Resources
FAQs
LGP Approved Contractor
View our Guide to Using LGP Contracts and Guide to Evaluating RFQs and Awarding Contracts under LGP Panels.
Please also see LGP’s Guide to Amending LGP Customer Contracts and Other Options for further information around varying contract options underneath LGP panels.
For instructions on how to use VendorPanel Filter Tags, take a look at the LGP Filter Tags Overview.
If council wishes to make amendments to a LGP Customer Contract or other options, please complete the Letter of Endorsement/ Acknowledgement Request Form.
When placing orders, you MUST include the contract number, or you may NOT be covered under the terms and conditions of the LGP contract.
Tendered Rates
Information regarding LGP’s pricing can be found in VendorPanel. Rates located under this tab are generally for low volumes and one off purchases. For large or committed volumes or projects in scope of this contract a Request for Quotation (RFQ) can be requested from contractors on the panel.
Insurances
Councils should note that LGP panel members update insurance on a cyclical basis. LGP will expedite any outstanding information, but regardless, insurance policies can be cancelled or lapse at any time and councils should always seek confirmation directly from contractors where-ever contract risk is high.
The preferred method of seeking a quote is via VendorPanel. A RFQ template is available to assist with completing a well considered specification.
For more information on making purchases see our How to Guide.
Forward your purchase order to the contractor including the agreed rate as set out in the price schedule. This should be undertaken in accordance with your organisation’s procurement policy. Ensure that the LGP contract number is included on the purchase order.
The full benefits of a contract can be realised by making a commitment to it.
Commitment can be demonstrated by completing the notice of participation form. This will be used to notify contractors that all purchases made via the approved contractor will be done so under the contract, provided it is within scope.
Note. The Participation Form is not a contract, nor does it lock council into using this arrangement. Council may alter this arrangement at any time.
Yes, via a Nominee Authorisation. Customers may appoint an entity to make purchases from LGP approved contractors on their behalf. These purchases are for goods and/or services that are within scope of the LGP contract and are required for works and services that the entity is undertaking on behalf of the LGP customer.
Please contact your Business Manager for more information and a copy of the authorisation and acceptance form.
Customers will be supplied a tax invoice directly by the contractor. All payments will be made to the contractor in accordance with clause 26.3 of the Standard terms of Contract between a Customer and Contractor (Schedule 5 of the Head Agreement (standing offer deed)) i.e. Unless otherwise agreed in writing, a Customer must make such payment by the end of the month following the month of invoice.
Contact the contractor directly. If the issue cannot be resolved, contact your Business Manager.
Yes, some LGP contracts have purchasing thresholds. If a contract has a purchasing threshold this information can be found on the LGP Website at the top of the relevant LGP Contract page, and on VendorPanel under the Local Government Procurement Lists Contact Details.
This video tutorial will teach LGP Approved Customers how to locate LGP contract information on the LGP website.
LGP advertises all tenders in the “tenders” section of the Sydney Morning Herald and the Daily Telegraph as well as LGP’s website. LGP uses TenderLink and eProcure for electronic tendering platforms that also inform their registered users of LGP’s tenders.
Local Government Procurement (LGP) has been prescribed under s55 of the Local Government Act 1993 (NSW), allowing councils to utilise supply arrangements coordinated by LGP without the need to go to tender in their own right. LGP therefore has the same status as NSW Procurement in having this legislative requirement.
LGP has been ‘prescribed’ by the NSW State Parliament to carry out group tenders on behalf of NSW local government. ‘Prescribed’ means LGP is named in the Local Government (General) Regulation 2005 (NSW) and as such a council does not need to go to tender if that council buys from a contract already set up by LGP.
Councils can therefore procure goods or services from LGP contracts for values greater than $250,000 (inclusive of GST), without the need to tender themselves. Contractors can also procure for amounts less than $250,000 without restriction from LGP contracts too.
We recommend registering with our e-tendering portals:
Tenderlink and eProcure.
Registering on the above links does not make you an LGP Approved Contractor, registration on the above links will mean you are notified of tenders released into the market.
Once a tender has been released you will receive an email notification and instructions on how to download the tender.
Yes, you need to purchase the tender documentation in order to access the entire tender document.
However, tenderers will be able to view the brief requirements prior to purchasing the tender documents on LGP website and the electronic tendering platform.
For technical issues related to Tenderlink, please contact Tenderlink on 1800 233 533 or alternatively send an email to [email protected].
For technical issues related to eProcure, please contact the eProcure support team on 1800 377 628.
LGP processes the tenders received within the legislative guidelines.
Legislation also has strict guidelines to closing of tenders and late tenders which LGP is obliged to follow. Late tenders will not be accepted by LGP after the closing date and time. The electronic tendering platforms that LGP use will not allow any tenderer that tries to submit its tender after the closing date and time.
LGP will issue every tenderer an outcome letter that states if their tender has been accepted or rejected. The outcome letter will include the process for executing the Standing Offer Deed if the tender has been accepted.
LGP provides all tenderers the opportunity to request a tender de-brief to provide feedback and suggestions for improvement.
LGP also has a formal complaints process. The complaints review process is managed by the LGP CEO independently from the Tender process. Please see LGP’s complaints handling policy on the LGP website
For eProcure: Once logged onto the eProcure website, click the my details tab to make changes.
For Tenderlink, once logged onto the website, click Our User Details then your name, to update your details.
The evaluation processes take approximately 8-12 weeks from closing date of tender depending on the tender complexity (e.g., multiple categories) and the number of tenders received (e.g., 200 tender submissions will take significantly longer to process than 20).
You may contact the Tender Team on the following email: [email protected]
Strategic Procurement Solutions provides a suite of services, including procurement-as-a-services (PaaS), strategic procurement, probity services, procurement reviews and/or development, documentation reviews and/or development, procurement project management, contract management and RFx development and facilitation. Click here for more detail
The lead time for projects differ enormously. The facilitation of an RFx depends significantly on the availability of customer resources in meeting milestones, but generally an RFx process averages between 4 to 8 months. Some complex RFx’s may be range between 6 to 12 months.
In comparison working with a customer on procurement projects may take several years depending on the goals the customer wants to achieve and the resources the customer has at its disposal to meet milestones. This means Strategic Procurement Solutions would work ad-hoc, delivering milestones in tandem with the customer over the 2-3-year period, managing a procurement transformation or project or strategic procurement.
Procurement-as-a-Services (PaaS), is the outsourcing of procurement activity and/or tasks to a third party who has procurement experience for a define and agreed period. Procurement-as-a-Services (PaaS) is not the act of securing temporary labor hire. Procurement-as-a-Services (PaaS) is generally the type of work that sits at strategic level, assisting customers in developing procurement initiates that align with council strategic goals, including data analytics and procurement transformation.
Strategic Procurement Solutions can assist you. We can bring you our procurement expertise and help you plan your annual procurement schedule. If needed, we can deliver procurement processes that you may not have the manpower to deliver.
Probity is defined as upholding the highest standards and integrity, enabling organisations to safeguard procurement activities, to ensure those activities and processes are robust and can withstand scrutiny. Probity should be part of every aspect of every procurement activity. To achieve an ethical and transparent approach, this means: behave with integrity and impartiality, ensure market equality via competition in procurement activity, identify and manage conflicts of interest, ensure information is secure and confidential, ensure adequate separation of duties and engage a probity practitioner if the procurement is complex or sensitive.
Strategic Procurement Solutions can assist you. We can bring our probity expertise to create separation through strong moral and ethical principles. Making your procurement fair and transparent. We can deliver probity services and provide knowledge transfer to upskill your staff.
Long term planning that aligns with the organisations goals. For strategic procurement to succeed, the entire organisation must be involved. All departments must try to work together for the benefit of the organisation. A strategic procurement team is crucial when it comes to setting the overall direction for procurement aligned with the organisation’s business strategy.
Strategic Procurement Solutions can assist you. We can bring you the strategic procurement expertise to build strategic procurement in your organisation. We can deliver services and provide knowledge transfer to upskill your staff.
Strategic Procurement Solutions has extensive experience in facilitating the following processes on behalf of our customers:
- RFT (request for tender)
- RFQ (request for quotation)
- EOI (expression of interest)
- RFP (request for proposal), and
- ROI (request for information)
Strategic Procurement Solutions can assist you. We have facilitated customer evaluations, acting as chair, providing the probity and transparency from the chair role. The chair will also steer the Tender Evaluation Panel, removing potential relationship issues arising between staff.
To reduce the time and cost of travel for attending the qualifications in particular which run over several days, we created the infrastructure for virtual classroom. People have the option to attend the qualifications (partially/fully) online via Zoom. For the public courses as well, if need be, there is an option to attend them remotely.
You will receive an acknowledgement of your registration and your details will be recorded in our training register. Based on the number of registrations, the status of the course is confirmed to the students at least two weeks out. More details regarding the course including the calendar invite is sent out closer to the training date once the course is confirmed to go ahead.
Course fee payment is not expected at the time when you register for any course. You just need to fill out the invoicing details in the registration form including the PO# if you have one or send it to the training team later when ready. Your invoice contact as mentioned in the registration form will receive the invoice from our Finance team only after the course is confirmed to go ahead (two weeks out) and you will have 30 days to make the payment.
The course fee needs to be paid only after your invoice contact receives the invoice from our Finance team. The payment can directly be deposited in the specified account within 30 days from the invoice receipt date. If you wish to pay by credit card, or in advance, please send your request to the Training Team and you will receive a form to process your credit card payment.
The course fee is all-inclusive and covers all expenses related to attending that course such as catering and training resources . You don’t need to pay for anything else.
If you are unable to attend the course due to an unavoidable exigency on or just before the training date, please let the Training Team know as soon as practicably possible. As per LGP Cancellation policy, you will still have to pay the course fee. However, depending on the circumstances, LGP may hold the credit for you or any of your colleague which can be used to attend the next session of the course when it is offered.
The vocational education and training (VET) accredited courses are nationally recognised and leads to achieving a VET qualification. These courses are regulated by the government agency ASQA and can be delivered only by a registered training organisation (RTO). These qualifications are very useful in formalising your professional experience as per Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) and use them to complete higher qualifications and gain career advancement.
Depending on the course requirements, some of them do have some pre-requisites. These along with other details about the courses are covered on the website.
Assessments are an integral part of these accredited courses. To fulfil the requirements of being awarded these qualifications you need to successfully complete all the prescribed assessments and be deemed competent by the trainer and assessor. The generally comprise of class activities, individual assessments, and workplace projects. On day one of the block one, the trainer shares and discussed the assessment requirements in detail.
Since these are non-accredited courses and focusses only on training people on workplace skills, assessments are not a part of these courses. However, practical group activities are a part of these courses and helps in better learning.
Apart from the standard contents covered in each of our non-accredited courses, we can also include client specific policies, procedures, guidelines, and case studies as per the requirement. This makes training more focused and more economically viable as it can be delivered at the clients’ premises.
Unlike public courses, we don’t charge a per person course fee. Instead a flat day rate is applicable and can have up to 20 people in a session. To get a quote, please send an email to the Training Team.
We do provide a first-hand experience of this program through trial access. Please submit your request for access.
On an average you will need 1.5-2 hours for each module. You will have 12 months to complete the program.
Meetings are exclusive to NSW councils and are free of charge to attend. For more information view the website.
Yes, you will have to register to attend the meeting in advance as seats are limited. For more information view the website.
The Annual Conference is open to NSW councils, private sector professionals in procurement as well as engineering-related fields. For more information view the website.
Yes whilst you are on the contract panel, you may use the logo on your website as well as all digital and print marketing collateral. Contact LGP’s Marketing Manager Selina Pinheiro for more information.
Contact LGP’s Marketing Manager Selina Pinheiro or any marketing, events or sponsorship enquiries.
Sustainable Choice can assist councils with implementing sustainable practices throughout their procurement. A large number of online resources are available, together with access to webinars, events and general guidance over the phone or via email. As a member, council can also access discounted training.
Sustainable Choice membership is free of charge for NSW councils.
Sustainable Choice membership is only available to councils.
Yes, Social procurement falls under the umbrella of sustainability and Sustainable Choice.
Yes, Social procurement falls under the umbrella of sustainability and Sustainable Choice.
Yes, environmental factors fall procurement falls under the umbrella of sustainability and Sustainable Choice.
Councils outside of NSW are welcome to join Sustainable Choice. There is a fee for this membership. Please contact us for more information.
Please take a look at the membership page for more information on what is involved and included in a membership. Email [email protected] to advise that your council wishes to become member and upon receipt we will send through a welcome pack.
Yes, we can. Please contact us for a discussion.
If you haven’t received a password reset link to your inbox within 5 minutes please check your junk mail. If you are still experiencing difficulties please use the ‘help’ function at the bottom right of the screen to log a ticket and an LGP Officer will be in touch.
The www.vendorpanel.com.au/lgp account is the LGP-VendorPanel account which LGP uses to manage LGP panel contracts.
www.vendorpanel.com is VendorPanel’s main website.
Goods and services offered; Approved contractors; Compliance – WHS, insurance and Australian Standards; Pricing and specifications; Experience, qualifications and licences; Sustainable procurement; Standing Offer Deed, and Customer Terms and Conditions; Authorised agents, subcontractors and/or partners; RFQ template.
Information specific to each contract, such as Specifications, contract terms and conditions can be found by Navigating from Local Government Procurement Lists and then clicking on the specific contract name.
When you are logged into VendorPanel, you will see a “Help” button on the lower right of their screen. It gives access to on-screen contextual content and resources. If needed, users can also click the “Contact Us” button to send a message to the VendorPanel support team.
Some councils have their own VendorPanel licence and may have created department groups and filtered contracts specific to your department. Speak to the VendorPanel Admin person for your council or contact Your Business Development Manager
LGP Approved Contractor
There is no opportunity to be added to an LGP contract panel unless a Request For Tender (RFT) is issued. View the current contracts page to see existing contracts and terms. LGP generally goes to market with a RFT six months before a contract term ends (or the optional extension may be taken). All RFTs are advertised electronically utilising one of two e-tendering portals; Tenderlink or eProcure.
LGP recommends that you self-register your organisation’s details at Tenderlink and eProcure, to ensure that you are notified of any LGP related advertised tenders that match the criteria you select (i.e. based on the industry and categories you specify when registering).
Please note that this does not mean you are a ‘preferred supplier’. Rather, you have simply registered your details for notification of certain advertised LGP tenders.
LGP regularly conducts Bidding for Government Contracts training to assist suppliers understand the requirements of tendering to local government in NSW. View the training calendar to see upcoming sessions.
LGP develops approved contractor panels where there is an identifiable need and benefit to local government. LGP initiates extensive research to determine a viable business case with input from both the market and local government.
Following the development of tender documentation, LGP undertakes a rigorous public tender process that fully complies with the Act and Regulation. Following the open market period, a comprehensive evaluation of tender responses is undertaken to assess the capability, resources, expertise and compliance of all tenderers.
The evaluation process also includes reviewing insurances, licenses (if applicable), accreditation and completion of an independently commissioned financial due diligence report.
Through the evaluation process, a panel of suppliers are prequalified and appointed as approved contractors. The contractual arrangement is via a Standing Offer Deed.
From that point on, suppliers can engage with councils as customers delivering the protection of legal terms and conditions to support their purchasing, a rates card or price schedule that is guaranteed “best price” and resources to access technical specifications and templates to improve the purchasing process.
If you have never responded to a tender before, please investigate for your own benefit the level of resources and quality of response that might be required. If you have responded to tenders before you will understand the formality of the process.
LGP can only approve tenders that are completed in full and submitted before the closing time of the RFT. Late tender submissions cannot and will not be accepted. You are best to commence your response to the RFT as soon as possible after release of the RFT and not wait until the last moment to respond. Missing out on submitting your response in time could mean that you are not included on the LGP panel for several years.
Local government is an extremely diverse sector and is active in a wide range of markets. LGP contracts are just as diverse and can be used by all councils in NSW. Councils look to the panels to satisfy their need for choice, compliance and competition as well as being their preferred method of purchasing goods and services.
Being an Approved Contractor represents a business relationship between LGP and the appointed supplier. Some of the benefits of being an Approved Contractor are:
LGP’s endorsement as an approved contractor for the local government sector
- Not having to respond to multiple tenders thus making it easier to do business with local government
- Shortening the timeframe between quotation and purchase – promoting more efficient partnerships with councils
- Promotional support from LGP through ongoing communications, face to face contact and promotional initiatives
- Standardised Terms and Conditions – giving consistency across a broad market
- Access to LGP publications and events – supporting targeted exposure to your local government marketplace
- High quality contractual protection – minimising the risk of dispute
- Compliance with local government purchasing regulations – giving greater protection to both you, the supplier and council.
LGP regularly conducts Bidding for Government Contracts training to assist suppliers understand the requirements of tendering to local government in NSW, this is an interactive session and suppliers will gain useful insight into the ‘do and don’ts’ of tender writing. View the training calendar to see upcoming sessions.
The above information has been compiled by LGP to address the most frequently asked questions by suppliers wanting to become LGP Approved Contractors.
Please ensure you read all information in its entirety before contacting LGP. If after reading this information you have further questions, please send your enquiry to LGP in writing to [email protected].
- Login to the LGP Website.
- Select the ‘hello’ box top right of screen and then select ‘Forum’. This will take you to the Forum page.
- Select ‘Add topic’.
- Select a ‘Forum’ from the drop-down list.
- Enter a ‘Topic Title’ and ‘content’. Select ‘Add topic’.
- The topic will be published to the Forum.
Document Library
We created this repository of standard templates, clear guidelines, interesting articles and a range of other useful documents to make your life easier through the procurement processes.
Take a look through our library to get ideas on improving governance and refining your procurement processes.
Challenges of Innovative Projects and/or Preferential Treatment under the Tendering Process in NSW Local Government
This white paper seeks to encourage open discussion and feedback on requirements for local government tendering in New South Wales. This paper evolved from the work LGP’s Customer Reference Group.
Circular Economy in Procurement – Challenges and Recommendations for NSW Local Governments
Integrating Circular Economy principles in procurement process of Local Governments promotes sustainability, innovation, local economy, and resource optimisation. This white paper provides insights on the status of circular economy practices within in New South Wales Local governments particularly, procurement function. This comprehensive study identified key challenges of implementing circular economy practices, proposed strategic actions to overcome challenges in procurement process, and highlighted successful initiatives from a survey of NSW councils.
Videos
Find out more about LGP through our suite of short videos containing staff profiles, handy tips on procurement and other services that LGP offer. You can find more videos on our youtube channel.
Newsletter
Subscribe to our monthly newsletter for information on the latest news and updates in procurement, upcoming training and events, expressions of interest (EOIs), contract updates and much more. And, take a look at our special bulletins and previous issues for a range of informative articles and sustainability initiatives.
LGP Procurement Capability Grants Program
NSW councils are being given an opportunity by LGP to enhance their procurement capability by taking advantage of our new Grant Program.
Exclusively created to help fund new projects and professional development in procurement, the LGP Procurement Capability Grant Program is the first for the Australian local government sector
Council Forum
Connection to other councils and organisations allows you to broaden your knowledge base, request assistance and share ideas. Get answers to specific questions by raising your own query or taking a look through historical threads.
Let’s talk