For activities valued $30,000 or less, you have to obtain at least one written quote for each activity element of the project.

For activities valued over $30,000 and up to $150,000, you need to obtain at least three written quotes for each of these high-value project activity elements.

If you are in a rural area and are unable to obtain the required amount of quotes this must be documented in the minutes of the board meeting. All efforts need to be exhausted to obtain the quotes and the board minutes need to show this. Due to lower populations in rural areas there is an increased possibility the supplier will be known to a CLM board member. If there is a conflict of interest, this must be noted in the minutes of the board meeting and that member must exclude themselves from the decision process.

For each activity element over $150,000 you are required to put the work out to public tender. As a minimum, the public tender process must include the following steps:

1. Form a tender evaluation committee (TEC). The TEC, comprising at least two people (preferably three), is responsible for managing the tender process, assessing the received quotes, and selecting the successful supplier. Each TEC member must sign the Declaration of Interest form.
2. Publish an advertisement notifying the public that you’re seeking quotes for the work. The publication should be sufficiently broad to reach a reasonable number of potential suppliers, for example a local newspaper. You may also wish to place a notification on your website if you have one. Refer to the Preparing a tender advertisement guide for suggested advertisement wording.
3. Allow an adequate amount of time for potential suppliers to respond—at least two weeks from the date of publication. Quotes should be sent to a designated person (for example, the CLM secretary). This person should not review any of the quotes until they are assessed by all TEC members (see below).
   1. Each potential supplier must be given the same information about the project.
   2. You should not accept late quotes. In exceptional circumstances the TEC may grant a short extension as long as the reasons are documented and permission is given in writing prior to the original deadline.

4. This step only applies if insufficient responses are received to your advertisement.
   

   If you receive less than three quotes in response to your advertisement, the TEC should authorise a designated person to contact a number of potential suppliers directly for quotes (with a new shared deadline). a. The process must be managed equitably as per the sub points at step 3.

5. Assess all the received quotes (there must be at least three). The TEC should meet on an agreed date, review their respective Declaration of Interest forms and then determine their criteria for what will constitute ‘best value for money’ (see above). Members may then review the quotes and select the one that represents the best value for money.
   1. Typically, each quote will be given a score (out of 10, for instance) for each criterion, with the highest overall score normally being the one chosen.
   2. The criteria, scores and other factors relevant to the TEC’s assessments must be documented and signed by all members.

6. A person designated by the TEC should notify the successful and unsuccessful suppliers in writing of the outcome.
7. The decision about which supplier to use on your project should be made by more than one person from the TEC. All decision makers must apply the guidance of the Procurement Code of Conduct, including signing the Declaration of Interest form, and document their processes and the reasons for selecting their preferred supplier. All decisions must be included in the CLMs board meetings detailing all the actions taken during the procurement process.