LEGAL MATTERS
Best Value
Examining Saskatchewan’s newest procurement legislation
Public procurement legislation in Saskatchewan has
changed. In the past, when a tender was issued, the pro-vincial
government was obligated to accept the lowest
bid. That is no longer the case – now the government looks at other
factors which are to overall provide the “best value” to the province.
The Best Value in Procurement Act, 2015 (the “act”) received royal as-set
on Nov. 19, 2015. It has only been very recently that public com-petitive
procurement processes have been moving forward and
awarding contracts based on the act.
Tenders differ from requests for proposals (RFPs). Tenders are
generally used where the good or service being procured is clear-ly
specified. Often there are detailed specifications and the owner
knows precisely what good or service they require. An RFP asks pro-ponents
to submit a proposal outlining how they would accomplish
a certain task, goal or project. Detailed specifications do not usually
form part of the RFP. The act only refers to a tender and as such the
applicability to an RFP remains to be seen.
The act applies specifically to roadbuilders and those in the heavy
construction industry building public works. Under the legislation,
for public works, new roads and upgrades to existing roads, the gov-ernment
must go through a competitive procurement process. It is
not permitted to sole-source contracts with individual contractors
– an open tender must be issued. Therefore, it is not an efficient use
of time for contractors to try to get contracts directly with the prov-ince
– it is not allowed to do this.
The next important part of the act for contractors, and really the
core of the legislation, is that a provincial minister must award the
contract to the bidder whose bid, in their opinion, offers the “best
value”, taking into consideration all or any of the factors described
in the tender documents. So, as a contractor, when you receive a
tender, all those factors described within it become absolutely criti-cal
to succeeding.
BY CHAD EGGERMAN, MILLER THOMSON LLP
IRIN73BAL/SHUTTERSTOCK.COM
saskheavy.ca | Quarter 3 2016 | Think BIG 55
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