Australia’s Commonwealth Procurement Guidelines 2008 set out minimum standards for tendering time limits. The Guidelines state that all bidders should be subject to the same deadlines and set a general rule requiring that drafters allow at least twenty-five days from the posting of the tender call to the tender submission deadline. But the Guidelines also recognize exceptions: The posting period may be reduced to as few as ten days in instances where the details of the procurement have already been published in an agency’s annual procurement plan or where a genuine state of urgency renders the time limit impracticable. I reproduce the relevant provisions here:
Australia
Commonwealth Procurement Guidelines 2008
Minimum Time Limits
8.56 All potential suppliers participating in a procurement must be required to lodge submissions in accordance with a common deadline.
8.57 Agencies need to provide sufficient time for potential suppliers to prepare and lodge a submission in response to an approach to the market. Time limits discussed in this section represent minimum periods and should not be treated as default time limits for potential suppliers to lodge submissions.
8.58 The time limit for potential suppliers to lodge a submission must be at least 25 days from the date and time that an agency publishes a notice of an open approach to the market or invites potential suppliers to participate in a select tender process, except under the following circumstances where an agency may establish a time limit that is less than 25 days but no less than 10 days:
• where the agency has published details of the procurement in an Annual Procurement Plan on AusTender, at least 30 days and not more than 12 months in advance, and these details include a description of the procurement, the estimated timing of the approach to the market and the procedure to obtain request documentation;
• where the agency procures commercial property or services;
• in the case of second or subsequent approaches to the market for procurements of a recurring nature; or
• where a genuine state of urgency renders the normal time limit impracticable.
8.59 Where an agency has not electronically issued a notice of approach to the market, the 25 day period referred to in the preceding paragraph must be extended to 30 days.
8.60 The time limits stated above apply to each approach to the market. That is, a single approach to the market must comply with the time limits; or in the case of a multi-stage procurement process (such as inviting expressions of interest followed by a select tender process) each approach to the market must comply with the time limits stated above.
8.61 Where an agency intends to specify conditions for participation that require potential suppliers to undertake a separate registration or pre-qualification procedure, the agency must state the time limit for responding to the registration or pre-qualification in the approach to the market. Any such conditions for participation must be published in sufficient time to enable all potential suppliers to complete the registration and qualification procedures within the time limit for the procurement.
8.62 Where an agency extends the time limit for qualification or submission, or where negotiations are terminated and potential suppliers are permitted to lodge new submissions, the new time limit must apply equitably.
