BS ISO 10845
The International Standards Organisation (ISO) has developed ISO 10845: Construction procurement, to help organisations develop tendering and procurement processes that are fair, equitable, transparent, competitive, cost-effective and in line with international best practice. It can be applied by public and private clients and main contractors.
Procurement is the process of purchasing goods or services. There are many different routes by which the design and construction of a building can be procured. The selected procurement route should follow a strategy which fits the long-term objectives of the procurer's business plan and should give consideration to issues such as; speed, cost, value, quality, constraints, risk, asset ownership and financing.
Whilst historically we might have thought of clients as procurers, the extended supply chains that now contribute to construction means that procurers may also be contractors, and sub-contractors. ISO 10845 is also available as a two part British Standard:
- BS ISO 10845-1 Construction procurement. Processes, methods and procedures.
- BS ISO 10845-2 Construction procurement. Formatting and compilation of procurement documentation.
The first part, published in 2010, provides guidance for generic procurement policy and procedures, describing how procurement should be managed and setting out requirements for the conduct of the procuring organisation. Its contents are:
- Scope.
- Normative references.
- Terms and definitions.
- Establishing a procurement system.
- Preparing for procurement.
- Procurement methods and procedures.
The second part, published in 2011, goes into more detail about the standardisation of documentation for expressions of interest, tender documentation and contract documentation. Its contents are:
- Scope.
- Terms and definitions.
- General requirements for procurement documents.
- Component documents.
- Notice and invitation to submit expressions of interest.
- Tender documents.
- Contract documents.
- Compiling tender documents.
The international ISO documentation includes a further 6 parts:
- ISO 10845-3: Standard conditions of tender.
- ISO 10845-4: Standard conditions for the calling for expressions of interest.
- ISO 10845-5: Participation of targeted enterprises in contracts.
- ISO 10845-6: Participation of targeted partners in joint ventures in contracts.
- ISO 10845-7: Participation of local enterprises and labour in contracts.
- ISO 10845-8: Participation of targeted labour in contracts.
In parallel to the development of ISO 10845, the Constructing Excellence network developed BS 8534, the British Standard for 'Construction procurement policies, strategies and procedures - Code of practice'. Whilst ISO 10845. focusses more on tendering and selection, BS 8534 is concerned with the higher-level development of procurement policies, strategies and procedures.
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