Transparency in public procurement is important.Information on the public procurement process must be made available to all public procurement stakeholders: contractors, suppliers, service providers, and the public at large, unless there are valid and legal reasons for keeping certain information confidential. Examples of confidential information are: proprietary information belonging to companies or individuals participating in the solicitation process, and certain military and defense-related procurements, to mention a few.
When a public procurement requirement is announced, electronically, through press release, the internet, and other venues, the announcement must include sufficient details for interested contractors, suppliers and service providers to determine if they are qualified to compete. The solicitation documents, particularly, must be available at a reasonable price, if not free of charge.
After reading the solicitation documents, interested contractors, suppliers and service providers should also be able to determine:
the nature of the requirement and its scope
the closing date for submission of offers or information
the evaluation and selection criteria
how and where offers should be submitted
the number of copies to be submitted, and point of contact for additional information and response to queries (clarifications)
the deadline for submission of queries
the schedule of pre-bid meetings and site visits (if applicable), and any other pertinent details
Additionally, if there is a change to the solicitation documents, all stakeholders should be notified using the same publications that were used for the initial notification, so interested contractors, suppliers or service providers can take necessary and timely actions to comply with the change.Transparency
