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Getting Help with BS 8903: principles and framework for procuring sustainability

The world's first standard for sustainable procurement, BS 8903: Principles and Framework for Procuring Sustainably was launched in summer 2010.

BS 8903 provides guidance to any size and type of organisation on adopting and embedding sustainable procurement principles and practices. It covers all stages of the procurement process and is applicable across industry, public, private and third sector organisations.

As lead technical authors of BS 8903, Action Sustainability have a wide range of services on offer in relations to BS 8903 including training courses and masterclasses. We are also pleased to offer an evaluation of your organisation's competence to fulfil the requirements of this standard. 

For those wanting an introduction into using the standard, Cathy Berry of Action Sustainability has written 'The Sustainable Procurement Guide: Procuring Sustainably Using BS 8903', available from the BSI shop as a book or electronic PDF version.

As the instigators and authors of the standard, we are uniquely placed to provide a robust and independent evaluation of your organisation. Our service comprises a comprehensive review of your capability.

What you will receive

• A comprehensive report of the evaluation and any recommendations for improvement
• Provided you reach the minimum standard, you will receive a certificate of competence rating your organisation at one of 4 levels:

1. Improver - if you have embraced the requirements of the standard and have a plan to become fully competent in all elements of the standard
2. Competent - if you can demonstrate competence in two or more of the three areas of evaluation and have a plan to become fully competent in all three within 12 months
3. Expert - If you can demonstrate competence in all areas
4. Leader - if you can achieve expert status and can demonstrate leadership in setting new standards and sharing your good practice

• If you reach at least "improver" standard, with your permission we will display your company logo and a short summary of your achievements on our website
• We will provide you with a logo confirming your status for use on your website and promotional material

What we will do

Our evaluation is based on the three main elements of the standard. It will comprise the following activities:

Fundamentals

• Desktop review of policies, procedures etc
• Interviews with key stakeholders. We will discuss and agree with you who we need to meet or talk to on the phone

Enablers

• Workshop session with key people to facilitate an initial evaluation using our unique evaluation tool
• Review of evidence to support action against the enablers recommended in the standard
• Interview a random sample of key procurement people for evidence that enablers are being implemented

Procurement process

• Review a random sample of procurement documents to look for evidence of compliance at each stage of the procurement process

Conclusions and report

• Re-score evaluation tool in the light of evidence
• Prepare draft report and present results
• Prepare final report