Best Value Procurement or performance purchasing is little more than buying the most value for the lowest price. Particular attention is paid to the price, planning, risks, the solution offered and the quality of key officials. Very typical of tenders based on performance purchasing is that tenderers have to write a story about their solution, the risks they see and the planning and that they would like to interview the project leader.
Best Value Procurement or Performance Purchasing comes with wonderful promises: trust instead of control, the contractor takes the lead, the client lets go, knowledge is with the contractor, the client follows, optimal use of expertise by both parties, win-win and even more beautiful things. There is only one conclusion possible: the buyers have seen the light. Performance purchasing will improve the world, it is the new purchasing, better than the old-fashioned tendering where selection was made based on the most economically advantageous tender and dictated technical specifications.
Is performance purchasing innovative?
I have studied hundreds of tenders that were allegedly written on the basis of performance purchasing. Often I didn't even realize we were talking about something new and groundbreaking. Because it seemed so logical and so “in accordance with the procurement law”. After all, you have to define functionally, apply concrete performance requirements, you want good planning and checking whether purchasing is a good way to control the outcome, but it is not a new type of tender.
Performance purchasing is possible within the procurement regime
Performance purchasing seems to be an excellent way for a contracting authority to have a great deal of influence on the outcome. But the tenders must comply with the procurement law! The object of the assignment must be crystal clear, the scope must be clear, the scope must not change, the actions must be transparent, you name it. So no matter how sympathetic the specifications may seem in asking for a lot of input from the tenderer, the tender must simply comply with the law. It is therefore advisable to have the procurement lawyer read this immediately after publication so that sufficient time remains to make adjustments.
By Frank Meijers, MBA Legal expert lawyer / partner at Flex advocaten, partner of FHI
Nederlands