Appendix 17
Non-recurrent Grants (Furniture/Equipment)

(Please read in conjunction with:
EDBC30/99 Tendering and Purchasing Procedures in Aided Schools;
EDBC2/2001A Composite Furniture and Equipment Grant and Transition Furniture and Equipment Grant for Aided Schools; and

EDBC8/2003 Payment of Non-recurrent Furniture and Equipment Subsidy to Aided School.)

 
Furniture and Equipment Grants for items costing $3,000 or above for Practical Schools/Skills Opportunity Schools
Application for inclusion in Annual Draft Estimates
1. Request for grants towards the cost of new furniture and equipment or for repairs and replacements of existing items of furniture and equipment costing $3,000 or more for practical schools/skills opportunity schools must be submitted to the Education Department on the form shown at Appendix 29 not later than the date prescribed by the Director each year, so that the requests may be considered by the Education Department for inclusion in the following year's Draft Estimates.
2. Request for grants in respect of new items of furniture and equipment, which have not been included in the Estimates, will not normally be considered unless they are of an emergency or unforeseen nature.
Tendering Procedure
3. Schools will be advised normally at the beginning of each financial year of the items in respect of which grants have been approved and tenders should then be called for as soon as possible for single purchases exceeding $10,000. Schools should seek separate tender from not less than five different suppliers normally selected from the standard list of suppliers issued by the Education Department. Tenders should be sought by using the standard letter shown at Appendix 20 and the tender form at Appendices 21 & 22. Two copies of the tender form should be prepared and provided to each supplier invited to tender. The suppliers invited to tender should be given full specifications of the required furniture/equipment and, whenever possible, samples should be provided or shown to the suppliers so that they may be certain of the type and finish of the item required, particularly where furniture is concerned. The closing date for submission of tenders must also be clearly specified in the invitation of tenders. (See Notes.)
4. The original of each tender received should be forwarded to the Education Department together with three copies of a tender price comparison table in the form shown at Appendix 25. If it has not been possible to obtain five tenders, the circumstances should be explained and the names of the firms which declined or failed to tender should be supplied when forwarding tenders received to the Education Department. Tenders or tendered prices will be approved only if the Education Department is satisfied that items included in tenders are the same as those approved in the Estimates.
5. Schools will be advised which tender or tendered prices are approved for grant purposes. No order should be placed with the suppliers until such advice is given by the Education Department.
6. For single purchases not exceeding $10,000, purchases may be arranged by obtaining two or more quotations with the lowest offer being accepted. All quotations (verbal/written) will need to be recorded in the prescribed form as shown at Appendix 26. A single purchase in this context is taken as a bill of purchase of relevant items from a single company on any one occasion. Principals should conduct random checks on the quotation records from time to time.
7. No tenders for furniture and equipment will normally be accepted by the Education Department after 1 January of each year. In cases, however, where such a tender is accepted after 1 January, it will be only on the understanding that the articles will be supplied and bills for payment submitted to the Education Department before 1 March.
8. Grants may be claimed after the submission of receipted bills which must be personally certified by the Supervisor/Principal of the school to the effect that all items included in the bill have been received in good condition and in accordance with the specifications and drawings, and that all items are for aided school purposes only. In this connection, if any items received from a supplier do not conform to the specifications or sample provided to the supplier when invited to tender, the school should refuse payment until such time as the correct item is supplied. If the supplier is unable or refuses to supply the correct item, the Director should be advised.
Application for a Revote of Non-recurrent Grants Approved
9. Grants approved during the current financial year but not claimed in accordance with the procedure described in this Appendix, will lapse after the end of that financial year. If a school anticipates that it will be unable to use an approved grant during the current financial year, it should apply on or before 1 February of that year for a revote of the grant in the next financial year, giving grounds in support of the application.
Notes :
  (i) Schools should follow the Notes for Preparation of Invitation to Tender (Appendix 23) so that all documents could be properly completed before submission to the Education Department;
  (ii) Schools are advised to group items of Furniture and Equipment of the same category in the same Tender Schedule (Appendix 24) before inviting suppliers to tender;
  (iii) Schools must ensure that invitations to tender should clearly indicate the closing date and time for receipt of tenders.
  (iv) All tenders should be recorded on the Tender Summary Sheet down at Appendix 27 before they would be sent to selected suppliers by registered mail.
  (v) All tenders received should be lodged in a locked tender box situated in a convenient location in schools.
  (vi) On opening tenders, all tenders should be initialled, dated and checked to see if both the original and duplicate copy of the tenders are identical by a Committee consisting of at least two authorized persons of the schools. It is important to note that no tenders should be opened before the date and time specified for receiving tenders.
  (vii) All tenders received should be entered in the Tender Summary Sheet to show the number of offers, non-offers and the like.
  (viii) Later tenders should not be opened and their covers should be clearly marked "LATE TENDER, RECEIVED BY TENDERING OPENING COMMITTEE ON _______________" and initialled by all members of the Committee. However, late tenders may be handed to the Supervisors/Principals for consideration when and only when no offers for specific items have been received.
  (ix) All communications regarding tenders must be classified as RESTRICTED DOCUMENTS till the award of the successful tender.