Departments

Finance

Bucks County Purchasing Department

Doing Business with Bucks County - Purchasing Department Staff - Current Bid Information - Ethics Policy

The Purchasing Department is responsible for making the most economical acquisition of quality goods and services to assure efficient operation of County Government. The department strives to foster participation of all businesses offering goods and services that may be used by the county. The Buck County Purchasing Department works to ensure the county will receive the best quality, in the most cost-effective way.

In addition to receivables, the Bucks County Purchasing Department now has county surplus goods available to the general public.  You may find the county surplus on two internet auction websites. Please note that you will not find the same item posted on both sites at the same time.

The first is site is Public Surplus at http://publicsurplus.com/sms/bucks,pa/browse/home.  Our Seller ID is “County of Bucks”.  Click on “View all Auctions for the County of Bucks” to see what is available on Current Auctions or to see what has been posted on Past Auctions.

The other site is GovDeals at http://www.govdeals.com/eas/.  Our Seller ID is “Bucks County”.  The process for searching only Bucks County auction items is to click on “Advanced Search” and choose Pennsylvania for state, then Bucks County, PA for seller name.  By following this procedure, you will find all surplus items that are currently up for bidding. 

How to Do Business With the County of Bucks:

The County of Bucks welcomes the opportunity to do business with interested merchants in the community!

Registering as a Vendor
In order to facilitate a greater distribution of the County's bid and quote opportunities, the County uses the online services of DemandStar by Onvia. Their service enables us to improve our service to you by providing automatic bid notification and instant access to bid information via the web or fax-on-demand system.

You may register on-line at www.DemandStar.com or by requesting a faxed registration form by calling (800) 711-1712.

Participation in the Demandstar by Onvia system is not a necessary requirement for doing business with the County of Bucks Purchasing Department. You will still be able to get bid notices at no cost by monitoring the Legal Section of the Bristol Pilot, Advance of Bucks County, Doylestown Patriot, New Hope Gazette and Yardley News or the Daily Intelligencer Newspaper for our legal ads.

Departmental Visits
Vendors are permitted to visit departments upon authorization from the Purchasing Department. However, vendors must recognize that such visits may be informational only. Departments are not authorized to enter into contracts or place purchase orders with outside vendors.

Purchase Orders
An official purchase order containing an authorized purchase order number is the only method of purchase for goods and services obligating County of Bucks funds. In the event of an emergency, Purchasing may place an order by telephone or fax, however, in all instances, a purchase order number must be assigned, to be followed by confirming order.

The Quote Process
The County of Bucks conducts an open competitive quote process for all purchases less than $10,000. All purchases in excess of $4,000 are posted on our Demandstar.com website. For smaller purchases, depending on the dollar value of the order, various methods are used, such as:

• Telephone
• FAX
• Request for Quotation (RFQ)
• Catalog comparison

The Bid Process
Bids will be awarded to the lowest responsive, responsible bidder meeting the required specifications. Vendors are cautioned when completing the bid/proposal form that all instructions given in the bid/proposal must be followed and the bid/proposal must be returned to the Controllers Office by the time specified on the bid document. Bids are opened at 11:30 a.m. on the date due and the bid opening is open to public. Late or improperly delivered bids/proposals will not be considered.

Notice of solicitations can be obtained by contacting the Purchasing Department directly at (215) 348-6372 Notices are also posted on our Demandstar web site.

Tax Status
The County of Bucks, as a subdivision of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is exempt from all state and federal taxes. Each purchase order issued makes reference to the tax-exempt status. An exemption certificate will be furnished upon request.

Deliveries
Unless otherwise noted on the purchase order, all deliveries must be made directly to:

County of Bucks,
Shipping & Receiving,
55 E. Court St,
Doylestown, PA 18901

Shipments are received between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. Monday through Friday.

The County of Bucks will not accept responsibility for goods and service ordered and/or shipped to Bucks County without an approved purchase order.

Invoices
Invoices must be sent directly to:

Controllers Office
ATTN: Accounts Payable
55 E. Court St.
Doylestown, PA 18901

and must reference the purchase order number. Invoices that are not properly identified will not be accepted.