This Direction deals with procurement of goods and services by or for a government agency within the meaning of the Public Works and Procurement Act 1912 (as amended).

General principles

The Procurement Board supports the use of open and recognised industry standards wherever practicable when planning and delivering infrastructure as a way of enabling Australian and international suppliers to compete fairly for opportunities.  These include standards issued or recognised by Standards Australia and equivalent international entities.

The Board also acknowledges the role that recognised independent testing and certification bodies play in delivering assurance about quality of materials used in infrastructure.

Accordingly, agency contracts and prequalification schemes delivering infrastructure should use these open industry standards and independent testing and certification processes as a way to give assurance about the quality of construction materials and processes. 

These standards and processes must be capable of recognising domestic and international suppliers in a way which complies with Australia’s free trade agreement commitments.

Agencies are encouraged to publicly disclose when they or their contractors are using Australian-sourced materials on infrastructure projects valued at $10 million or above.

The Procurement Board will issue directions and guidance from time to time to support the establishment of appropriate Australian and international industry standards and independent testing and certification processes in order to improve quality of the goods and services it procures.

Fabrication and erection of steelwork

The Procurement Board supports Standards Australia’s current work to establish an Australian Standard for the Fabrication and Erection of Steelwork (Australian Standard).

The Board also gives in-principle support to the creation of the National Structural Steelwork Compliance Scheme and the certifying entity Steelwork Compliance Australia. Agencies should recognise the certification of suppliers by Steelwork Compliance Australia and for structural and reinforcing steels, the Australian Certification Authority for Reinforcing and Structural Steels.

This recognition should be extended to suppliers which have been certified by broadly equivalent national and international bodies.

The Board has agreed to amend the Government’s standard construction contract covering infrastructure works, GC21 (Edition 2) General Conditions of Contract, to reflect its support of the Australian Standard when it comes into effect and these certifying bodies. Agencies using other forms of contracts for infrastructure projects should begin to prepare to implement a similar approach wherever practicable when planning and delivering infrastructure work. A further Direction will be issued once the new Australian Standard comes into effect.

This Direction takes effect from 1 December 2015 until withdrawn.