SBC Supplier Registration
SBC Online SIGN UP LOGIN
  • About Us
  • Services
    • Single School Tender Service
    • Multi Academy Trust Tender Service
    • School Cluster Tender Service
    • Procurement Back Office Service
  • SBC Online
    • Procurement Accreditation Offer
    • How to use SBC online
  • Case Studies
  • News
  • SBL Networks
  • Schools’ Buying Hub South West
  • Helpline
    • Procurement Helpline Video Series
  • Contact
Back to News & Events
Tackling the Secret Language of Procurement

Tackling the Secret Language of Procurement

January 24, 2020 – Announcements

The world of procurement is full of different terms and acronyms making up its own language, which might make the process seem more daunting than it actually is.

One of the first steps to overcome when starting any new tender is understanding procurement jargon. We have put together a list of the most common terms you might see and hear to help you decipher the secret language of procurement.

Term Definition
Framework The Public Contracts Regulations 2015 defines a framework agreement as: “In these regulations, “framework agreement” means an agreement between one or more contracting authorities and one or more economic operators, the purpose of which is to establish the terms governing contracts to be awarded during a given period, in particular with regard to price and, where appropriate, the quantity envisaged.”In practice, a Framework is a procurement route in which suppliers have already been pre-approved (such as financial viability).  This means that a one stage procurement process can be run which is called a ‘mini-competition’.
OJEU Stands for ‘Official Journal of the European Union’ and is the online journal that is home to all public sector contracts that are worth above a certain value. 
SQ Stands for ‘Selection Questionnaire,’ and if you’re undergoing a Restricted OJEU process, this is the first stage which asks a number of mandatory eligibility questions as well as questions regarding the Bidders’ relevant experience.
ITT Stands for ‘Invitation to Tender’ and refers to the tender documentation package during the second stage in an OJEU Restricted process.
RFT Stands for ‘Request for Tender’ and refers to the tender documentation package for an OJEU Open process. Sometimes RFT and ITT will be used interchangeably as it essentially refers to the main tender documents (evaluation criteria and service specification).
Site Visit The Site Visit is a great opportunity for potential Bidders to come visit your school site(s) to see your lunch service (catering), building layout and age (cleaning) or to hear out your current capability and strategy (ICT).  We recommend the Site Visit to occur sometime in the second week of the tender being out to market – this allows time for Bidders to read through all the tender documentation.
Bidders Presentation Bidders Presentation’s are a great mechanism for the School/Trust representatives (i.e. Heads, Governors) to be presented with a summary of the key components of the Bidders tender response.  The School/Trust have an opportunity to ask clarification questions and understand more about the Bidder and their response.
FM Stands for ‘Facilities Management.’ This is a broad category term which includes cleaning, catering, grounds maintenance etc.
PAT Stands for ‘Portable appliance testing’ and is the process in which electrical appliances are routinely checked for safety.  You’ll see this in Cleaning tender documents where there is a requirement that the Successful Bidder routinely PAT tests their cleaning equipment.
ABS Stands for ‘Admitted Body Status’ and refers to the certification needed by a commercial company to take Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) staff members onboard following a TUPE process.
Data Collection Catch-all term of collecting the necessary information for the School/Trust on your service to be able to create robust tender documents.
TUPE TUPE is an acronym for the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006. This can be quite complex, but its intent is to protect employees if the business they work for changes hands. TUPE is applicable in most instances. For the tender process, you need accurate TUPE Workforce Data from your incumbent so Bidders can calculate a precise cost of labour for the service.
Mobilisation Kick-Off This refers to your first meeting with the new Supplier where you can start talking about implementation details, logistics, staffing etc.
Service Contract A service contract is required for higher value spend where there is a higher degree of risk and detail needed contractually to cover all of the terms and conditions (for example a catering or cleaning contract).
Short Form Agreement These are used when it can take time to negotiate the terms of an actual contract so a temporary, less onerous agreement is put in place to allow the contract to commence on this basis until the actual contract can be agreed (for example a time critical contract that needs to commence as soon as possible).
Supplier Contract T&Cs This is the same as a service contract but where the supplier’s T&Cs are used instead of standard T&Cs from a framework agreement or SBC’s standard T&Cs (for example an ICT contract where more bespoke terms are required).
Purchase Order This is for lower value items which formalise the requirements and price and serve as a legal binding document of the goods or services ordered (for example office supplies).

 

 

SHARE SHARE SHARE

Find out how we can help your school today

Contact

Schools’ Buying Club
@SchoolsBuyClub
January 19, 2021

We have answered your questions on different procurement categories and the procurement process in 10 succinct videos; including what is a framework, what are the benefits of outsourcing a catering contract, and what is TUPE? hubs.li/H0DQrcT0 https://t.co/OsHls37433

Schools’ Buying Club
@SchoolsBuyClub
January 15, 2021

Introducing our Procurement Helpline Video Series. We have identified the most commonly asked procurement questions and provided the answers and our advice in 10 succinct videos. Watch them all now: hubs.li/H0DQrcl0 https://t.co/77IyeqISr3

Schools’ Buying Club
@SchoolsBuyClub
January 14, 2021

SBC Online provides a compliant solution for schools to run their tenders in-house. If you use SBC Online to run a tender, we will also contribute 10% towards the cost of your CIPS Award for School Business Professionals. Find out more hubs.li/H0DBcPF0 #sbltwitter

FOLLOW
  • About Us
  • Our Services
  • SBC Online
  • Schools’ Buying Hub South West
  • The Buying Club
  • Supplier Registration
  • Privacy/Cookies
  • Anti-Slavery Policy
  • FAQs
Schools’ Buying Club, 55 Greek Street, London, W1D 3DT

© 2019 Schools’ Buying Club. All Rights Reserved.
Place Group Limited trading as Schools’ Buying Club.

Designed by Shine Creative

Welcome to SBC Online, please log in to access your private procurement portal.

Lost Password?

If you are having trouble logging in, please contact us at contact@schoolsbuyingclubonline.com

Please enter your email. The password reset link will be provided in your email.
Cookie consent
This site uses cookies, find out more here.
Okay
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled

Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.

Non-necessary

Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.