Sixteen terms. Two sentences each. Then why it matters for the call.

All-of-Government contract (official)

A standing cross-agency contract for common categories, joined at establishment or reopening. Actual work is competed later as secondary procurements.

Why it matters for bid/no-bid: score the seat and the call-offs as separate calls, on separate dates.

Broader Outcomes (dated 4th-edition language)

The 4th-edition name for the outcomes family that Rule 8 now governs as economic benefit. It survives in legacy contracts and unrevised agency pages.

Why it matters for bid/no-bid: useful for reading a 4th-edition pack; wrong as the answer to a current Rule 8 criterion.

Debrief (Rule 33)

The account an agency must offer each unsuccessful supplier: reasons, performance against criteria and pre-conditions, relative strengths and weaknesses, and the winner’s relative advantages. Confidential material of other suppliers is never included.

Why it matters for bid/no-bid: the cheapest qualification data you will ever get, if you ask inside the window.

5th edition (current Rules)

The Government Procurement Rules in effect from 1 December 2025. Contracts entered before that date stay on the 4th edition.

Why it matters for bid/no-bid: the edition decides which thresholds, weightings, and terms govern your pack.

GETS (official)

The Government Electronic Tender Service: the free public notice board for New Zealand government opportunities. Registration is needed to download, respond, and manage alerts, not to browse.

Why it matters for bid/no-bid: the board is the start of the gate, not the end of one. Listing volume is not pipeline.

Mandated agency (official)

An agency bound by the Government Procurement Rules, distinct from an eligible agency that has chosen to opt in, and from buyers outside the Rules entirely.

Why it matters for bid/no-bid: buyer status decides which rule set you are bidding under. Name it on day one.

No-bid (practice)

The recorded, dated decision not to pursue a tender. Conforming, sent on time, and legitimate under any edition of the Rules.

Why it matters for bid/no-bid: it is the product. A firm that cannot show one does not have a gate.

Price quality method (NZTA practice)

NZTA’s published method for combining quality and price scores by formula. It is NZTA’s method; other buyers publish their own evaluation methods.

Why it matters for bid/no-bid: read the pack’s method edition before pricing; if no deliverable price wins the formula, no-bid.

Pre-condition (Rule 14)

A gate the pack names that must be met before scoring starts. Unmet means excluded, however strong the rest of the response.

Why it matters for bid/no-bid: the first hunt in week one. Not held today means no.

Principles and Charter (official)

The foundations of good practice and the government’s expectations sitting under the Rules. The Guide to Procurement helps agencies apply them; it cannot be used instead of the Rules.

Why it matters for bid/no-bid: when a buyer cites guidance against you, ask for the Rule underneath it.

Procure Connect (official)

The specialised tendering tool agencies use to run secondary procurements from panels and contracts.

Why it matters for bid/no-bid: panel membership without a Connect watch is a seat with no eyes on the work.

Public value (official context)

The outcome the Rules exist to achieve: the balance of price, quality, benefit, and risk that the evaluation is meant to find. Economic benefit is assessed as part of it.

Why it matters for bid/no-bid: bid the balance the buyer set, not the lowest price or the glossiest method alone.

ROI: Registration of Interest (official)

A stage asking for interest and capability ahead of a priced round, not a priced offer. The close cousin of Australia’s EOI, governed by its own pack.

Why it matters for bid/no-bid: cheaper than an RFT but not free. Gate the hours before the capability statement opens.

Rule 8: Economic benefit to New Zealand (statutory rule)

The 5th-edition rule requiring economic benefit above $100,000 for goods, services and refurbishment, or $9 million for new construction, evaluated at 10 percent or more. Below the line, award to capable New Zealand businesses is expected practice, not compulsion.

Why it matters for bid/no-bid: a weighted criterion at a tenth of the score or more decides resourcing, and sometimes the call.

Secondary procurement (official)

A mini-competition among panel or contract members for actual work. Each carries its own scope, timing, and gate.

Why it matters for bid/no-bid: membership never converts a call-off into a yes. Gate each one.

Syndicated contract (official)

A contract grouping agencies with a shared need. Suppliers join at formation; agencies buy through it without fresh open processes.

Why it matters for bid/no-bid: same economics as any panel, joining cost against winnable call-offs.

Keep reading

Elsewhere in this guide.