Improving Municipal Contracting

 

Laws and practices governing municipal procurement should produce fair and competitive bidding, efficient procurement and prudent fiscal management. Too often, they don’t. Municipalities need to know how to recognize, mitigate and if possible avoid the problems that feature frequently in media and auditor general reports. Written by two well-known experts, Municipal Procurement, 2nd Edition fills that need.

 

Subjects of Interest for Municipal Management

• Controlling change orders
• Improving specifications to attract bidders
• Fair and workable bid evaluation
• Selecting among RFPs, tenders and non-competitive procurement options
• Balancing fairness to suppliers against protecting the city’s interest
• Pre-qualifying suppliers
• The unique aspects of construction contracting
• Improving project management, contract management and supplier responsiveness
• Why fair and balanced contracts cut costs
• Evaluating supplier performance
• Better management of supplier disputes

Subjects of Interest for Municipal Councilors

• Improving municipal procurement by-laws
• Enhancing procurement accountability
• Balancing delegated authority against proper oversight
• Why policy decisions often lead to higher costs and poorer choice
• In-house bidding and why it should be encouraged
• Controlling fraud and bid rigging
• Understanding the use of consultants

Subjects of Interest for Suppliers

• How do governments make procurement decisions
• How to market your goods and services to municipalities effectively
• What you need to know about the tender and RFP process
• What will improve your chances of winning government contracts
• How does the municipal decision-making process differ from the private sector
• What is the role of municipal council
• How can you make your proposal or bid appealing to government sectors
• How do governments attempt to maintain control over change orders and reduce cost overruns
• Do you need LEED and other green construction accreditations to compete for government contracts
• Building an effective working relationship with municipal staff

New in This Edition

 

Thoroughly up-to-date, and twice the size of the first edition, it provides comprehensive references to, and critical commentary upon, all important judicial decisions on the law of tender. Focusing on construction and other “big dollar” procurement, it provides hundreds of examples showing how and why things go wrong, and what to do to prevent this.

 

Who Should Buy

 

An ideal interdisciplinary resource for everyone involved in municipal procurement, from novice buyers to senior managers and councilors, as well as suppliers, contractors and their legal advisors.