How to assess and include net zero carbon targets in procurement and contracts

This guidance is suggested best practice from the Institution of Civil Engineers’ former Procurement and Contracts Working Group.

It is based on the opinions of experts and is intended to provide a framework for how net-zero carbon targets can be assessed as part of the procurement process and be included in contracts.

While the guidance has been drafted specifically to address the issue of net zero carbon, the principles could be applied widely in relation to other sustainability issues, including natural capital, social value, and biodiversity.

It has been drafted for use by public sector or quasi-public sector bodies, but it can be used in part or in full by any purchasing organisation, including first- and second-tier suppliers engaging their own supply chains.

The guidance takes the form of a table with a set of supporting notes. The table has been structured to follow a project/contract lifecycle through the procurement and contract stages.

It has been written specifically for the engagement of a contractor for a set of works and to encourage them to make carbon reductions in that process.

As such, it is part of a much wider process to construct a new asset and it is presumed that the best opportunities to reduce carbon will have been taken before the tender process begins.