The Law, Politics, and Art of Specification Writing
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Posted On :
Dec-22-2011
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Article Word Count :
438
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Like a buyer given the job of developing specifications for bids on services and goods your company is mandated to produce in your constituents, you face a legal and political task that requires artful execution.
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Like a buyer given the job of developing specifications for bids on services and goods your company is mandated to produce in your constituents, you face a legal and political task that requires artful execution. Legally, you have to you'll want to state clearly and specifically what on earth is necessary. Politically, you must avoid bias. The art lies between the two of these extremes.
Some bids, for mundane items including copier paper, would seem to be fairly uncomplicated. But even here, legal requirements and politics apply. For instance, if your agency becomes necessary by law to provide copier paper made out of a selected percentage of recycled materials, you should reveal this fact inside specification in order to be sure all respondents have an equal opportunity to respond competitively. To omit such a fact could establish a political firestorm after contract award if it is found that the chosen vendor doesn't in fact offer a product that meets the letter within the law. The onus is for the buyer to make certain all legal requirements are revealed in the specification.
Beneficial needs also prevent issues including bid protests after award. Bid protests frequently claim propensity in the direction of one merchant, mainly where the language helpful to describe the needed goods or services is proprietary or originated by one vendor. It is not uncommon for states to create obstacles to vet vendors by requiring all or nothing statements: ?Our firm can meet or exceed all specifications as written within?? This type of terminology helps prevent contemplation on vendors who would improve with just 60% of a bid knowing these are struggling to provide you with the other 40%, making the purchase officer?s job much easier.
Nevertheless, this sort of vocabulary can also be a barrier to innovation, technical development, or new techniques of service shipping and delivery. Take a recent occurrence where really specific language steered only certain suppliers to apply for a particular contract chance. A sizable, successful vendor had been disappointed about the Convocation for Bids (IFB) to the statewide email system, saying the way it ended up being prepared slanted results toward Microsoft products because of how narrowly the specifications were written. In this case, unnecessarily narrow bid specifications may have resulted in fewer competitive bids from vendors who might have given more innovative and complete solutions.
The best advice about writing bid descriptions might not ultimately be legal or political, but journalistic. Consult who, what, when, where, why, and how about each specification. And edit the final scribble wearing your legal and political glasses to develop a procurement must-see!
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Article Source :
http://www.articleseen.com/Article_The Law, Politics, and Art of Specification Writing_122804.aspx
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Author Resource :
Based in American Fork, Utah, BidSync offers a comprehensive array of purchasing and electronic procurement solutions for government agencies and businesses across North America. BidSync's bid notification system helps vendors to identify, respond to, and win government bid opportunities that grow their businesses.
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Keywords :
procurement solutions for government agencies, win government bid opportunities,
Category :
Business
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Business
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