Why people look at this
When far more purchases land just below a limit than just above it, people ask whether work is being sized to stay under it.
How it is worked out
- Limits used: the open-call thresholds in section 5 of the Public Procurement Regulations, which depend on the kind of public body. Departments and agencies: $34,700 goods, $139,000 services and public works. Towns, cities, health authorities, school boards, Memorial University and the College of the North Atlantic: $139,000 goods and services, $347,400 public works. Crown corporations such as NL Hydro: $264,200. Leases of space: $100,000 for all. Federal: the $25,000 limit below which the Government Contracts Regulations let a contract be awarded without bids.
- Each award or payment priced from 95% of a limit up to one cent below it is flagged.
- Each source also gets a count of amounts just below each limit against amounts just above it.
Data used
What it cannot tell you
A payment is not a purchase: one purchase can be paid in parts, and one payment can cover several purchases. Round budgets ($9,500, $49,000) land under limits for ordinary reasons.
The Open Contracting Partnership's guide to red flags puts it this way: a red flag is not evidence that anything wrong happened. It points at something that may be worth a closer look.
This page and the calculation are generated from one definition, so they cannot drift apart. See the results.