Eligibility to Bid | Bidding Procedures

The information offered here is to acquaint potential vendors with the rules and regulations, policies and procedures governing the purchase of goods and services through the City of Baton rouge and Parish of East Baton Rouge Purchasing Division.

Competitive bidding is the keystone of the process. You are invited to participate in bidding City-Parish work by completing the Business Profile Data Form (pages 2 and 3) and returning it to us.

Prior to completing the Profile Form, we recommend you review the following documents:

Important Enrollment and Disclaimer Information
Instructions for Completing the Vendor Business Profile Data

*If your company is located outside of the United States, and does not have a federal Taxpayer Identification Number (FEIN or SSN), you must submit a paper application to the Purchasing division. Submit by email to purchasinginfo@brgov.com or print and fax to (225) 389-4841.

Business Profile Data Form - Microsoft Word

Hopefully, the information in this package will give you a clearer understanding of the operation of City-Parish Purchasing. We encourage all qualified vendors to participate in offering their goods and services to the City-Parish.

It should be noted that the Purchasing Division does not maintain bidder lists or issue bid packages for all City-Parish projects, although the bids are normally received by Purchasing. The larger construction and maintenance projects are normally issued through the Public Works Department, and bid packages are obtained through the appropriate division of that department. Purchasing will be glad to assist in directing you to the appropriate personnel in the Public Works Department for those projects not issued through Purchasing.

Submit by email to purchasinginfo@brgov.com
Fax to:  (225)389-4841.
Mail to: P.O. Box 1471, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70821

Vendors are encouraged to visit City-Parish Purchasing 9 a.m.-12 noon, Monday through Friday. A scheduled appointment is preferred.

When visiting Purchasing, vendors should bring brochures, photographs, descriptive materials and price lists that would familiarize the Purchasing Buyers with your products and services.

All vendors desiring to provide goods and services through the City-Parish Purchasing Division must complete the attached Business Profile Data Form.

Each application submitted does not automatically qualify the applicant to be placed on Purchasing mailing list. Each application submitted will be reviewed by the Purchasing staff to determine the vendor's ability to fulfill its contracts. City-Parish Purchasing reserves the right to request additional information to fully determine the vendor's capability.

Once a vendor has been qualified, he will normally receive bid invitations for the listed areas and commodities as appropriate. However, due to the large number of bidders, bid invitations may not include all bidders for that commodity all the time.

Bidding Procedures

A bid is a response to a request for bids and constitutes the vendor's offer to sell to the City-Parish specific items or services at a firm price, under the contractual terms and conditions outlined in the bid request.

A positive response to a request for bids is our only indication of your interest in City-Parish business. Failure to bid on four (4) consecutive requests for bids may cause your name to be removed from the bidders' list. You are requested to submit a "No Bid" response, if unable to bid.

All bids must be submitted on the forms furnished for this purpose and must be filled out in ink or typewritten, signed in ink and mailed in the envelopes provided.

Please do not erase, correct or write over any prices or figures necessary for the completion of the bid. If a correction is necessary, each one must be initialed. Failure to comply with the requirements may cause your bid to be disqualified.

If an error is made in extending total prices, the unit price will govern. Under no circumstances will a unit bid price be altered or corrected.

Bids, or any part thereof, may be withdrawn prior to the time of bid opening by a formal written request. Bids may not be withdrawn after being opened unless bidder claims a patently obvious clerical or mathematical error in accordance with State law.

Specifications should set out the essential characteristics of items being purchased but written in a manner to invite open competition. Any manufacturer's names, trade names, brand names, or catalog numbers used in the specifications are for the purpose of describing and establishing general quality levels. Such references are not intended to be restrictive unless the invitation to bid specifically states that only the brand specified will be considered for reasons of compatibility, etc.

When required, samples must be furnished at the specified time and date; otherwise this may be cause for the bid to be rejected. Samples must be submitted under separate cover, marked plainly with name and address of bidder, bid number, bid opening dated, and correspondence indicating whether or not bidder desires return of the sample. If the sample is to be returned, shipping must be provided by vendor.

Seconds, irregulars, or shorts are not acceptable. All samples are subject to mutilation as a result of testing, therefore, City-Parish assumes no responsibility/liability for samples submitted.

The City-Parish reserves the right to require a performance bond. If required, this performance bond must be received within a specified time period after notification of awards.

If required, bid bond or certified check in the amount requested must be attached to bid.

At the time of a formal bid opening (for materials, supplies or equipment estimated to cost more than $20,000), vendors may record the results; however, final awarding of the bid will not be announced at this time. Vendors may inspect copies of the bids by making an appointment with the appropriate buyer after the bid opening.

Any bid or amendment received after the bid opening date or time will not be accepted for any reason or cause whatsoever.

All late bids will be returned unopened to the vendor.

Results of tabulation are available for inspection by the public in the City-Parish Purchasing Office during normal working hours. No tabulations are given over the telephone.

The tabulation remains on file for three (3) years. City-Parish Purchasing welcomes public inspections of these records as an encouragement to competitive bidding.

After a bid has been awarded, the successful bidder will be notified by mail from City-Parish Purchasing.

A purchase order is a legal contract. Failure to perform is considered a breach of contract.

A bidder may limit his bid to an acceptance of his entire bid; however, this may cause his bid to be unacceptable under certain conditions.

Deliveries are to be made as stipulated in bid.

Upon delivery and acceptance of each order, the vendor shall bill the City-Parish by an invoice to include Purchase Order number(s) and/or Payment Voucher number(s), and contract award number. Invoices with missing information may unnecessarily delay the payment process.

Vendors providing services to the City-Parish in the form of repairs, maintenance, installations or other types of services will be required to submit an Insurance Certificate in accordance with specifications provided for each job.

The City-Parish is an equal opportunity employer