The implementation and results of an interactive tender process

This paper presents the philosophy, the development, the implementation process and the results of the interactive tender process (ITP) developed and adopted by ECNZ for the Second Manapouri Tailrace Tunnel Project. It will show how the ITP was used to complement ECNZ’s objectives of developing a set of contract documents which allocated the risks equitably between the contractor and the owner and which minimised the contingent provisions normally incorporated by contractors in their tender pricing. In pursuing these objectives the contract documents incorporated provisions for a Disputes Review Board, provided a Geotechnical Baseline and required bid documents to be escrowed. This paper will discuss the merits of the ITP, describe in detail the ITP process and will comment on its success in achieving ECNZ’s objectives.