> Home > Business & Development > Selling to the City > Purchasing Policies > About Purchasing
Purchasing Policies

About Purchasing

Bid documents may be accessed on this site and downloaded at your convenience. Formal bids, including Request for Quotations and Request for Proposals, which are posted at this site have an expected value of over $100,000, and Request for Tenders have an expected value of over $250,000, although the City reserves the right to post any bid as required.

Procedures
All purchasing for the City is administered centrally by the Purchasing Section, which is organized into the following sections:


Inventory and Inventory Related Purchasing, for the City's central stores, maintained at 5599 Lynas Lane and supplemented by a satellite within the City.

Stores located at Lynas Lane, purchases and maintains all inventory requirements and associated products, including automotive and garage-related supplies. This section also organizes periodic public auctions to dispose of surplus City property.

Purchasing located at City Hall, purchases all other goods and services, and negotiates contracts for all non-inventoried items for the City, including all construction contracts, consulting services, equipment, etc. This Section also manages all tenders and quotations, and awards contracts.

Accounts Payable located at City Hall, handles all disbursements/payments on behalf of the City.

Insurance located at City Hall, is responsible for all auto, liability and property insurance, and claims management for the City.

Policies
The following are some of the City's basic purchasing policies:
  • All purchases require a purchase order; no payments are made to vendors unless they have received a purchase order issued by the Purchasing Section, Stores Section or the originating department.
  • Bid Requests:
    • Requirements over $250,000 are handled by the Purchasing Section through a formal competitive sealed-bidding process through the issue of an invitation to tender.
    • Requirements between $25,001 and $250,000 (except for emergency or urgent needs) are addressed by solicitations of requests for formal quotes either through an invitational call or by advertising. Advertising is posted on the City's website and the BC Bid website (www.bcbid.ca) but may also be placed in newspaper(s) and the Journal of Commerce.
    • Requirements between $5,001 and $25,000 require informal written price quotations from a minimum of three businesses.
    • Purchases of $1,001 up to $5,000 are to be supported with three verbal price quotes unless there are fewer than three qualified bidders available.
    • Requirements under $1,000 are handled locally by individual departments with guidance from the Purchasing Section.
Contacts
For more information contact purchasing at: purchasing@richmond.ca