CONSTRUCTION PROCUREMENT TOOLBOX

International standards for construction procurement

The International Organization for Standardisation (ISO), accepted a proposal from the South African Bureau of Standards, supported by the Institution of Civil Engineers, the Institution of Structural Engineers, the South African Institution of Civil Engineering, the African Engineers Forum and the cidb to develop a series of international standards for construction procurement based on the South African National Standards and the Standard for Uniformity in Construction Procurement.

The objective of this series of standards is to provide a generic and standard set of processes, procedures and methods for a procurement system that is fair, equitable, transparent, competitive and cost effective and which may be used to promote objectives additional to those associated with the immediate objective of the procurement itself.

This series of standards is especially relevant for developing countries that lack experience and instruments in this field and may be used to improve international trade. The purpose of this standard is to provide a framework around which public, private and international organisations may develop their procurement systems to achieve fair competition, to reduce the possibilities for abuse and to improve predictability in procurement outcomes.

The cidb has participated in the development of these standards.

ISO 10845 is prepared by Technical Committee ISO/TC 59, Building construction, and consists of 8 parts, under the general title Construction procurement: