel Marketplace is a great idea for any supplier. You’ll get notified of opportunities from Council when looking for local supplier quotes and proposals, as well as access to Council’s public tenders published via VendorPanel.
Under no circumstances are standard emailed tender submissions acceptable.
Pricing
Always ensure you are aware of and understand the requirements for pricing in any particular tender. Sometimes a lump sum may be required or even a schedule of rates. Pricing is often an important criterion in the evaluation of tenders.
Insurance
Most tenders will be very specific about the type and level of insurance cover you will require. The most common insurances are Public Liability, Professional Indemnity, Workers Compensation and Motor Vehicle. The type and level of cover may vary from tender to tender.
Key Documents
In most cases, tender documents will request information about your business and its resources, which may include financial resources and human resources (meaning personnel).
You may also be required to submit an organisational chart and a brief history of your business. Council can also ask you to provide references and referees that can attest to your capabilities in your particular field.
All tenders will include various requirements in relation to Work Health and Safety (WHS), risk, environmental and quality management. Depending on the nature of the scope of works in the tender, there may be additional requirements required.
These requirements could include, but not be limited to providing:
- Copy of WHS policy;
- Copy of sun safe and PPE policy;
- Details of worksite inspection regime;
- Evidence of consultation methods;
- Evidence of Licenses, competency / training for particular high-risk tasks;
- Risk assessment for particular tasks;
- Emergency management plans;
- Project safety management plans;
- Safe Work Method Statements for particular tasks; and
- Details of safety equipment, mobile plant or powered equipment, including evidence of registration or maintenance schedules.
Standing out
Council is looking for a tenderer who distinguishes itself from the competition, is innovative, customer focused and provides value-for-money.
When addressing the tender criteria, you should:
- Always ensure that you read the requirements carefully and understand what is being asked of you;
- List each criterion as a heading in your response in order to draw the evaluation panel to your responses;
- Provide examples of how and when you have previously been able to meet this criterion in your business. Discuss how well you can do this and what previous results have been like – you need to sell yourself and your business’s capability.
- Ensure your responses to the criteria are clear and concise. You only need to provide information that has been requested to help demonstrate your ability to meet the criteria. A large submission does not mean it is a comprehensive or quality submission;
- Set yourself apart from your competitors by emphasising areas within the tender criteria that you feel your business excels at and where you feel this can add value to Council. Always be aware that Council is not bound to accept the lowest offer or any tender. Often price is not the only major determining factor in the evaluation of tenders. Council is looking to award the tender to someone who is able to offer best value to Council. This will be determined by considering experience, quality, reliability, timeliness, service initial and ongoing costs and potentially a range of other criteria.
Where to Find Current Tenders
Visit Tenders and Expressions of Interest plus having access when registered on VendorPanel.
We are a big customer when it comes to business and love to buy locally!
To take the confusion out of the procurement process, we have created Doing Business with Council (PDF, 4MB), a guide that gives you all the information your need about being a Council supplier.
We advertise our quotations and tenders on VendorPanel. To access our tenders and submit your quotes, you must register your company.
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