Past performance is the systematic use of a contractor’s or consultant’s previously delivered performance when selecting or awarding a new contract. Instead of judging only what a tenderer promises, the client looks at what that party has actually delivered before.
Performance measurement and past performance
The two terms are often used interchangeably, but they differ:
- Performance measurement takes place during execution. Client and contractor assess the collaboration periodically, so that the project can still be steered while it runs.
- Past performance is the assessment after a contract is completed, which then travels with the party as information for future tenders.
In the Netherlands several systems exist side by side. Rijkswaterstaat and ProRail developed their own performance measurement methodologies, while CROW maintains a more broadly applicable past performance system also used by municipalities and other clients.
What is assessed
The assessment is usually not about the finished construction alone, but about behaviour during the work:
- Quality of the work delivered and the number of outstanding items at handover
- Control of programme and cost
- Communication and proactive reporting of risks
- Dealing with neighbours, the site surroundings and safety
- Willingness to solve problems when deviations and variations arise
Applications and points to watch
- Legal care — using past performance at award touches on the procurement principles of transparency, equal treatment and proportionality. The scoring method must be published in advance and the scores must be traceable and open to challenge.
- Right of reply — an assessment that can lead to exclusion or a scoring penalty must have been discussed with the contractor. One-sided, unexplained scores lead to disputes in practice.
- Enough data points — one bad score on one project means little. These systems only work well over a series of measurements across several contracts.
- Access for newcomers — a system that only rewards known parties shuts out new entrants. Most systems therefore give a neutral starting score to parties without a track record.
Related terms
- Tendering
- Award
- Contract management
- Best value procurement
- Client
- Handover
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