28 March 2023
The Office of Government Procurement (OGP) has today published Circular 05/2023 : Initiatives to assist SMEs in Public Procurement. Circular 05/2023 has been developed by the OGP following an extensive consultation process involving both public bodies and SME representatives. The circular is designed to further enable SMEs to compete for public contracts and replaces Department of Public Expenditure and Reform Circular 10/2014.
26 August 2022
The OGP has today published an updated version of GN 1.5.2 Public Works Contracts: Price Variation Clauses, which deals with the contractual entitlements associated with the price variation clauses in the public works contracts forms PW-CF1 – PW-CF5.
The updated guidance reflects the amendments made to these forms of public works contracts on 7 January 2022 and is available here.
8 June 2022
Further to the publication of details on 20 May 2022 of the Inflation/Supply Chain Delay Co-operation Framework Agreement for PW-CF1 – PW-CF5, the OGP published on Friday 3 June 2022 the suite of documents associated with the Short Public Works Contract (PW-CF6). These include the Letter of Agreement, guidance and associated workbooks to assist contracting authorities in calculating the Ex Gratia Payment for PW-CF6.
The OGP has also published a series of video tutorials to assist contracting authorities in the use of the template workbooks, a worked example and FAQs.
All of the above are available on a new dedicated page Details of Inflation/ Supply Chain Delay Co-operation Framework.
23 May 2022
Link to Press Release on gov.ie
23 May 2022
Further to the publication of details on Friday 20 May 2022 of the Inflation/Supply Chain Delay Co-operation Framework Agreement for PW-CF1 – PW-CF5, the OGP has today published the associated workbooks to assist contracting authorities in calculating the Ex Gratia Payment.
20 May 2022
The Office of Government Procurement (OGP) has today published details of the Inflation/Supply Chain Delay Co-operation Framework Agreement (‘the Agreement). The publication follows the announcement by the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Michael McGrath T.D. on the 10 May 2022 of new measures to address the risk posed by exceptional inflation and supply chain disruption on projects being delivered under the public works contract.
These measures represent an appropriate and balanced set of provisions to address the impact of global events which are outside the control of either party to the contract, are uncertain in both their duration and impact and therefore place the successful completion of a project at risk.
10 May 2022
The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Michael McGrath TD, today, (Tuesday), announced details of further measures to address the impact that exceptional inflation in construction materials and energy is having on public works contracts.
1 March 2022
A new guidance note, GN 2.3.4 Tender Price Indexation – Calculation, Notification and Application has been published today which provides detailed information to contracting authorities on the calculation, notification and application of the tender price indexation which has been introduced into the template forms for use with the public works contract forms PW-CF1 – PW-CF6 inclusive and which were published on 7 January 2022.
17 February 2022
Further to the news item of 9 February 2022, the OGP today has published a model form of letter that may be used by Contractors/Specialists in relation to temporary Professional Indemnity Insurance arrangements.
Where, as a result of the current insurance market conditions, during the term of a contract or a collateral warranty, a Contractor/Specialist cannot provide professional indemnity insurance on an each and every claim basis at the required level, the letter sets out the conditions that will permit the Employer to accept temporary alternative insurance arrangements, and which are subject to review on an annual basis. MF 1.29 Letter re Temporary PII Arrangements (in Pillar 1, Public Works Contracts) is provided for Contractors/Specialists.
09 February 2022
The Office of Government Procurement (OGP) has today published Circular 05/2022: Construction Procurement Reform – Revised Guidelines for Professional Indemnity Insurance Levels in Public Works Projects and amendments to the Capital Works Management Framework (CWMF) to address risks caused to the procurement and delivery of capital works projects by on-going capacity constraints in the professional insurance indemnity (PII) market. This first tranche of amendments relates primarily to the procurement of Consultants.
The amendments, summarised below, also incorporate substantial changes to the suitability assessment questionnaires for consultants (QC1 & QC2) and a range of associated documents. These changes are aimed at reducing the extent of documentation to be provided by applicants in a procurement process, to better facilitate digital submission and to clarify the process for applicants who are reliant on the capacity of others to meet pre-qualification criteria.