Contract management is not something many arborists are taught about, we tend to learn on the job, usually when something goes wrong. We are all pretty good at managing the relationships involved in delivering the contract, but how do you make sure you are getting the right information in the tender, evaluating responses in an equitable way not just on cost, and are protected when things go wrong?

The key to effective contract management is to have no surprises, this means building standardised and collaborative processes so everyone knows what and when things are expected of them. This presentation looks at the contract management process in Local Government, from tender development to implementation, and the challenges we face along the way.