Procurement of Consultancy Services

1. Procurement of Consultancy Services

2. Differences between

3. SelectionMethods available • Quality and cost based selection • Quality based selection • Fixed Budget selection • Least Cost Selection • Selection based on Consultants’ Qualifications • Single Source Selection

4. What to include in the RFP? • References, contact points and contract arrangements • Description and specification of services required • Instructions to Bidders (ITB) and Bid Data • Laws, Rules or Regulations under which Procurement is undertaken • Selection criteria and the methodology of evaluation • Budget for FBS • Estimated budget or estimated no. of key staff or inputs (NOT BOTH) for other methods • Any qualification criteria • Terms and types of contract

5. Evaluation Criteria • Specific to each individual procurement activity • Some criteria are common to all procurement, such as: • technical competence / expertise; • experience / track record; • cost; • quality / specification; • compliance with requirements of the bid.

6. QCBS • Most widely used or ‘default’ method • When compromise between quality and cost required • When scope of the assignment could be precisely defined and ToR is well specified and clear • Inputs and costs for staff time, etc could be clearly estimated

7. Primary Criteria • Relevant experience for the assignment; • Quality of the methodology proposed; • Minimum expected qualifications and experience of the key staff proposed; • Subject to the nature of the assignment, it may also include provisions for training/capacity building of local staff; • Transfer of knowledge may be the main objective of some assignments; in such cases, it should be given a higher weight to reflect its importance.

8. Apportioning Weightage • Depending on the requirements, assign weightage for each criteria and sub-criteria • Technical and Financial weightage to be decided. • All these to be declared in the RFP

9. Quality Based Selection - QBS • Appropriate when complex or highly specialised assignments • Innovation and best practices in the field required • Long term impact – feasibility studies, design of dams, etc • Different ways of execution – policy, etc • Normally not used for project-funded procurement

10. Some aspects of QBS • In RFP, estimated budget is not disclosed • Either only technical proposals are invited or tech. and financial proposals separately • Only highest ranked technical proposal – open the financial proposals • Detailed financial proposal • Negotiation

11. Fixed Budget Selection - FBS • Used when the assignment is simple • Tasks could be clearly defined • Absolutely limited budget or no flexibility available in resources

12. Some aspects of FBS • The RFP must indicate the available budget and request the consultants to provide their best technical and financial proposals in separate sealed envelopes, within the stated budget. • Terms of Reference have to be carefully prepared to ensure that the budget and TOR are consistent and realistic • Technical proposals will be evaluated and bidders who pass the minimum technical score will be invited to a public opening of their financial envelopes. • Bidders whose technical proposals fail to meet the minimum technical score will have their financial envelopes returned unopened. • Any financial proposals that exceed the indicated budget shall be rejected. • The Consultant who has submitted the highest ranked technical proposal within the budget will be selected for award of contract.

13. Least Cost Selection - LCS • Appropriate to use for small value services of a routine nature such as audits, simple engineering design or supervision where well-established practices and professional standards exist. • Technical proposals are examined to ensure minimum qualification scoring • Lowest price among qualified • Has disadvantages • If funds available, adopt QCBS

14. Selection based on Consultants’ Qualifications (CQS) • This method may be appropriate for very small assignments where the need for a full bid process with submission and evaluation of detailed competitive proposals is not justified. • There is no formalised technical or financial scoring announced and expressions of interest and information on the consultants’ experience and competence relevant to the assignment are requested through an advertisement. • Some criteria to be established so as to ensure that the evaluation is as subjective as possible.

15. Some aspects - CQS • basic data to establish the legal status and general experience of the consultant • any specific skills, knowledge or experience required for the assignment; • minimum expected qualifications and experience of the key staff proposed. • Points should be allocated -main difference is that they are for internal use only. • Most appropriate consultant will be asked to submit a combined technical and financial proposal.

16. Single Source Selection - SSS • lacks the benefit of competition in regard to quality and cost • is not transparent in selection, and may encourage unacceptable practices. • Single source selectionshould only be used in exceptional circumstances and only with the express agreement of IFAD.

17. In summary