Standard Conditions of Expression of Interest
1. Expression of interest
By submitting an Expression of Interest, the respondent acknowledges that:
- The City at its absolute discretion reserves the right to accept or reject any Expression of Interest, to decide the tender/quotation list regardless of any Expression of Interest and to issue or not issue a Request for Tender or Request for Quotation.
- The City at its absolute discretion reserves the right to reject the offer of any Respondent who has any unresolved disputes with the City.
- Any costs incurred by respondents in any way associated with the preparation and submission of this Expression of Interest, will be entirely borne by the respondent.
- No legal or other obligations will arise between a respondent and the City unless or until formal documentation has been signed.
2. Expression of interest procedure
2.1. Briefing
The City may offer briefings to Respondents from time to time. At the briefing the City’s representative will discuss, answer or clarify any issues raised by a Respondent about any requirements in the Expression of Interest. The City is not obliged to answer any questions before the briefing.
2.2. Information and Enquiries
Where a Respondent has any doubt about the meaning of any aspect of the Expression of Interest, the Respondent must make enquiries about and clarify matters with the City’s Procurement Representative. All enquiries about the Expression of Interest must be referred in writing to the City's Procurement Representative. All communications related to this Expression of Interest should be addressed to the City’s Procurement Representative (via the contact details specified on the website) and not to other the City officers or other persons. The attention of Respondents is drawn to condition 2.3.
2.3. Respondent Not to Solicit City Personnel
Subject to condition 2.2, Respondents (or any representative of a Respondent) must not at any time before the City makes a final decision to accept a submission, contact or interview or attempt to interview or to discuss or to attempt to discuss with Council members, employees, authorised representatives other than City's Procurement Representative in accordance with the Expression of Interest, any matter about the Expression of Interest or any other Expression of Interest submitted in response to the Expression of Interest. The City reserves the right to reject any submission which contravenes this condition. For clarity, a representative of a Respondent, for the purpose of this condition, includes a person or other legal entity who acts at the request of a Respondent or its agent. Also, this condition does not prevent ordinary business or other contact arising from or pertaining to the City functions (so long as that contact is not used to interview or attempt to interview or to discuss or to attempt discussion on any matter relating the Expression of Interest.
2.4. Returnable Forms
Respondents must complete all parts of the Expression of Interest form. The City may reject any Respondents Expression of Interest which does not provide all the required information.
3. Lodgement of expression of interest
Expressions of Interest must be lodged by either:
i). Using the online form. Respondents must ensure they allow sufficient time to upload their submission in full to the portal. Respondents will receive a Successful Submission Receipt timed and dated upon completion.
ii). Expressions of Interest may also be placed in the tender box by the closing date and time and in accordance with the standard conditions of Expression of Interest at the following address Tender Box Town Hall House Level 1, 456 Kent Street SYDNEY NSW 2000
If lodging to the Tender Box City of Sydney requests, one original and one hardcopy of the Expression of Interest and attachments, signed as required must be submitted. The front page of each copy (including all supporting information) must be endorsed by the Respondent as a true copy. The Tender box is accessible between the hours of 8am and 6pm, Monday to Friday.
Any Expression of Interest s received by the City after the closing date will not, unless the Local Government (General) Regulation provides otherwise, be considered by the City.
All Expressions of Interest lodged will become the property of the City and on no account will they be returned to the Respondent.
4. Acceptance of expression of interest and contract
If the City accepts an Expression of Interest, it will issue a notification to the preferred Respondent. This notification does not create a contract with the Respondents. The City and preferred Respondent are legally bound only when a written Contract is executed by the parties. Lodgement of an Expression of Interest will itself be an acknowledgement and representation by the Respondent that it agrees to comply with the Contract in its entirety. No material amendments to contract conditions will be accepted.
5. Conflict of interest
In this clause “conflict of interest” means an actual or potential pecuniary or nonpecuniary conflict of interest (see the Council’s Code of Conduct under Governance for further explanation of these terms). Respondents must disclose any conflict of interest in undertaking the requirements of the specifications and contract. Where a Respondent has a conflict of interest, the Respondent must provide the City in writing with detailed information about the nature and scope of the conflict of interest and include details of any arrangements proposed to resolve or manage the conflict of interest should the Respondent be awarded the contract. Based on the information provided by the Respondent, the City will make the final decision regarding the Respondents conflict of interest. If a conflict of interest is not disclosed by a Respondent and the City then becomes aware of the conflict, Respondents may be excluded from this Expression of Interest and/or any future process by which the City is seeking the provision of goods or services.
Additional Information relating to the City’s requirements of Respondents regarding how to submit an Expression of Interest, frequently asked questions and ethical business conduct can be found on the website.
6. No business in abuse
Respondents are advised that the City has resolved to adopt the "No Business In Abuse" pledge and is currently reviewing the implementation of the pledge in the context of its procurement policies. If and to the extent this review results in a change to the City's existing procurement practice and such change affects this procurement process an addendum will be issued to all Respondents. For the information of Respondents, the pledge provides that all companies should:
a) have zero tolerance for child abuse;
b) Respect people's fundamental rights to freedom from arbitrary and indefinite detention;
c) Not treat people in a cruel, inhumane or degrading manner; and
d) Commit to transparency and independent monitoring to ensure these principles are upheld.
7. Assessment criteria
Expressions of Interest will be examined and evaluated according to the criteria tabled in the Key Conditions.
Each of the mandatory evaluation criteria listed above is critical to this Expression of Interest. They are not of equal weight for evaluation and are not listed in order of priority.
Respondents compliance on each of the mandatory evaluation criteria will be separately evaluated using the Evaluation Rating Scale below:
Score Rating Description
90 – 100 No risk, excellent response with added value and innovation
80 – 89 No risk, excellent response
70 – 79 Very low risk, good response 60 – 69 Low risk, good response
50 – 59 Low risk, acceptable response Score Rating Description
40 – 49 Medium risk, but acceptable response
If a Respondent receives a score of less than 40 in any one mandatory assessment criteria, that Respondent will be deemed non-compliant and will not be recommended for acceptance by the City.
The City may undertake financial assessments of Respondents to determine their financial capacity to undertake the works under the contract. This may be undertaken by a third party appointed by the City.
On request the Respondent must provide recent year’s financial information which may include financial statements (P&L, Balance sheets and notes) and Management accounts / financial statements.