This page provides step-by-step instructions for agencies on how to use the All-of-Government (AoG) construction consultancy services (CCS) contract. You will also find additional resources on this page.
Start by determining your requirements, what you have the capability to do in-house and what you need to source from the CCS panel. This helps you form a clear picture of what outcome you would like to achieve.
Review the CCS providers listed in the AoG construction consultancy services providers spreadsheet to assess their suitability for your engagement. Providers are listed by service discipline (eg architecture and design, building services, and mechanical, hydraulic, and electrical engineering, etc). Your agency’s procurement team may be able to assist you in assessing the panel.
The CCS providers list can be viewed on the Online Panel Directory.
Agencies are able to procure CCS providers outside of Marketplace in accordance with paragraph 3 of Schedule 1 of the Agency Participation Marketplace Terms.
A participating agency can choose to select a provider from the panel directly or undertake a secondary selection process.
In making this decision consider the budget, timeframes and specific nature of the brief, any existing or past relationships, as well as any internal financial delegations, policies and processes your agency may have.
New Zealand Government Procurement has already completed some limited due diligence to appoint providers to the panel, so there is no need to test the entire panel each time you have a requirement. You do not need to openly advertise your requirements on GETS.
As a rough guide, we suggest:
You can directly select a provider using the information available in the AoG construction consultancy services providers spreadsheet and/or your own market knowledge and experience.
For direct appointments you can then email the provider directly to check their availability and to ask questions.
This is a process where you go out to a number of providers from the panel.
A secondary selection process is recommended where:
If you are conducting a limited secondary procurement process (where you are only going to 3-5 providers), you can email each provider independently to check their availability and to ask questions.
If you are unsure on how to structure your email/request, you can use the ‘AoG CCS – opportunity’ template to help ensure that you are including the right kind of information a provider needs to be able to respond. You should be targeting the information you include depending on the complexity and risk of your project, as well as allowing the provider more time to respond if you want them to answer more questions/provide a detailed response.
If you are requesting a quote, rate or rate card, we suggest that you ask the provider to confirm “that the quoted charges are not based on fees or rates that are higher than the maximum fees or rates that it submitted on Marketplace or provided to New Zealand Government Procurement". In the interim you can contact us directly to request the rates for a specific provider if it has been provided to us.
Once you have made your selection, prepare a draft agency purchase agreement (APA) for the engagement to be entered into by your agency and the provider of your choice. If you select multiple providers, a separate APA will need to be completed with each provider. The default form of APA is the Crown version of the Conditions of Contract for Consultancy Services (CCCS), however you and your selected provider are permitted to use a different form of contract if you wish.
For all transactions under the CCS panel your agency will need to complete a tracking slip. This process gives everyone (participating agencies and providers) better visibility of the transactions made via the panel during annual reporting and confirms that the provider(s) has been procured from the CCS panel.
The tracking slip is located in the contract resources section below.
All other documentation (such as briefs, cost estimates, and variations) generated as part of the delivery of services can be referenced or attached to the APA as appendices for purposes of audit, invoicing, and reporting.
Brief your provider(s) about the project. A written brief ensures that both the agency and the provider are clear about objectives and expected outcomes.
A combination of a written brief followed by a verbal brief is ideal for larger projects. The brief should inform the APA.
It is important to carry out due diligence as part of your selection process.
MBIE has completed limited due diligence to appoint the providers to the panel, and recommends that agencies conduct project specific due diligence when selecting a provider. This may include:
Guidance on due diligence for construction related projects can be found in contract resources.
Once you have completed your due diligence and selected your preferred provider(s) you can notify them.
Populate the APA to reflect the brief and to include any provider-specific details. Please check your internal delegations to ensure the person with the correct delegated authority signs the APA. Once the APA has been entered into by both parties, the provider can commence work. The APA should be kept on file as per your internal policy.
After the APA has been agreed and approved, you should ensure that you let the unsuccessful provider(s) know that another provider has been selected. Where appropriate you should also offer a debrief, as a courtesy. A debrief does not need to be an overly onerous task; for a small engagement, a debrief could be a simple phone call to give the provider an overview of the strengths and weaknesses of their response. Debriefs are intended to give providers the opportunity to improve their responses in the future.
The final stage is where the provider(s) deliver(s) services to the agency in accordance with the brief and the APA. Outcomes should be measured and reported back to the agency (where applicable).
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Use this suite of documents to develop your APA.