Procurement process and how it should work How procurement should work (and what to check) Planning & market sounding Should publish procurement plans with realistic timelines and budgets, so competent bidders can prepare. Red flags: artificial urgency; splitting contracts to avoid thresholds; unexplained direct awards. Tender stage Open, competitive tendering is the default. Documents must be publicly available; OCDS fields (planning • tender • award • contract • implementation) should be completed. Red flags: tailor-made specs, brand-locking, excessive experience thresholds, “one day” bid windows, hidden addenda. Citizen check: Track number of bidders; unusual patterns (same few companies); complaints filed. Open-contracting evidence shows that competition increases and prices fall when data are open and used (OCP impact). Award & contract Publish the winning bid, evaluation scores, contract price vs. estimated cost, performance bonds, and change-order rules. Red fl...
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