Procurement may be defined as the process which creates, manages and fulfils contracts relating to the provision of supplies, services or engineering and construction works, the hiring of anything, disposals and the acquisition or granting of any rights and concessions. If procurement is indeed a process, it can be documented as a succession of logically related actions occurring or performed in a definite manner which culminates in the completion of a major deliverable or the attainment of a milestone. Processes in turn are underpinned by methods (i.e. a documented, systematically-ordered collection of rules or approaches) and procedures (i.e. the formal steps to be taken in the performance of a specific task, which may be evoked in the course of a process), which are informed and shaped by the policy of an organisation. Methods and procedures can likewise be documented and linked to processes.

Procurement activities commence once the need for procurement is identified and end when the transaction is completed. There are six principal procurement activities and a number of generic steps that need to be taken to proceed from one activity to another.

1. Establish what is to be procured
2. Decide on procurement strategies
3. Solicit tender offers
4. Evaluate tender offers
5. Award contract
6. Administer contracts and confirm compliance with requirements

   These generic steps may be categorized as either inputs towards the attainment of a milestone within the procurement process or procedural milestones which require decisions or approvals in order to proceed to the next step. Not all these steps will necessarily be required in a particular procurement.

   • See cidb Best Practice Guideline # A1: The procurement cycle