Public Procurement Law and Local Content Training Course

Duration 10 days 17 modules · 65 contact hours
Level Intermediate Certificate on completion
Who attends Public Procurement Managers, Tender Committee Members and others
Fee from USD 2,200 KSh 190,000 for Kenyan organisations
Where 52 cities + online See dates by city
Next start 16 Nov 2026 Course code SD-P-130

Before you join: Participants should have prior exposure to purchasing, tendering, contract administration, public finance, project delivery or supplier management.

Dates & prices

Two start dates a month in every city, and live online on weekdays or weekends. Fees are per participant; classroom fees include tuition, materials, lunch and refreshments, and the certificate.

Suggest a date or city

Showing the next six months. Later dates, other cities and private deliveries for your team are available on request.

Course overview

Public procurement teams must obtain value for money while meeting legal duties of transparency, equal treatment, competition, accountability and public policy delivery. Local content requirements add further complexity: buyers may need to create domestic employment, supplier development, technology transfer or regional participation without producing discriminatory specifications, weak competition or unsuccessful challenges. Errors in planning, tender design, evaluation, contract award or supplier monitoring can lead to protests, audit findings, delayed projects and poor policy results.

This course examines the legal and operational controls behind government tenders, from procurement planning through contract close-out. Participants work with core public procurement principles, the UNCITRAL Model Law, WTO Government Procurement Agreement disciplines, OECD MAPS concepts and local content policy instruments. They learn to select defensible procurement methods, prepare tender documents, set qualification and evaluation criteria, manage clarifications, record decisions, address conflicts of interest, evaluate bids and handle supplier challenges. The course also covers local content definitions, targets, verification methods, supplier development measures and contract management controls.

Teaching combines short legal briefings with public-sector cases, tender-document reviews, evaluation-panel simulations, group analysis and structured application planning. Participants build components of a procurement file during the course, including a procurement strategy, local content requirement schedule, evaluation model, governance record and contract-monitoring plan. The final capstone brings these elements into a complete tender package for a realistic public project.

The course suits procurement professionals, tender committees, legal advisers, project managers and policy officers working on public expenditure, infrastructure, utilities, health, donor-funded programmes and state-owned enterprises. It is designed for practitioners who must apply procurement rules while achieving credible domestic economic outcomes.

What you will be able to do

  • Interpret public procurement principles, legal sources and mandatory procedural controls
  • Develop a procurement strategy using market analysis, risk assessment and method selection
  • Draft tender documents with lawful specifications, qualification criteria and evaluation rules
  • Design local content requirements that are measurable, proportionate and auditable
  • Conduct bid evaluation using documented scoring, clarification and moderation procedures
  • Manage conflicts of interest, confidentiality, debriefings and supplier challenge risks
  • Monitor local content commitments through reporting, verification and contractual remedies
  • Produce a complete procurement file for a public tender with local content obligations

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Write tender requirements that support local suppliers without creating avoidable challenge risk
  • Assess whether local content targets can be measured, verified and enforced
  • Lead evaluation panels using clear scoring, moderation and record-keeping controls
  • Recognise procedural defects before they become audit findings or procurement protests
  • Build a documented procurement file suitable for management, auditors and review bodies

For your organisation

  • Fewer tender cancellations caused by unclear requirements or unequal bidder treatment
  • Stronger evidence trail for audit, governance reviews and supplier challenges
  • More credible local content commitments linked to contract deliverables and reporting
  • Improved competition through proportionate qualification and evaluation criteria
  • Better supplier performance visibility during delivery of public contracts

Course modules

17 modules over 10 days

Participants can identify the legal duties and institutional controls governing a public procurement process.

  • Public procurement objectives: value for money, integrity, competition and accountability
  • Legal hierarchy: statutes, regulations, directives, policies and delegated authority
  • Equal treatment, transparency and proportionality applied to tender decisions
  • UNCITRAL Model Law structure and its core procedural safeguards
  • WTO Government Procurement Agreement principles affecting covered procurements
  • Mandatory records supporting audit, review and award decision traceability

Participants can establish governance arrangements that protect procurement integrity and decision quality.

  • Delegations of authority mapped to planning, evaluation, award and variations
  • Conflict-of-interest declarations collected before access to procurement information
  • Segregation of duties between requisition, evaluation, approval and payment
  • Confidentiality controls for tender documents, bids and evaluation records
  • Fraud red flags in specifications, bid patterns and contract changes
  • Whistleblowing, investigations and remedial actions following suspected misconduct

Participants can convert a public need into a documented and legally supportable procurement plan.

  • Business case links between public need, budget and procurement objectives
  • Demand aggregation decisions using spend data and user requirements
  • Make-buy analysis for public services, assets and managed operations
  • Requirements definition separating essential needs from preferred supplier features
  • Procurement plan milestones aligned with approvals, market engagement and award
  • Risk register covering delivery, competition, integrity and legal exposure

Participants can conduct market analysis and supplier engagement without compromising competition.

  • Supply market mapping by capability, capacity, location and ownership
  • Porter's Five Forces applied to constrained public supply markets
  • Prior information notices used to signal planned procurement opportunities
  • Market sounding protocols protecting equal access to material information
  • Supplier capability assessments distinguishing evidence from unsupported claims
  • Competition risk analysis for concentrated markets and incumbent advantage

Participants can select and justify a procurement method appropriate to risk, value and market conditions.

  • Open tendering requirements and conditions for unrestricted competition
  • Restricted procedures using prequalification and shortlisted qualified suppliers
  • Competitive dialogue for complex solutions with undefined technical approaches
  • Negotiated procedures justified by urgency, exclusivity or failed competition
  • Framework agreements structured for recurring requirements and call-off control
  • Direct awards documented with legal grounds, approvals and price reasonableness

Participants can draft specifications that describe need without unfairly restricting competition.

  • Functional specifications focused on outputs, performance and service levels
  • Technical specifications using recognised standards and equivalent solutions
  • Brand references managed through clear equivalent-product acceptance language
  • Statement of work structure for services, milestones and acceptance criteria
  • Life-cycle costing requirements integrated into technical and commercial submissions
  • Accessibility, environmental and social requirements framed as measurable obligations

Participants can distinguish lawful local content measures from discriminatory tender restrictions.

  • Local content definitions covering labour, goods, services and ownership
  • Policy rationales: employment, industrial development, resilience and regional participation
  • National treatment and non-discrimination constraints on domestic preference measures
  • Set-asides, preferences and offsets assessed against applicable legal authority
  • Proportionality testing for local requirements and expected policy benefits
  • Exemptions and thresholds under trade commitments and procurement rules

Participants can formulate local content requirements that bidders can price and deliver.

  • Local content baseline established from market capability and project scope
  • Percentage targets defined by spend, labour hours or contract value
  • Supplier development commitments converted into deliverables, milestones and evidence
  • Local subcontracting plans assessed without imposing unlawful bidder discrimination
  • Technology transfer obligations specified through training, licensing and maintenance
  • Evaluation weighting calibrated against cost, quality and delivery risk

Participants can assemble clear tender documents that control submissions and evaluation.

  • Invitation to tender content, timelines and communication channel requirements
  • Instructions to bidders defining submission format and mandatory documents
  • Qualification criteria covering legal status, finances and technical capacity
  • Pass-fail compliance schedule separating mandatory from scored requirements
  • Tender addenda issued with controlled versioning and equal notification
  • Bid validity, tender securities and withdrawal provisions managed consistently

Participants can build evaluation models that produce transparent and reproducible award decisions.

  • Award criteria linked directly to stated procurement objectives and requirements
  • Weighted scoring models with descriptors for poor, acceptable and superior responses
  • Price evaluation methods: lowest price, adjusted price and life-cycle cost
  • Non-price criteria tested for relevance, measurability and evaluator competence
  • Local content scoring evidence matched to commitments and verification sources
  • Abnormally low tender analysis protecting delivery feasibility and fair treatment

Participants can manage bid receipt and clarification while preserving procedural fairness.

  • Secure bid receipt controls, timestamps and authorised access logs
  • Bid opening procedures recording submissions, prices and required declarations
  • Responsiveness screening against mandatory conditions and submission instructions
  • Clarification requests limited to permitted non-material bid ambiguities
  • Material deviations distinguished from correctable administrative irregularities
  • Communication logs maintained for equal treatment and challenge defence

Participants can run an evaluation panel with consistent scoring, moderation and documented recommendations.

  • Evaluator appointment based on expertise, independence and declared interests
  • Individual scoring completed before panel discussion and score reconciliation
  • Consensus moderation documented without suppressing material evaluator concerns
  • Evidence-based comments linked to published criteria and bidder submissions
  • Evaluation report structure covering methodology, findings and award recommendation
  • Quality assurance review checking arithmetic, consistency and procedural compliance

Participants can complete award decisions and respond appropriately to unsuccessful bidders and review bodies.

  • Award approval memoranda presenting evaluation results, risks and delegated authority
  • Standstill periods managed before contract signature where legally required
  • Unsuccessful bidder debriefings explaining outcomes without disclosing protected information
  • Procurement protest grounds assessed against records, rules and material prejudice
  • Corrective actions ranging from clarification to cancellation and re-tendering
  • Lessons-learned reviews capturing recurring challenge causes and control improvements

Participants can translate tender commitments into enforceable contract terms and management controls.

  • Contract documents ordered by precedence to resolve inconsistencies and disputes
  • Local content schedules defining baselines, targets, evidence and reporting dates
  • Key performance indicators covering domestic spend, employment and supplier development
  • Audit rights granting access to payroll, invoices and subcontractor records
  • Change control protecting approved local content commitments during scope changes
  • Remedies including corrective action, withholding, damages and termination rights

Participants can monitor contractor performance and verify reported local content results.

  • Contract management plan assigning owners, meetings, reports and escalation routes
  • Local content dashboards tracking targets, actuals, variances and corrective actions
  • Evidence testing using invoices, payroll records, certificates and site inspections
  • Subcontractor monitoring identifying substitution, pass-through and double-counting risks
  • Performance review meetings documenting decisions, actions and outstanding obligations
  • Close-out assessment comparing contracted commitments with verified policy outcomes

Participants can identify additional compliance issues affecting externally financed and international procurements.

  • Donor procurement rules compared with national laws and agency policies
  • Financing agreements reviewed for eligibility, origin and reporting conditions
  • International competitive bidding procedures and foreign supplier participation requirements
  • Currency, tax and customs assumptions addressed within tender pricing
  • Debarment lists screened before award and during contract performance
  • Conflict between local content policy and funder conditions escalated early

Participants can build, review and present a complete procurement file for a public tender with defensible local content obligations.

  • Procurement strategy consolidating need, market findings, risks and selected procedure
  • Tender specification defining functional requirements, standards and acceptance criteria
  • Local content schedule setting targets, evidence, reporting and remedies
  • Evaluation matrix combining price, quality, delivery and local content criteria
  • Governance record documenting approvals, conflicts, communications and evaluation controls
  • Contract management plan linking commitments to verification and corrective action
  • Peer review against legality, clarity, proportionality and auditability tests

Exercises and examples are adapted to each cohort's sectors and roles.

What you take back to work

  1. Public procurement strategy template
  2. Local content requirement schedule
  3. Tender evaluation scoring matrix
  4. Bid clarification and moderation checklist
  5. Procurement challenge response checklist
  6. Local content contract-monitoring plan

Who should attend

  • Public Procurement Managers — responsible for lawful tender planning, award and contract oversight
  • Tender Committee Members — required to make documented, defensible evaluation and award decisions
  • Procurement Officers — preparing solicitation documents, managing competitions and maintaining procurement files
  • Legal Advisers — advising on procurement compliance, bidder challenges and contractual remedies
  • Infrastructure Project Managers — procuring works, goods and services with domestic participation targets
  • Local Content Policy Officers — translating economic policy objectives into workable tender requirements

Skills and tools covered

Tender law applicationLocal content designBid evaluation governanceProcurement risk managementSupplier performance monitoringChallenge-ready documentation

Tools and standards

UNCITRAL Model Law on Public Procurement, WTO Agreement on Government Procurement, OECD Methodology for Assessing Procurement Systems, ISO 20400 Sustainable Procurement

How the course runs

Training methodology

The programme uses short instructor briefings to establish legal principles and procurement controls, followed by case work drawn from infrastructure, utilities, health and public-service procurement. Participants review tender clauses, identify compliance failures, compare evaluation approaches and work through bidder clarification and challenge scenarios. Group exercises simulate planning and evaluation decisions under time and governance constraints. Application planning connects each method to participants' own procurement categories, approval routes and local content objectives. Trainers adapt examples to the applicable jurisdiction while distinguishing law, policy and good practice.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have prior exposure to purchasing, tendering, contract administration, public finance, project delivery or supplier management. They should be able to read a request for tenders, compare supplier submissions and follow basic approval processes. Familiarity with their own organisation's procurement rules is useful, but not essential. The course does not require a law degree, prior experience as a lawyer, advanced financial modelling or knowledge of a particular national procurement statute. Participants should bring examples of current procurement documents if their employer permits this.

A typical training day

08:30 – 10:30First session
10:30 – 10:45Refreshment break
10:45 – 12:30Second session
12:30 – 13:30Lunch and networking
13:30 – 15:00Third session
15:00 – 15:15Refreshment break
15:15 – 16:30Workshop and daily review

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in East Africa Time, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

  • Instruction by a practitioner facilitator
  • Full course workbook and materials
  • Exercise files, templates and case studies
  • Refreshments and lunch on classroom deliveries
  • Certificate of completion
  • Post-course application plan

Frequently asked questions

Participants should understand basic purchasing or tender processes and be comfortable reading procurement documents. A legal qualification is not required, and the course explains legal concepts in operational terms.

Bring a current or planned procurement example, such as a statement of requirements, tender document or local content policy, where organisational rules allow. Sensitive documents can be anonymised before use.

It is intended for public procurement personnel, tender committee members, legal advisers, project managers and local content officers. It also suits staff in state-owned enterprises, utilities and donor-funded programmes.

General procurement courses often focus on sourcing process, supplier selection and commercial negotiation. This course concentrates on public-law duties, defensible tender procedures, review risk and the design of local content measures.

Participants can use the templates and checklists to review procurement plans, tender clauses, evaluation models and contract-monitoring arrangements. The course materials help teams identify weak records and unclear local content obligations before tender issue.

Each training day runs from 08:30 to 16:30 and provides about 6.5 contact hours. The first part develops procurement law, planning and tender design; the later part focuses on evaluation, award, contract controls and the final procurement-file capstone.

Questions about this course?

Ask about dates, fees, group bookings or running it for your team. Our training team replies by email.

Ask on WhatsApp info@skillsetdevelopment.com

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