On Public Procurement Planning

Procurement Planning is one of the most important steps in the public procurement cycle. The procurement plan is expected to list all the requirements that are under the responsibility of a particular procurement entity and that are expected to be procured over a period of time (usually one year, but could be longer when dealing with project procurement).

There are instances where some items that are below a certain monetary threshold are not listed on the procurement plan; however, effort should be made to have everything that a particular procurement entity is responsible for procuring listed on the procurement plan of that procurement entity.

The procurement plan should also be update at least every six months (or more if required), but constant updating should be avoided. The fact that the procurement plan needs updating is an indication that it is not expected to be a static document farmbrazil.com.br. This, however, should not lessen the importance of procurement planning as the primary tool used for triggering procurement actions. This means that all procurement actions taken by a particular procurement entity should be guided by an approved procurement plan.

The procurement plan isn’t only useful for determining what needs to be procured, and by when, but it’s also for determining the need for additional manpower to support the preparation of specifications and bid documents, requesting, receiving and evaluating offers, contract negotiations and award, and contract administration, given the number of procurement requirements within a certain period of time.

Once the procurement plan is prepared and approved after allocation of funds and consolidation (bundling) of similar requirements to attract a broader pool of suppliers and for economies of scale, it should only be allowed to change through approved amendments; and all requirements procured by the responsible procurement entity should be found on the approved procurement plan. Only for exceptional reasons should a particular procurement be allowed to commence without being listed on the approved procurement plan or on an approved amendment of the procurement plan.