Procedures for the Brokerage of Survey Services

See also : Policy for the brokerage of survey services

Tender Preparation

Any surveying practice interested in providing service to government may tender for the provision of services.
Tenderers will include with each tender, as a minimum, the following details:

• Practice name
• Business street and postal addresses
• Telephone and fax numbers
• Email address(es)
• The name of the nominated certifying surveyor
• A fixed-price fee for the provision of the service.

Tenderers may also be requested to provide proof and details of:

• Professional indemnity, workers compensation and public liability insurance, including:
  • Company
  • Policy number
  • Expiry date
  • Amount of cover (where applicable).
• Compliance with the provisions of the Work Health and Safety Act 2012.

Performance information relating to the survey practice may be maintained for each completed service, including:

• Performance history regarding the instruction
• Any client feedback (positive or negative) about performance, including notation of the source and date of such advice
• Details relating to the timeliness of service provision.

Tendering Processes

Requests for survey and related services are directed to the Office of the Surveyor General (Geospatial Infrastructure Branch).

An instruction for the service is developed in conjunction with the client.

Details of each instruction are posted on the Surveys for Tender page on this website, including the closing date for tenders, the relevant tendering procedure and the source of further information, if necessary. For exceptions, see Policy for the brokerage of survey services.

Fixed-price quotations for each service requirement may be submitted by Tasmanian Registered Land Surveyors and must be received prior to the advertised closing date and time.

All tenders must be prepared to provide for the following requirements:

• The instruction is to be completed in accordance with all job specifications and within any specified time deadlines.
• The price is to be inclusive of all costs associated with the provision of services to meet the job specifications.
• The work is to be carried out in accordance with the Survey Directions and statutory and regulatory requirements.

It is the responsibility of each consultant surveyor to arrange for an appropriate search of survey information, if the consultant considers this to be necessary for the preparation of a tender.

All tenders will be provided on the assumption that the basic job parameters detailed in the specification accurately reflect the work requirement. Should any significant variation in requirements become apparent during the course of the survey, the consultant may seek to renegotiate the initial tender.

Tender Submission

All tenders are to be submitted directly to the Geospatial Infrastructure Branch by email, mail or fax as detailed below. Tenders will be clearly marked with the date of receipt. Tenders received after the closing time will not be considered. Use of email will eliminate potential delays with mail deliveries, both within and external to the Agency, and is the preferred method of receipt.

Tenders are to be received in the form of, or including the submission of, the standard Survey Tender Form. This form can be downloaded for editing, and may be returned electronically.

Tenders may be:

• emailed to survey.tenders@dpipwe.tas.gov.au (preferred) or
• clearly labelled 'Survey Tender' and posted to:

Geospatial Infrastructure Branch
Land Tasmania
GPO Box 44
HOBART   TAS   7001

Assessment of Tenders

The following procedures will be adopted in the assessment of all tenders submitted:

• Following the nominated closing date, all tenders and relevant performance details will be tabulated.
• Any tenders from surveyors with a record of unreliability in meeting completion deadlines for previous government contract work may be excluded, other than in circumstances where no reasonable alternative tender is available for consideration.
• The median price tendered for the required survey work will be determined, and all tenders above the median price will be excluded from further consideration.
• Each of the tenders at or below the median price will be ranked on the basis of the performance status of the nominated certifying surveyor. The contract will be awarded to the tenderer offering the best value for money determined from performance information and price.

When all tenders have been tabulated, evaluated and a decision made as to which firm will receive the instruction, that decision will be recorded on the file, including the reasons for the decision, and the instruction will be issued without delay. The successful tenderer will be contacted by telephone and email, while unsuccessful tenderers will be advised accordingly by email.

If, after evaluating all of the tenders, there are sound reasons why the contract should be awarded other than in accordance with the prescribed criteria, the justification for such a decision will be clearly documented and approved by the Surveyor General, prior to any survey instruction being issued, or results of the tender process being notified.

Responsibilities of Successful Tenderer

• All work must be carried out strictly in accordance with all regulatory requirements, and will be subject to random field and office audit at the discretion of the Surveyor General. Selection for audit of these surveys may be independent of, and additional to any general survey audit program. Any work found to be sub-standard will be reviewed with the surveyor concerned, and any serious deficiency will be the subject of related audit policies and legislation.

• The successful tenderer is contracted to supply a survey service in accordance with the job specification, at a fixed price, and by a nominated certifying surveyor. Renegotiation of that price will only be entertained if the client specifications change, or where it can be demonstrated that the original specification was patently incorrect or inadequate in its description of the actual job requirement. Unexpected survey complications, difficult terrain, vegetation cover, bad weather, or any other such unpredictable eventualities will not be acceptable grounds for renegotiation of the original contract.

• Where a surveyor has successfully tendered for a job and subsequently wishes to transfer certification responsibility from the nominated certifying surveyor to another surveyor, the proposed change must be advised in writing - and approved by - the Surveyor General.

Records

A fully auditable record of all advertised tenders, all tenders received and all instructions issued is maintained. This record includes notes regarding the reasons for the acceptance or rejection of each tender.

Saving Provision

Notwithstanding the above, the Surveyor General reserves the right to simply offer an instruction to a local survey practice, subject to the provision of a satisfactory quote and a demonstrated ability to meet the completion deadline.

Complaints

Should a supplier have a problem with the overall tendering process or an individual tender, the Tasmanian Government Tenders website includes details about the Procurement Complaints Process.