Phased Delivery

Phased delivery means delivering goods, quantities, work or facilities in separate, scheduled stages rather than all at once. The buyer sets out when each stage is due and what it must contain, and the supplier performs to that schedule until the contract is complete.

The term is used in procurement and defence logistics whenever a buyer needs delivery spread over time. Related expressions include phased delivery plan, delivery schedule, progressive delivery, staged delivery and phased design-build delivery. In Canada, the clearest definition comes from a standard contract clause published by the federal government.

The SACC clause D0001C: Phased Delivery

The Government of Canada's former Standard Acquisition Clauses and Conditions (SACC) Manual included an item numbered D0001C, titled "Phased Delivery." Its recommended use was in contracts with phased delivery, if applicable. The clause is published on CanadaBuys.

The clause sets up a simple structure. The first delivery is due within a specified number of calendar days from the effective date of the contract. The contract states the quantity to be delivered in that first delivery. The balance is then delivered at a specified weekly rate until the contract is complete.

Adjusting the delivery interval

The clause is a template, and the contracting authority can adapt it. Where appropriate, "calendar days" can be replaced with weeks or months, and "weekly" can be replaced with daily or monthly. This lets the schedule match the nature of the goods or the buyer's needs. A contract for bulk supplies might call for daily or weekly rates, while another might call for monthly instalments.

Whatever the unit, the dates, quantities and rate are written into the contract. They are contractual requirements, not targets.

Phased design-build delivery at Defence Construction Canada

Phased delivery also appears in defence infrastructure. Defence Construction Canada reported that documents for the Future Fighter Capability Project were adapted for phased delivery. The project used a phased design-build delivery method, with iterative milestones, for fighter-aircraft infrastructure at 4 Wing Cold Lake and 3 Wing Bagotville. The details are in the Defence Construction Canada project announcement.

Here the stages are not shipments of goods. They are milestones in a design-build process, with the work released and completed in steps. The idea is the same: the buyer receives the result in scheduled parts rather than as a single final handover.

What phased delivery means for a supplier bidding on Canadian public contracts

A supplier should not treat delivery as a single shipment when a solicitation calls for phased delivery. Read the tender documents for staged quantities, dates, delivery rates, milestones and the completion date. Under the SACC clause, the supplier must meet the first-delivery deadline, deliver the specified initial quantity and keep delivering the balance at the stated rate.

• Check the number of days, weeks or months allowed before the first delivery.
• Confirm the quantity required in the first delivery.
• Confirm the rate at which the balance must follow, and the unit used (daily, weekly or monthly).
• For construction and infrastructure work, identify the milestones that mark each phase.
• Plan production, inventory and logistics so every stage can be met, not only the first.

Bid teams should build their pricing and capacity plans around the full delivery schedule, since the contract makes each stage a requirement.