Procurement policies
The procurement of project materials, equipment and services is of vital importance to the successful development of the new plant and company. Capital expenditure on the Qatalum project is substantial.
Procurement for Qatalum will be based on an EPC (Engineering, Procurement, Construction) philosophy where the total project is split into a manageable number of main contracts administered by the owners. This will maximize overall competition and allow opportunities for several principal aluminium contractors to participate in this extensive project.
This approach will enable the final project development costs to be predicted at an early stage.
Principles
Procurement for the Qatalum project will be undertaken in accordance with the owners’ requirements, relevant legislation and established procedures and principles. These principles emphasize business ethics, cost and time consciousness, social responsibility, sound business practices, open communication and dialogue with the market.
Subject to the State of Qatar's requirements for the local sourcing of goods and services contract awards will whenever possible be based on international competitive tendering. Only companies that demonstrate commercial robustness and the required technical capabilities will be pre-qualified as bidders.
Contracts will as far as possible comprise engineering, procurement, fabrication, transport to site, installation, mechanical completion, commissioning and start-up assistance. The contractor's documentation shall also include operational documentation.
Packages
The strategy of splitting the project into a number of packages will also allow the project to have due regard for the concurrently high workload in Qatar.
The contracts will be based on fixed prices for the contract period, unless risk evaluation recommends the introduction of escalation provisions. The compensation format will be lump sum as far as practicable.
The project team will complete a pre-qualification appraisal of potential bidders for all project contracts. Pre-qualification inquiry, evaluation and recommendation of potential tenders will be carried out according to project procedure and approval protocols.
Contractors will be evaluated for the particular contract in question. The primary focus will be to establish the contractor’s ability to achieve the intended contract objectives. Evaluation criteria will include HSE management, technological abilities, company infrastructure, project and Middle East experience, key resources, concurrent workload, financial solidity, project control and quality management.