Evaluation Committee

 

Purpose of an evaluation committee

Establishing a procurement evaluation committee is essential for ensuring a transparent, fair, and systematic process for evaluating bids and proposals.

This committee brings together a diverse group of stakeholders, each contributing their unique perspectives and expertise to assess potential vendors based on predefined criteria. By promoting collaboration and collective decision-making, the committee enhances accountability and mitigates the risk of bias, ensuring the selected solution effectively meets the organisation's needs and objectives.

Ultimately, this structured evaluation process not only upholds integrity in procurement practices but also secures the best value for the organisation, supporting long-term success and sustainability.

Key responsibilities

The key responsibilities of an evaluation committee are to:

1. Establish evaluation criteria and agree on weighted scoring system
2. Review, evaluate and discuss all vendor proposals
3. Develop a shortlist and meet potential vendors
4. If required, the committee may request the vendor:
   1. delivers a presentation or demonstration
   2. participation in an interview
   3. provides clarity or additional information
   4. provides supplementary documentation i.e. ISO certifications, case studies, etc
5. Assist in the preparation of an evaluation report
6. Nominate the preferred vendor.

Establishing the committee

A diverse membership is essential for the committee to provide a broad range of perspectives. This diversity enhances the committee's ability to identify and mitigate risks while reducing biases in the vendor selection process.

Here are the key considerations when selecting the committee members:

• Conflict of interest
• Required expertise required to evaluate the vendor. This may include but is not limited to the following:
  • Clinical
  • Business
  • Technical
  • Financial
  • Cyber Security
  • Procurement – Probity
  • Subject Matter Expert in a specific area

Note: The composition of the evaluation committee should be tailored to the unique needs of each organisation. Based on the complexity, cost, and risk profile of the tender, the committee chair can determine the specific expertise and profiles that should be included.

Ability to commit time throughout the evaluation process

The Evaluation Committee must comprise no less than five (5) and no more than ten (10) members. The Committee Chair is responsible for facilitating the evaluation process. This includes the coordination and scheduling of the evaluation process ensuring that the evaluation committee can attend and participate until a vendor is selected.

The chair is ideally a non-voting member and if possible be from the procurement team to ensure probity throughout the process.

Governance

• Vendor selection evaluation meetings are held every fortnight. However, depending on the urgency for a vendor selection, the frequency can be adjusted to weekly.
• Out of session meetings may be required and will be managed and communicated by the Committee Chair.
• A quorum, 51% of the evaluation committee should be present, if there are any endorsements and decisions to be made.
• If required, the Evaluation Committee can nominate and invite additional non-voting members to provide insights and guidance.
• Meeting minutes are taken and stored in a confidential folder.