Probity - Services

Services you can expect from your Probity Advisor

The level of involvement required by an external Probity Advisor in a project will depend on the risks of the project as a whole and on the circumstances that arise during the procurement. Within construction projects a number of procurements are undertaken. These engagements may include:

• Project Manager/Contract Administrator (PM/CA);
• Design Consultant;
• Environment Consultant;
• Heritage Consultant; and
• Construction Contractor.

The Scope of Services in the Probity contract will determine the level of involvement of the Probity Advisor in these engagements. The Scope of Services should always be broadly defined to cover the provision of ad hoc Probity advice for each of these possible engagements. A risk assessment should be undertaken to determine the necessary level of involvement of a Probity Advisor in each of these engagements. For example, a Probity Advisor may be required to attend the first hour of each Board to ensure that conformance checks of tenders have been completed, that all members of the Evaluation Board have had sufficient time to evaluate submissions and that there are no conflicts of interest.

At a minimum, an external Probity Advisor must be involved in reviewing the invitiation to Register (ITR), Request for Tender (RFT), addendas, information documents, attendance at the Evaluation Board and request for clarification from tenderers during evaluation for the Construction Contractor, irrespective of whether they are a Head Contractor or Managing Contractor.

The Registration Evaluation Board Report (REBR) and Tender Evaluation Board Report (TEBR) submitted to the delegate must contain a report from the Probity Advisor. The external Probity Advisor is required to use the Probity Advisor Report template available on DEQMS.

What specific services can I get from my Probity Advisor

You may request the following services when developing the Probity Advisor scope:

• Review of the approved Procurement Plan for broad compliance with the CPRs, the DPPM and other relevant Commonwealth policy of general application to the project;
• Review of draft ROI/RFT documentation compared to the approved Tender Evaluation Plan draft;
• Preparing and delivering a Probity brief to project staff;
• Review of materials for and attendance at Industry Briefings;
• Review of draft addenda to the ROI/RFT for conformance with evaluation methodology;
• Attendance at the outset of ROI/RFT Evaluation Board to determine that:
  • All members have had sufficient time to evaluate; and
  • No conflicts of interests are known and if any are known they are declared;
• Attendance for the duration of the Evaluation Board;
• Advice on management of conformance issues in tenders and whether any clarification is permitted;
• Consultation on justifications to exclude or set aside any EOI/Tender from evaluation;
• Review of conformance recommendations at the screening stage of any ROI/RFT Evaluation Boards;
• Review recommendations on source selection for adherence to evaluation methodology and conformance with evaluation criteria;
• Attendance at and/or review of material prepared for any debriefing of unsuccessful tenderers;
• Advice around management strategies for possible conflicts of interest;
• Advice regarding management of fairness and equity if parallel negotiations are recommended;
• Advice regarding management of collusion or anti-competitive conduct (if required);  and
• Provision of a Probity Advisor’s report for inclusion in the Evaluation Board Minutes.