panel of contractors that have pre-qualified in some way to be considered for work in the future. Typically, contractors under panel type arrangements have simply pre-qualified on the basis of health and safety or insurance criteria and broadly have the skills to deliver the scope of work/services. Such arrangements usually have a large number of pre-qualified contractors/consultants and they are not set up to deliver a set scope of work/services, but rather may be called on by the client to provide a quotation for work as demands and the client sees fit. These arrangements do not provide the market with any guaranteed or reasonable expectation of a pipeline of work, which the market needs to ensure that it retains the necessary resources to deliver projects/services as they arise. Framework Contracting, on the other hand, is for a specific programme of works/services over a set period of time. The client selects a small number of contractors to deliver that scope, so that each framework contractor has a reasonable expectation, if it performs, that it will get a pipeline of work over the designated time period. Contractors then have a much needed pipeline of work and the client has certainty that it has a small pool of contractors that will deliver the works/services. This is all achieved while still ensuring the best public value, as the client can ask more than one Framework Contractor to provide a quotation for a particular scope of work/services. Another benefit of these arrangements is that the terms of the contract for delivery of the works/services (which can be based on a New Zealand standard form such as NZS 3910/3916 or CCCS for consultants), has been agreed upfront so there is no time (or money) wasted on procurement or negotiating standard terms. A note for government agencies - Framework Contracting under the Government Procurement Rules The new Government Procurement Rules (4th Edition) (GPR) which come into effect on 1 October this year (but which agencies can adopt now), contemplates this type of secondary procurement that a Framework Contract offers. Rule 57 deals with a Panel of Suppliers and acknowledges that selection of methods for secondary procurement may include a variety of processes such as direct source, competitive quotes from the panel suppliers, and equal division of work. The Framework Contract will set out the client’s selection method for seeking this secondary procurement, and what that is will depend on how many Framework Contractors there are, the scope of the work, the performance of the Framework Contractors, and whether there is any guarantee of a certain scope of work. Of course, the selection of the pool of contractors to be part of the Framework Contract would be competitively tendered and, if the GPR are mandatory for a particular agency, that agency must comply with the GPR when setting up the Framework Contract arrangement. For advice or assistance with Framework Contracts or any other construction law matter please get in touch with one of our specialists. below. 1 Lendlease made this announcement in relation to its Engineering and Services division in February 2019, and is now trying to sell this poor performing division and exit the civil construction sector. About the authors Michael weatherall partner Lisa Curran Special counsel Simpson grierson