The activities involved in receiving and assessing tenders, of making offers for and finalising contract arrangements for the supply, sale or purchase of goods and services.

See the organisation's functional retention and disposal authority for records relating to tenders for major construction projects for landmark structures or major infrastructure, e.g. Sydney Opera House, Sydney Harbour Tunnel etc or projects or services of government-wide impact, e.g. tenders for insurance or workers compensation for the whole of government.

See the organisation's functional retention and disposal authority for records relating to when an organisation manages tenders as a substantial component of its functional operations and responsibilities, e.g. Landcom regarding property development.

See the relevant function/POLICY or the relevant function/PROCEDURES for records relating to policies or procedures regarding tendering, e.g. use EQUIPMENT & STORES - POLICY for records relating to policies regarding tendering for equipment.

See CONTRACTING-OUT for records relating to contracts for outsourcing the operations or arranging, procuring and managing the provision of services by an external consultant or contractor once the tender has been decided.

No Description of records Disposal action
21.0.1 Records relating to the development, issue, evaluation and review of tenders. Records include:

  • records of planning for the tender
  • minutes or notes of meetings
  • Statements of Requirements
  • Requests for Proposals
  • Expressions of Interest
  • Requests for Tender (RFT)
  • draft contracts
  • records of arrangements for carrying out the evaluation process
  • evaluation reports
  • recommendations
  • final reports
  • public notices
  • records of post offer negotiations
  • records of due diligence checks.

Retain minimum of 7 years after tender process completed, then destroy
21.0.2 Records relating to unsuccessful tenders or a tender process where there is no suitable bidder, or where the tender process has been discontinued. Records include:

  • submissions
  • notifications of outcome
  • reports on debriefing sessions.

Retain minimum of 2 years after action completed, then destroy
21.0.3 Records relating to contracts resulting from tenders and supporting records. Records include:

  • correspondence and records of negotiations including minutes or notes of meetings
  • draft versions of contracts or agreements containing significant changes/alterations or formally circulated for comment
  • final, approved and signed versions of contracts or agreements
  • records of variation or review of contracts or agreements.

Note: Specialty contracts include contracts under seal and deeds to property.
Note: In some cases the agreement may specify retention periods for records relating to the agreement or the fulfilment of conditions of the agreement. In these cases the 'expiry of the agreement' should be interpreted to include the fulfilment of these retention periods or conditions.
Note: Limitation periods for contractual agreements or arrangements may be longer in other States. These may need to be taken into account when assessing retention requirements for intrastate agreements or arrangements.

(A) For specialty contracts:

Retain minimum of 12 years after expiry or termination of agreement or after action completed, whichever is later, then destroy

(B) For standard contracts or agreements:

Retain minimum of 7 years after expiry or termination of agreement or after action completed, whichever is later, then destroy
21.0.4 Summary records created to facilitate the management of contracts or tenders, e.g. contract registers, tender registers.
Note: With paper-based registers, retain minimum of 7 years after last entry in the register. With electronic registers, retain minimum of 7 years after last update or amendment to an entry, or after data has become obsolete, then destroy.

Retain minimum of 7 years after action completed, then destroy
Recordkeeping Rules
Retention & Disposal Authorities