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Ministerial Directions for public construction procurement

Understand a project’s requirements under the Ministerial Directions for Public Construction Procurement

Policy overview

The Ministerial Directions and Instructions for Public Construction Procurement (Directions and Instructions) apply to all procurement activities by Victorian Government departments and agencies, including TAFEs. The Directions are standards for public construction written by the responsible minister under the Public Construction Management Act 1994. The Instructions are issued by the Department of Treasury and Finance (DTF) and provide mandatory and more specific guidance in line with the Directions.

Public construction procurement means activities related to the engaging of tenderers to perform works or construction services:

These Directions focus on achieving the Victorian Government’s principles for public construction procurement including value for money, scalability and ensuring appropriate competition and contestability.

Project requirements

A project’s requirements under the Directions are independent of the its funding source and will vary, depending on its dollar value.

Once the project budget has been determined, you will be able to understand its requirements under the Directions. This may assist with project planning.

Further guidance on the complete requirements of all projects under the Directions and Instructions is available.

Works or construction services by project value

Open all

If the project value is under $75,000, you may conduct a limited tender. In this case, a limited tender refers to an engagement with a sole supplier to undertake a procurement process without competition, which may or may not be sourced from a register or supplier panel (Instruction 6.1).

However, the TAFE’s internal policy requirements may deem this limit to be lower than $75,000.

Publication of a forward notice on the ‘Buying for Victoria’ tender portal is encouraged, but not required for limited tenders where appropriate, given the grounds for conducting a limited tender.

If the value of the works is between $75,000 and $750,000, or the value of construction services is between $75,000 and $300,000, you may conduct a limited tender. In this case, a limited tender refers to an engagement with two or more suppliers to undertake a procurement process with limited competition, which may or may not be sourced from a register or supplier panel (Instruction 6.1).

However, the TAFE’s internal policy requirements may deem this limit to be lower than $750,000 for works and $300,000 for construction services.

You are also required to disclose summary details of procurement undertaken for works and construction services projects valued above $100,000 (Instruction 5.2).

Publication of a forward notice on the ‘Buying for Victoria’ tender portal is encouraged, but not required for limited tenders where appropriate, given the grounds for conducting a limited tender.

If the value of the works is between $750,000 and $10,000,000, or the value of construction services is between $300,000 and $10,000,000, you must conduct an open tender or a selective tender using public construction registers and supplier panels (Instruction 6.1). When undertaking a selective tender, you must invite at least three pre-qualified suppliers in the relevant category of that register (or panel from the register) (Instruction 6.1).

Forward notices

For projects within the above-stated value range, you are required to alert potential Construction Supplier Register suppliers by issuing a forward notice in advance of commencing the procurement process. A forward notice will typically include a brief description of the project, the procurement process, the project procurement model, expected timing regarding the release of the tender and the number of expected tender participants to be invited to submit a response.

If the upcoming project is not captured by a group forward notice, you must issue a separate forward notice at a reasonable time prior to issuing a tender notice for that project (Instruction 5.1) through DTF’s nominated system, currently the ‘Buying for Victoria’ tender portal. Although forward notices must be submitted through ‘Buying for Victoria’, other platforms can be used for issuing the tender itself.

You should publish the forward notice at a reasonable time prior to releasing a tender notice or expression of interest documentation. This time period will vary depending on the project’s size and complexity. As per DTF’s non-mandatory guidance for the Ministerial Directions, the suggested time periods for issuing forward notices are:

For all open and selective tenders which meet the above value ranges for project (works) or technical consultancy services (construction services), and limited tenders subject to special circumstances (Instruction 3.2.2), you must issue tender notices (Instruction 3.4) to inform potential tenderers that the tender process has begun.

You are also be required to:

For a project value over $10,000,000, you must conduct an open tender or selective tender using the public construction supplier register. When undertaking a selective tender, you must invite at least three suppliers in the relevant category of a register (or panel from the register) (Instruction 6.1).

Forward notices

For projects within the above-stated value range, you are required to alert potential Construction Supplier Register suppliers by issuing a forward notice in advance of commencing the procurement process. A forward notice will typically include a brief description of the project, the procurement process, the project procurement model, expected timing regarding the release of the tender and the number of expected tender participants invited to submit a response.

If the upcoming project is not captured by a group forward notice, you must issue a separate forward notice at a reasonable time prior to issuing a tender notice for that project (Instruction 5.1) through DTF’s nominated system, currently the ‘Buying for Victoria’ tender portal. Although forward notices must be submitted through ‘Buying for Vic’, other platforms can be used for issuing the tender itself.

You should publish the forward notice at a reasonable time prior to releasing a tender notice or expression of interest documentation. This time period will vary depending on the project’s size and complexity. As per DTF’s non-mandatory guidance for the Ministerial Directions, the suggested time periods for issuing forward notices are:

For all open and selective tenders (and limited tenders subject to special circumstances (Instruction 3.2.2), you must issue tender notices (Instruction 3.4) to inform potential tenderers that the tender process has begun.

You are also required to:

I need to:

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Updated 7 January 2026

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