Nominee purchasing
- Nominee purchasing enables a supplier to buy goods and services from a third-party supplier to fulfil a specific contractual obligation. Both suppliers must have existing standing offers (rate cards) with NSW Government.
- Nominee purchasing is managed by NSW Government agencies, at the agency level.
- Nominee purchasing is regulated by the Public Works and Procurement Regulation 2019.
Understand nominee purchasing
Nominee purchasing is sometimes also called third-party purchasing.
It refers to the situation where a supplier needs to buy goods or services that they don't produce themselves, so they can fulfil specific contractual obligations they have to NSW Government.
In this instance, they may be authorised to buy these goods and services from another supplier.
Company A is awarded a contract to complete a fit-out for a NSW Government school.
They need to source school desks at the most affordable price. After checking with their own supply chains and working with the Department of Education, it's clear that the best pricing is available via Company B, a furniture supplier who has an existing contract with NSW Government.
To purchase the desks, company A requests authorisation to buy from Company B for the NSW Government price.
Company A is called a nominee purchaser. The Department of Education is the nominating agency.
The nominating agency authorise Company A to have limited, timed access to Company B's catalogue to fulfil their contract obligations. This access may last hours or days, and is limited by the NSW Government agency and NSW Procurement.
Nominee purchasing is usually only relevant for suppliers with a large statement of work, for example, an office fit-out or a state-wide hardware rollout.
However, many suppliers who bid for large statement of works don't need to make use of nominee purchasing. They often have their own purchasing power and supply chains, and will factor their likely procurement costs into their tender responses and contracts from the start.
Other suppliers may benefit from the lower costs available through NSW Government contracts. This is especially true for unexpected costs (such as security personnel or personal protective equipment).
Agencies manage nominee purchasing
To become a nominee purchaser, a supplier must request authorisation from the NSW Government agency they're working with. This agency is called the nominating agency.
Each agency may have a different process for authorising a nominee purchaser.
We encourage suppliers to email their agency directly and ask for the details they’ll need, such as the purpose, product, timeframe to access the third-party rate card or catalogue.
Access to third-party content is timed and limited
Suppliers may only have access for a number of hours or days, so it's important they're prepared and available.
They will only be able to view a specific third-party rate card or catalogue. They will not be able to view all NSW Government contracts.
Nominee purchasers cannot access other third-party contracts, and they cannot purchase goods and services for any other statements of work, or any other customers.
Agencies may access other agencies' contracts
Where the nominating agency does not have access to a particular contract (for example, because the contract is managed by a different agency or cluster), they can contact NSW Procurement, who will direct them to the contract manager.
The contract manager will consider the commercial terms of the contract, and the third-party supplier's willingness to share their rate cards with a nominee purchaser.
Nominee purchasing is regulated
The NSW Procurement Board is able to provide access to third-party contracts as per clause 6 of the Public Works and Procurement Regulation 2019 for the provision of goods and services.