Paradigm shift in the new procurement law
More quality competition, sustainability and innovation: with these goals in mind, legislators have introduced a paradigm shift with the new public procurement law. Successful implementation will depend on the efforts of procurement offices and suppliers in equal measure. ETH Zurich welcomes this change and intends to take advantage of the opportunities.
The new federal procurement law comes into force on 1 January 2021 and introduces a number of innovations. The most fundamental change in the new legislation is a paradigm shift that places greater emphasis on quality competition, sustainability and innovation. Priority will now be given to the “most advantageous” rather than the “most economical” offer. The law aims to eradicate price dumping and requires compliance with social and environmental standards.
Seize the opportunity, redefine procurement culture
This paradigm shift offers procurement offices substantial opportunities and enables a new procurement culture. The procurement volume of ETH is approximately CHF 650 million per year. ETH already places great emphasis on sustainability, quality and innovation in its procurement processes (see e.g. Downloadthe procurement policy of 2012 (PDF, 4.4 MB), in German), and, where possible, calculates full costs over the entire lifecycle. The revised procurement law creates new potential to be tapped. ETH wants to take this opportunity to intensify its focus on quality, sustainability and innovation, and redefine its procurement culture.
As with any change in the law, there will be a period of uncertainty and ambiguity at the beginning. The new procurement law also deliberately leaves room for discretion. Procurement offices must redefine their procurement culture and refocus their efforts with clear objectives. A willingness to assume both risks and responsibility will be required. Procurement will tend to become more complex in terms of content. Tenders under the new procurement law will require more knowledge, resources and time.
ETH Procurement Policy 2.0
To ensure that the new procurement culture is implemented robustly and established across all levels of ETH, workshops are currently being held at the strategic and operational levels. Both the decision-makers and responsible parties as well as the procurement staff themselves are involved. Plans are in place to define the new procurement culture in the “Procurement Policy 2.0”, to develop tools and to further develop the capabilities of procurement staff.
On its homepage, the Legal Office provides up-to-date documents and links concerning the new procurement law, and in particular the paradigm shift (factsheet, information notices, templates, training). This includes the resources of the Federal Procurement Conference (FPC) and the Coordination Conference for Construction and Property Services of Public Building Owners (KBOB), of which ETH is also a member.