Proposal, tender and contract information for doing business with Christchurch City Council.

We're one of the city’s largest businesses and the second-largest employer in the South Island, providing services and facilities to more than 380,000 residents plus visitors. From rubbish collection and recycling to cycleways, libraries, sports and recreation facilities and events, we do it all – and a lot in between.

Our vision is to make Christchurch a city of opportunity for all – open to new ideas, new people and new ways of doing things – where anything is possible.

As one of the region's largest buyers, our choice of the goods, services and works we purchase can have a significant impact on our local communities and the quality of life we have in Christchurch. So our Sustainable Procurement Programme looks to use our spending to advance the social, environmental and economic wellbeing of Christchurch residents.

Our Procurement Policy sits at the heart of the programme.

We're looking to team up with companies and people who share our goals. We're still looking for the usual things from our suppliers – value, quality, timeliness, ethical behaviour and fair dealing – but we're now focused on sustainability, so we're asking some different things of companies and organisations we team up with.

Below you’ll find proposal, tender and contract information to help guide you on working with us. 

COVID-19 vaccination policy – contractor requirements

On 10 January 2022, we implemented a COVID-19 Vaccination Policy which required that all roles at Council workplaces must be carried out by workers who were vaccinated against COVID-19.

This was based on a comprehensive risk assessment, including expert public health advice. Since the COVID-19 Vaccination Policy was instigated, the nature of the pandemic and the associated risks have changed.

On 20 June 2022, Christchurch City Council removed the My Vaccine Pass (MVP) requirement. This means a My Vaccine Pass is no longer required by our suppliers and contractors. 

The requirement may be reinstated if we receive new public health advice, or a new variant emerges which impacts our risk assessment.

We will continue to use other measures to minimise risks, such as good building ventilation, air filtration, access to high-quality tests, and a workplace culture of maintaining physical distancing, mask-wearing and encouraging people to stay home with even minor symptoms. 

We still encourage COVID-19 vaccinations, including boosters, to our suppliers and contractors.

Our procurement objectives

We are committed to sustainable and inclusive procurement and working with our suppliers to achieve value for our city and residents. 

Our procurement objectives support our vision to deliver value for money and also use our procurements as a force for good to advance the long-term wellbeing of our community.

Our procurement objectives

  • Value for money: Our purchasing isn’t necessarily about the lowest price, for us, it’s about getting the best value for our city.
  • Resource efficiency and greenhouse gas emission reduction: We want to work with our supplier base to reduce energy use, greenhouse gas emissions, solid waste generation and water use.
  • Social responsibility: We want our procurement to contribute to our local communities and social wellbeing in Christchurch.
  • Economic benefit: We want our procurements to make a positive economic contribution to our city.
  • Ease of doing business: We want our purchasing decisions to be clear, consistent and easily understood by the market.
  • Build and maintain a reputation for ethical behaviour and fair dealing: We want all our procurements to be fair, inclusive and encourage suppliers who are capable of providing the goods, services or works.
  • Promote opportunity, innovation and participation.

We're committed to sustainable outcomes.

We want to know about your focus on sustainability.

We've included 10 mandatory questions on sustainability in all our requests for documents (Rfx).

To help you understand what we looking for, check out our Sustainability Outcomes - Guide for Suppliers [PDF, 1.2 MB].

How to tender for a contract

Viewing tenders and proposals

Our requests for tenders and proposals are advertised on the Government Electronic Tendering Service (GETS)(external link) online portal.  You’ll need to register with GETS(external link) if you want to receive notifications of upcoming open public tender opportunities.

You can register online for free, but you will need a RealMe(external link) account.

Responding to tenders and proposals

If you identify an opportunity - you need to read, understand and respond to the tender. The tender documents provide all of the required information about the contract and the format of the response.

You can also ask questions and seek clarification. Make sure you understand the timetable of the tender and submit your bid before the closing date and time.

We will then

  • Evaluate and negotiate: Responses will be evaluated using the method set out in the tender documents. This may include presentations and site visits.
  • Award a contract: All tender submitters will be notified of the outcome, whether you are successful or unsuccessful. Details of the tender award will be publicly published on GETS.
  • Manage the contract: Performance will be evaluated throughout the life of the contract to ensure value is being delivered according to the terms of the contract.

Unsolicited proposals

Sometimes suppliers approach the Council with a proposal for something they think the Council needs, outside of a competitive tendering process. This is known as an unsolicited proposal.

Check out this guidance for submitting an unsolicited proposal [PDF, 1.4 MB], and more information on how we manage these when we receive them.

Becoming one of our suppliers

To become one of our suppliers you will need to respond to a request for a quote, tender or proposal.

If your response is successful you will need to:

  • agree to our purchase order and contract terms and conditions.
  • read and understand our supplier code of conduct.
  • fill in our supplier application form and return to the person that you have been working with at the Council.

Supplier code of conduct

Our supplier code of conduct [PDF, 45 KB] outlines the expectations we have of all suppliers that provide us with goods services and works.

If any of your details have changed, please email us and let us know at procurement@ccc.govt.nz.

Minimum standards for our suppliers

The pages below set out the minimum standards that we require from our suppliers:

Purchase orders and invoicing

Standard terms of purchase

Our terms and conditions to the purchase order  [PDF, 75 KB]for products or services contain the default terms and conditions, which apply to all purchases unless otherwise agreed on a contract or within the purchase and contract order.

Purchase orders

Before starting any work with us you will be issued a purchase order as a record of the agreed purchase.

Key things to note:

  • Supply of products, services or works cannot start without a purchase order.
  • Valid purchase order numbers are ten digits long and have a 45 prefix.
  • When invoicing us the purchase order number must be present on all invoices for payment to be made. If you have not received your purchase order number please contact the person that you have been working with from the Council to request one.

Invoicing

Payments will be paid on the first Wednesday on, or after, the 20th of the month following the date of the invoice, unless alternative payment terms have been agreed to in your contract.

To ensure payment, make sure your invoice has the:

  • words Tax Invoice in a prominent place.
  • purchase order number clearly displayed.
  • name and GST number of the supplier.
  • date of issue.
  • the name address and the business unit you are dealing with.
  • description of the goods or services provided.
  • quantity or volume of the goods or services provided.

In addition to your usual Council contact, invoices can be sent to accounts payable by email to accountspayable@ccc.govt.nz (our preferred method), or by post to:

Accounts payable
Christchurch City Council
PO Box 73015
Christchurch 8154

Awarded contracts

You can find the outcome of our tenders and proposals, including all NZ Transport Agency-funded tenders, on the GETS website(external link).

The GETS website lists(external link) all awarded contracts, and if you have the GETS eight-digit reference number you can easily search for a project.

Alternatively, you can order contracts by the organisation to see if the Council project you are interested in has been awarded. If there is no record it is likely that the contract has not yet been awarded.

Selecting closed tenders from the menu and searching should display the current status as well as contact details for the project.

Health, safety and wellbeing

We are committed to working with our suppliers to ensure the health, safety and wellbeing of our suppliers, staff and residents.

We ask all of our suppliers to have:

  • a health and safety system.
  • processes to identify and manage hazards and risks and safety at work.
  • safe plant and equipment.
  • adequate health and safety training and supervision.
  • appropriate resources, knowledge, and expertise.
  • been evaluated by an acceptable external provider.

It is mandatory to follow instructions from the Council regarding health and safety reporting.

Health and safety pre-qualification

We have partnered with not-for-profit Tōtika Scheme administered through Construction Health & Safety New Zealand (CHASNZ). Tōtika is a single framework that brings all health and safety prequalification’s together under one umbrella. Its aim is to create one standard against which a contractor must prequalify one time and to eliminate contractor duplication of effort. Signing up to the Tōtika Scheme is not yet a mandatory requirement.

If you are interested in seeking health and safety prequalification at Council:

Contact us if you’d like more information about our requirements around health, safety and wellbeing.

Sustainability – what we're doing

We realise if we’re asking our suppliers to act sustainably, we need to be putting sustainability at the heart of what we do.

Environmental sustainability

We have committed to achieving net zero as a city by 2045. To measure our success, we offer 3WEET, a freely accessible tool to enable Ōtautahi to work together towards this goal.

We’re helping our environment by looking for ways we can reduce energy use, greenhouse gas emissions, solid waste generation and how much water we use.

Social responsibility

We’re contributing to our local communities and social wellbeing in Christchurch by promoting diversity, acceptance, and compassion for all people.

Economic benefit

We’re making a positive economic contribution to our city in lots of different ways – from using local businesses for goods and services we supply to supporting events that bring money into Christchurch.