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Public Procurement Principles

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Public procurement principles set the framework for managing public procurement requirements, and also within which procurement practitioners’ must work. So, as practitioners it is important not only to have a clear understanding of public procurement principles, but to interiorize them so that they serve as guiding principles in our decision-making process. By integrating these principles into our work ethics, the outcome of our decisions will always be in line with public procurement principles. Being governed by and working in line with public procurement principles is especially important.

Public procurement practitioners are public servants because we handle public funds. As such, we are bound by an ethical code of conduct and accountable for what we do or fail to do when managing those funds.

In subsequent posts, the following seven fundamental public procurement principles will be addressed:

1 osterreichische-apotheke.com.  Transparency
2.  Integrity
3.  Economy
4.  Openness
5.  Fairness
6.  Competition
7.  Accountability

Procurement in Context: Project Procurement

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Project Procurement is also a process used to acquire goods and services, but what distinguishes project procurement from other forms of procurement are the series of procurement activities carried out during the execution of a project, some interdependent and some not. Project objectives are predetermined primarily in the project proposal, and there are a corresponding set of procurement activities undertaken in accordance with the project procurement plan over a period of time to achieve the project objectives.

Project procurement is dependent on the objectives and goals of the project which it supports. It is a fundamental part of project management because it is crucial to the success of the project that procurement activities are appropriately planned and executed; hence, project procurement planning and strategy development are vital to the implementation and successful outcome of a project.

For our purposes project procurement will be classified, based on the sector served, as public sector project procurement and private sector project procurement.

Public Sector Project Procurement
Public sector project procurement supports projects funded and developed to meet the objectives of government, including the provision of public goods and services to the population. These public sector projects (building of roads, bridges, dams, electric power plants, hospitals, schools, ferries, etc.) can be donor funded, government funded, a combination of both, or funded through public private or public-public partnerships; however, regardless of their funding arrangement, their distinguishing factor is that the purpose these projects serve is entirely public.

Private Sector Project Procurement
Private sector project procurement focuses on procurement activities that satisfy the requirements of projects done for private sector entities, such as small, medium or large businesses and corporations, and which are primarily profit-making in nature given that their main objective is the monetary benefit of the owners or shareholders of the business.

To conclude, based on the sector served, Procurement can be classified as follows:

  • Public Sector Procurement, oglejte si tu
  • Private Sector Procurement,
  • Project Procurement (further classified as):
  • Public Sector Project Procurement and
  • Private Sector Project Procurement.

The Procurement ClassRoom focuses primarily on Public Sector Procurement and Contract Administration, and to a lesser extent on Public Sector Project Procurement (primarily donor funded).

Procurement in Context

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Procurement is the process of acquiring goods and services, (including civil works) by a public or private entity to satisfy a specific need. Two broad categories of procurement are identified here: goods and services. I consider them as inclusive of civil works procurement, including utilities such as water, sanitation and electricity, given that (at least in public procurement) civil works is contracted out to ultimately provide a service –a medical facility is built to provide medical services, a school to house students in the process of delivering educational services, etc. So whatever infrastructure is built by government, its purpose is to deliver public services.

Given the above, it is important to further classify procurement according to the sector which it serves, that is: public or private; thus, the following is the classification we will use:

i. Public Sector Procurement,

ii. Private Sector Procurement, and cz-lekarna.com

iii. Project Procurement

      a. Public Sector Project Procurement, and

      b. Private Sector Project Procurement

Below, the first two (public and private sector procurement) are defined. Project Procurement is the subject of the next post:

Public Sector Procurement
Public sector procurement is the process of acquiring goods and services for the operation of government and to provide public services. It is carried out within a specific legal framework based on certain principles aimed at making the fulfillment of public procurement requirements competitively available to qualified firms and individuals in a transparent and nondiscriminatory manner based on pre-established selection criteria. The goal of public procurement is to provide everything necessary for the operation of government and, specifically, public services to the population within a country.

Private Sector Procurement
Private sector procurement, on the other hand, is the process of acquiring goods and services to satisfy the needs of a particular private entity (usually a business, for profit or not). These are goods and services needed for (i) the operation of the business or (ii) the business to use in the process of production of goods and/or services they provide to their customers. Respecting the former, a primary example are goods such as stationary, furniture, office equipment, etc. needed for a business to operate, and respecting the latter, are all the goods and services needed to satisfy customer demands.