joint purchasing agreement

A joint purchasing agreement is a contract where one contracting authority conducts a procurement on behalf of several public entities. All participants commit to purchasing from the agreement when it covers their needs. The purpose is to pool purchasing power across multiple buyers to secure better prices, higher quality and more efficient procurement processes.

How does a joint purchasing agreement work?

A joint purchasing agreement is established when several public bodies agree to make joint purchases within a specific category — such as office supplies, cleaning services or pharmaceuticals. One entity takes responsibility for running the tender procedure, while the others commit to using the agreement by signing an accession declaration.

In practice, a joint purchasing agreement functions as a framework agreement that applies across multiple organisations. Each participant signs their own contract with the selected supplier and is responsible for contract monitoring on their part. The procurement process itself is managed by the coordinating entity.

Benefits of joint purchasing agreements

• Economies of scale: Greater volume provides stronger negotiating power and typically results in lower prices.
• Resource savings: Participants avoid running their own procurement processes for each need.
• Higher professionalism: The coordinating entity usually has specialised procurement expertise.
• Simplification for suppliers: Fewer parallel competitions mean suppliers can focus their efforts on a single process.

Under EU Directive 2014/24/EU (Articles 37–39), contracting authorities may conduct joint procurement and use central purchasing bodies to coordinate purchasing activities. In Norway, joint purchasing agreements (known as "samkjøpsavtaler") are widely used — notably by Oslo Municipality and the State Purchasing Centre (part of DFO). Around 70 per cent of Norwegian municipalities participate in formalised procurement cooperations. Tools like Cobrief help suppliers discover and track joint purchasing agreements as they are published.

A joint purchasing agreement is an important instrument for making public procurement more efficient. By consolidating volume and expertise, participants achieve better terms — while open contract notices ensure fair competition is maintained.