The General Secretariat of the Tender Board, in coordination with relevant entities, has prepared the new documentary cycle for government projects. This includes several stages and procedures that relevant entities should follow when implementing a government project. This comes within the framework of the importance of streamlining procedures, ensuring quality, expediting implementation, enhancing the efficiency of planning and executing government projects, and reducing change orders while adhering to approved budgets. The General Secretariat of the Tender Board indicated that project implementation goes through several stages, including development, planning, design, identification and execution, until the closure phase. Government projects are subject to a stage-gate assurance process at the end of each stage to verify readiness to proceed to the next stage or halt for specific conditions.

Engineer Abdullah bin Hameed Al-Habsi, Head of the Project Monitoring Office at the General Secretariat of the Tender Board, stated: "There is a focus on organizing government projects subject to the tendering law to ensure efficiency and maximize impact." He pointed out that the Project Monitoring Office at the General Secretariat of the Tender Board monitors the implementation of government projects in coordination with relevant entities, prepares standards, regulations, and guidelines necessary for managing and implementing projects, conducts studies and research, encourages innovation, and raises awareness in the field of government project management. Additionally, it collects data on government projects, provides regular reports to relevant authorities on their performance in implementing government projects, contributes to planning and executing government projects with relevant entities, and reviews contracting strategies.

The engineer added that the office is responsible for contributing to the development of specifications and technical standards for government projects, ensuring that the relevant entity coordinates with the Ministry of Finance at all stages of the government project regarding the disbursement of financial payments to contractors, consultants, and suppliers. It also ensures that the relevant entity updates data in the financial system of the Ministry of Finance and provides technical advice to the relevant entities in the field of qualifying national personnel working in government project management to enhance their performance.

Furthermore, he explained that the regulations of the General Secretariat of the Tender Board require relevant entities to provide monthly data and reports on the progress of government projects, updating them regularly to monitor project performance through an electronic platform or using data templates prepared by the General Secretariat. The regulations also mandate retaining documents, records, information, maps, contracts, and other relevant documents related to government projects for a minimum of five years.

Moreover, relevant entities must adhere to Omani standard specifications approved for government projects or Gulf or international standards in the absence of approved Omani specifications. Additionally, they are required to regularly update the data of their staff specialized in government project management through the electronic platform of the General Secretariat of the Tender Board.

Regarding the regulations, it stipulates that during the design phase, the relevant entities must obtain approval from the Ministries of Finance and Economy when increasing the financial estimates by more than 10% of the initially approved amount during the amendment of the development budget or when taking reduction measures. The General Secretariat of the Tender Board is responsible for reviewing the contracting strategy for the main construction tender and local content requirements, reviewing and issuing documents for pre-qualification of contractors, reviewing documents for the main construction tender and the requirements for the government project, notifying the relevant entity of any deficiencies - if found - to fulfill them, reviewing the procurement plan related to the government project, and taking reduction measures for the consultant selection tender.

Moreover, the relevant entity must coordinate with the Ministry of Economy to approve the budget of government projects - if they exceed the approved budget - after the approval of the Ministry of Finance, review the recommendations of the stage-gate portal and execution options in coordination with the General Secretariat in case the final approval for government projects is not available.

Reduction Measures:

According to the regulations, the General Secretariat of the Tender Board takes reduction measures for the main construction tender, reviews the technical analysis of the bids submitted in the tender, reviews the financial analysis of the bids, reviews the final evaluation of the bids submitted in the tender, prepares a recommendation for awarding the main construction tender, notifies the relevant entity of the decision to award the tender, reviews the relevant entity's compliance with the requirements of the stage-gate portal and the recommendation related to the government project.

In the execution phase, the relevant entity must obtain financial approval for government projects in the financial system of the Ministry of Finance, sign and manage government project contracts, prepare monthly reports, update them on the electronic platform, study and approve financial entitlements for the government project, update the payment schedule, adhere to approved budgets and timelines for the government project, evaluate the contractor and consultant during the implementation stages of the government project, and prepare a report on the implementation assessment of the government project.

Regarding the responsibilities of the government project manager, Engineer Abdullah stated that many tasks include preparing the budget for the government project, including all stages of studies, designs, implementation, administrative costs, reserves, and estimating operational costs. They also include preparing and submitting a government project initiation form according to the requirements of the government project priorities matrix, preparing a charter and strategies for the government project and monitoring obtaining the necessary approvals, preparing the scope of work and aligning it with the timeline and budget of the approved project charter, in addition to monitoring obtaining pre-approval from the Ministry of Finance for the ongoing expenses budget in case of operational expenses for the government project, applying approved procedures for change management within the scope of the government project, leading the safe and reliable execution of the government project in line with scope, cost, and schedule, identifying all risks and addressing them appropriately, preparing progress reports and submitting them to or delivering them to the general supervisor of the government project through the platform, and updating them regularly.

Regulatory Framework:

It is worth mentioning that the regulations of the General Secretariat of the Tender Board require relevant entities in the development phase to submit a complete government project initiation form by no later than August of each year, present an overview of the government project, and submit the comprehensive budget for the government project, including all stages of studies, designs, implementation, administrative, operational costs, and reserves, to the Ministry of Economy for approval.

In the planning phase, they are required to prepare an implementation strategy for the government project, another strategy related to contracting for engineering design, prepare tender documents, and provide all its requirements, in addition to preparing pre-qualification documents and pre-evaluation procedures for consultants. They also include incorporating innovations and reports on the assessment of previous government projects and related observations.

During the design phase, the relevant entities are responsible for preparing the contracting strategy for the main construction tender and local content requirements, preparing pre-qualification documents for contractors, taking related evaluation measures, preparing tender documents for the main construction tender, providing all its requirements, preparing the procurement plan related to the government project, supervising the engineering design works of the government project, and obtaining financial approval from the Ministry of Finance.