What is Competent Authority?

What is a Competent Authority?

In government procurement, the competent authority is the official or body that has the power to take a particular decision. That power comes from the organisation’s delegation of financial powers, which sets who can approve what, usually by type of decision and value.

There is no single competent authority for a tender. The official who approves the estimate, the one who approves the tender document and the one who accepts the bid can all be different people.

What it approves

Tender documents often say “approval of the competent authority” without naming the post. The buyer’s internal delegation decides who that is in each case.

• Administrative approval and expenditure sanction for the purchase
• The tender document, mode of tendering and evaluation method
• Changes such as corrigenda, extensions or relaxations, where needed
• The committee’s recommendation and the final award of contract
• Cancellation or retendering, where that becomes necessary

How it differs from the committee

A tender committee or TEC examines bids and recommends. The competent authority approves, sends back or rejects that recommendation. In many organisations the authority that accepts the bid is called the Tender Accepting Authority.

Decisions taken by someone without the delegated power can be questioned later in audit, so buyers record which authority approved each step.

Tips for buyers

Check the delegation of powers before each approval, as the value of the bid can move the decision to a higher level. Record the approval in the file with the date and the reasons.