Emergencies are sudden, unforeseen events. They can cause injury, loss of life, or critical damage to property or infrastructure. Consult this page to see what options are available to agencies in an emergency situation.
An emergency situation can include:
In deciding if an event constitutes an emergency consider whether the event falls into one of the categories listed or something similar, as well as the nature and extent of harm if relief is delayed. Urgent situations that are created by an agency through a lack of planning or risk mitigation don’t constitute an emergency. If these occur as part of a wider emergency situation, they can’t be included as a sole justification for changing processes.
Your agency should plan ahead to allow for the provision of goods and services during an emergency or supply shortage. The level of planning should reflect the strategic importance of the good or service, the risk of an emergency and the cost of any contingency measures. Any contingency planning should be balanced, practical and fiscally responsible. You should consider making this process part of your risk management strategy.
In an emergency, agencies need to be flexible in how they procure goods and services. Your agency is permitted to forgo routine procurement procedures in these circumstances. While adopting a more flexible procurement process, you should consider what is reasonable and justifiable.
During an emergency, you’re allowed to purchase directly from a supplier if the delay involved in conducting a routine procurement – which involves advertising and competitive tendering – prevents you delivering goods or services in time to bring effective relief.
Your agency needs to balance acting without delay (for example, to save or preserve life, or safeguard buildings or repair critical infrastructure) against meeting their obligations to act lawfully, reasonably and with integrity.
Consider the following when deciding how your agency will respond in an emergency:
Once there is no immediate risk to human life, the environment or critical infrastructure, you can consider an emergency situation to be stabilised. At this point, consider establishing a governance and management structure to coordinate and authorise necessary procurement activities.
During emergencies there is a greater risk of inflated prices, fraud, bribery and corruption. Be aware of this possibility, and take action to guard against it. Also consider the possibility of conflicts of interest and how to manage them.
Document your emergency procurements during the event, or as soon as possible afterwards. Clearly state in your records that purchases were emergency procurements, and record the facts and circumstances justifying this approach. Documents need to be filed in accordance with the Public Records Act 2005.
Any procurement process, even in an emergency, is still subject to audit.
For agencies subject to the Government Rules of Sourcing, an exemption for emergencies is available under Rule 15. The award of any contract over the appropriate value threshold should be published later on the Government Electronic Tenders Service, including a clear statement that it was an emergency procurement.
Emergency responsiveness can be viewed at three different levels based on the immediacy of the threat or danger, and the degree of harm if relief is delayed.
In some emergencies, agencies will need to respond at different levels over time. Sometimes only one level of response will be required. When choosing the appropriate level of response, your agency should always apply the best procurement practice possible given the circumstances and the immediacy of the need to respond. Consider the harm a delay would cause, and ensure you can justify any procurement decisions.
During a major catastrophe, it’s critical to react instantly to conditions on the ground. This may involve getting medical equipment for the injured, and securing water, food and shelter for victims. It could also involve mobilising staff, equipment or machinery, or relocating service centres for major infrastructure provision to new sites, such as power, gas, water and telecommunication.
Keep a common sense approach to procurement in these scenarios. Your staff will be under significant pressure to respond immediately, and must be able to do what’s necessary and within their power to help. Agencies are not required to follow routine procurement procedure in a level one situation. They need to demonstrate sound reasoning and good judgement when acquiring goods or services. A file note about the approach taken should be made after the situation has stabilised.
This is the most reactive level of emergency response and should be applied where:
It will often be applicable when a state of local or national emergency is declared.
Moving to this less reactive and more responsive level usually occurs when there is no further threat to loss of life or damage to major infrastructure, or when a state of emergency is lifted. Agencies can forgo routine procurement procedures on the grounds that usual procedures would prevent them delivering goods or services in time to bring effective relief.
Confirm your agreement with suppliers in writing. If you can, use the simple Government Model Contract available on procurement.govt.nz. If there isn’t time, confirmation by email is sufficient. You need include only the basics: what’s being delivered, to what specification, when, where, by whom, the price, and any other charges, such as freight and insurance.
This level of emergency response may be appropriate where:
Once an emergency situation has stabilised, and the response effort is directed towards post-disaster reconstruction and remediation, most procurement procedures should return to normal. For certain types of procurement – for example, provision of critical infrastructure such as water, sewage treatment facilities and reconstruction of housing or land remediation – agencies may choose to follow an accelerated process.
At this level, agencies develop a process to fit the specific category of procurement and immediate needs. Often this will involve waiving the minimum period for a Request for Proposal (RFP) while continuing to follow the rest of the RFP process.
For example, during the COVID-19 pandemic MBIE ran a 48-hour procurement process for freight services due to the urgency of the situation and the critical nature of those services.
This provides more flexibility and greater responsiveness, while allowing for some level of competition, and maintaining governance and accountability for the spend. If you use an accelerated procurement procedure you will need to justify any departures from routine procurement process.