Where to find our contract opportunities
We currently advertise all direct tender and contract
opportunities valued over £10,000 on the Defence Contracts Online
(DCO) portal.
Access and registration to the MOD’s opportunities in the
DCO portal is free
of charge. For sub-contracting opportunities, we suggest you also
engage with Defence Contractors websites. Please note: We are in
the process of implementing a new e-Sourcing platform, called the
Defence Sourcing Portal (DSP) that will replace the
DCO.
The DSP is due to be
launched in February/March 2021. All suppliers will be required
to register on the DSP in order to view and
participate in future MODsourcing opportunities.
Registration will be available from January 2021. Please read the
latest Implementation update from
MOD’s Chief Commercial
Officer, Andrew Forzani (PDF, 112KB, 4
pages).
We also advertise our tender and contract opportunities widely.
We use the government’s Contracts Finder portal;
here central government departments and other public bodies
advertise tender and contract opportunities valued at £10,000 and
above. Access to Contracts Finder is free of
charge.
Our contract opportunities which fall within the scope of
EU Public Procurement
Regulation thresholds are additionally advertised in the Official
Journal of the European Union (OJEU).
Requirements below £10,000 are often one off projects bought in
accordance with our internal policy for low value purchasing.
We buy common goods and services via the Crown Commercial Service.
CCSare the biggest public procurement organisation in the UK,
they provide a wide range of common goods and services across the
public sector.
Procurement Regulations
The European Union Procurement Regulations drive UK law for
public sector procurements and alongside MOD procurement policy provide the
main control framework for all procurements.
This means that, as a public sector organisation, we procure in a
different way to industry with competition as the default
position, we set objective tender selection criteria, and we are
fair and transparent and will be held accountable for procurement
decisions in a way the private sector is not. We do not operate
preferred supplier lists.
Our principles include non-discrimination (on grounds of
nationality), equal treatment (of all suppliers), transparency
(act in fair and non-discriminatory manner), mutual recognition
(of equivalent documents and standards).
The UK legislation that governs public procurement is being
amended to address any deficiencies resulting from leaving the
EU. Doing this will ensure
continued operation once the Transition Period has ended.
Overview of a typical competition
This is a brief overview of a typical competition:
- requirement advertised
- pre-qualification questionnaire
- invited to tender
- independent assessment
- supplier selection
- contract award.
As a requirements driven organisation, first, we identify what we
need to buy and we advertise this. Suppliers then have the
opportunity to express their interest and bid. We use an initial
questionnaire to pre-qualify suppliers. Suppliers are then
invited to tender. We assess bids using pre-agreed criteria and
select suppliers using objective evaluation. This criteria is
used to select a supplier and award the contract. A debrief is
available for suppliers if requested.
Procurement at
MOD
