Individual Contract Policy

Nature of IC Services

12. 
    Services provided through an IC may be intellectual or support services. Examples of intellectual services include the development of a concept note, the preparation of a project document, conduct of a workshop, evaluation of a project providing strategic technical advice. Support services, on the other hand, may include documenter, management of a one-time event/conference, among others.
    

Policy Delegation of Authority to Issue an Individual Contract

Overall delegated authority

13. 
    The overall authority for the award, issuance and administration of an individual contract rests with the Chief Procurement Officer, who has delegated this authority to Resident Representatives, bureau directors, heads of out-posted headquarters units and heads of various units within headquarters.
    

Delegation of procurement authority (DPA)

14. 
    Resident Representatives, Bureau Directors, Heads of out-posted HQ units and other Heads of various units within Headquarters, have authority to award an individual contract or series of individual contracts with the same individual (IC)/entity (RLA), of up to their Delegated Procurement Authority. This authority applies whether the individual contract is awarded based on a competitive process or as a result of direct contracting (waiver of competition).
    

Limits of delegated authority

Daily fee

15. 
    If the daily fee of an individual contract exceeds US $1,350, irrespective of the duration of the contract, the fee must be justified to and duly approved by the Regional Bureau Director or, in country offices, the Resident Representative. A daily fee approval made by the Resident Representative shall be communicated to the regional bureau director.
    

16. 
    Consistent with UNDP’s Internal Control Framework, the delegation of authority from the Regional Bureau Director to the Resident Representative shall be formally made in writing and kept on file.
    

17. 
    For headquarters and out-posted headquarters units, justification must be submitted to the bureau head for approval. In independent offices, such as the Office of Audit and Investigations or the Evaluation Office, the approval must be granted by the head of the office.
    

18. 
    Requests for approval of daily fees in excess of US $1,350 must be submitted using the Consultancy Duration and Daily Fee Approval Form. If the individual contract is for an amount that requires review and submission to a Procurement Review Committee, approval of the daily fee must be obtained prior to submission. 
    

19. 
    Determination of the daily fee shall be based solely on the “daily fee quoted by the individual, exclusive of all other costs (e.g., living allowances, etc.).
    

Supplemental guidance: strategic options for countries with high consulting costs

 

20. 
    In markets where a daily fee exceeding US $1,350 is prevalent, which therefore leads to frequent submission and requests for approval from the Regional Bureau Director or Resident Representative, business units can: 
    

1. 
   Establish a table of consulting fees for experts at various levels of qualifications, based on a structured market survey conducted by external experts or institutions, which takes into consideration the prevailing daily fee rates used by all other UN agencies and international organizations of comparable size and mandate in the same market environment, region or other geographical scope; and
   
2. 
   Obtain a one-time approval from the Regional Bureau Director or the Resident Representative for the table of consulting fees.
   

21. 
    Conducting the survey shall be based on best industry practices known to experienced professionals and institutions with track record for developing such Table of Consulting Fees.
    

22. 
    In establishing and accepting daily fee rates, the context and duration of the assignment must be considered. For instance, a high daily rate fee agreed for an expert for a short duration in a Level 3 security environment may not be applicable or justified for the same individual for a long-term assignment in a Level 1 duty station. This underscores the importance of linking fees to deliverables and the complexity of the Terms of Reference.
    

23. 
    For monitoring actual days of work of an individual paid based on daily fees, the IC Timesheet template may be used. Payment must be limited only to the days when actual work for UNDP was done. Travel times to join the duty station are not included, even if the contract is signed prior to travel.
    

Duration

24. 
    The duration of the individual contractor’s engagement with UNDP should be directly related to the required outputs/deliverables as per the Terms of Reference, which is normally attached to the contract as an annex. If the individual contractor’s engagement by the same business unit under the same contract (including amendments and extensions) and the same Terms of Reference (or essentially the same) exceeds a single or cumulative period of 24 months, the approval of the Regional Bureau Director or the Resident Representative shall be obtained, prior to the issuance of an individual contract or any amendment thereto.
    
25. 
    Consistent with UNDP’s Internal Control Framework, the delegation of this authority from the Regional Bureau Director to the Resident Representative shall be formally made in writing and kept on file.
    
26. 
    If the period exceeding 24 months is determined while preparing the Terms of Reference, approval shall be obtained prior to initiating the solicitation process.
    
27. 
    If a case requires the review of a Procurement Committee, approval of the duration must be obtained prior to review. 
    
28. 
    The request for an individual contract longer than 24 months shall be made through the submission of the Consultancy Duration and Daily Fee Approval Form to the relevant Regional Bureau Director or Resident Representative. For the latter, a copy of the approval should be submitted to the Bureau Director.
    
29. 
    This condition and process for obtaining approval applies to all business units regardless of their Delegated Procurement Authority.
    
30. 
    A series of two or more individual contracts when awarded to the same individual by the same business unit over a period exceeding 24 months are also subject to Regional Bureau Director/Resident Representative approval, regardless of differences in Terms of Reference, project context or selection process. 
    
31. 
    Regional Bureau Director/Resident Representative approval is NOT required under the following circumstances:
    

1. 
   If the individual contract is being issued for more than 24 months and is not a Long Term Agreement, but has less than five hundred twenty one (521)³ actual person-days of engagement, and periods of intermittent engagement are clearly reflected and rationalized in the Terms of Reference; or 
   
2. 
   The individual contract is intended for on-call intermittent engagement, i.e., with a fixed hourly or daily fee or other indicators of unit price, and the engagement is on a recurrent/on-call basis over a defined period of time. This refers to an individual contract used as a Framework Agreement or Long Term Agreement, as explained in Section Individual Contract as Framework Agreement.