Water client leads way in electronic tendering

Electronic tendering has moved closer with the announcement by a major construction client, the Northern Ireland's Water Service, that as from 1 September paper copies of tenders will not be issued or accepted.

The region's non-privatised Water Service has an annual infrastructure spend of £90m, split between 100 new contracts per year. Its pioneering announcement last week is expected to be followed by similar moves by more client bodies in Northern Ireland covering roads, housing and rivers, as well as the Health Estates and the Construction Service.

The Electronic Tendering Group, which is committed to implementing electronic tendering on an industry-wide basis in Northern Ireland, has welcomed the move. The ETC comprises the 450 contractor members of the Construction Employers Federation, together with surveyors, engineers and clients.

The latest announcement is in response to the Government's Our Competitive Future - Building the Knowledge Driven Economy White Paper which set a goal of creating "the best environment in the world for electronic trading" in the UK by 2002.

That challenge calls for 90% by volume of routine procurement by central government to be conducted electronically by March 2001.

And a further target is that by 2002, 25% of government services will be accessible electronically. . It will review whether this is sufficiently challenging to ensure that the UK is at the forefront of international best practice.

In line with these requirements, Northern Ireland companies are being encouraged to undertake a phased implementation of electronic exchange capabilities through the Construction Industry Trading Electronically initiative.