Departments

Finance

Bucks County Purchasing Department

Doing Business with Bucks County - Bid Information and Award Tabulation - 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 Bucks County Purchasing Department works to ensure the county will receive the best quality, in the most cost-effective way. Department email inquiries should be addressed to: purchasing@co.bucks.pa.us

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 has partnered with Onvia, Inc. to use its Onvia DemandStar electronic procurement system. 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 to receive notification of Bucks County business opportunities on-line at www.demandstar.com/register.rsp.  Once you are logged onto the page, select the “Onvia DemandStar FREE AGENCY” option. On the form that opens, enter the pertinent information for your business; be sure to enter “Bucks County” in the Agency Name field. If you have questions, or need technical assistance with the Web site, call Onvia Supplier Services at 1-800-711-1712.

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 Daily Intelligencer Newspaper for our legal ads.

Available bid and proposal opportunities can be viewed on-line at www.demandstar.com/supplier/bids/agency_inc/bid_list.asp?f=search&mi=88114

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.

Requests for Information:
If you wish to receive a copy of Quote, Bid or RFP responses, you must send a Open Records Request Form to the County’s Open Records Officer. Please note that according to the PA Right to Know Law, Quote, Bid and RFP responses are not considered public records until after an award has been made.

If you wish to receive a copy of a Pre-Bid Meeting Sign In sheet, Unofficial Bid Tabulations, Bid Award Tabulations or want information on the status of the award of a Quote, Bid or RFP please DO NOT contact the Open Records Officer. You may either email the Purchasing Director at purchasing@co.bucks.pa.us and provide explicit information on the document you would like or solicitation status, or come into the Purchasing Department Office and request a paper copy. Any paper copies made will be charged 25¢ per page.     

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.