King County now offers a Goods & Services Supplier Orientation. During this 2-hour session, we’ll discuss:
Registering as a King County supplier, opting-in to County rosters, and certifying as a small firm
How King County buys goods & services
What to expect when submitting a bid or proposal to King County
Best practices for maximizing your opportunities
E-Procurement Supplier Portal introduction
About King County Procurement
Three types of procurement:
- Architecture & Engineering
- Construction & Public Works
- Goods and Services
2021: procured $1.2 billion of goods and services
Mission = reflect values in environment, equity, and economical (get best value)
Environmental procurement policies: Sustainable Purchasing Policy & Strategic Climate Action Plan
Vaccination required for all contractors that do business on site
Small Contractor and Supplier Certification
County-funded project use Small Contractor and Supplier (SCS) Certification — used by King Co, Sound Transit, Port of Seattle, Seattle Colleges
FastTrack SCS — automatic certification for WMBE firms
SCS Programs:
- Fair Market Range — for general goods and services — $50k and above required to take lowest bid — non-SCS suppliers have a 5-10% multiplier added to low bids
- Accelerator — for technical consulting services — reserves specific goods and technical services solicitations for SCS firms only — SCS = prime (must complete 51% of the work)
- SCS Incentive — for technical consulting services — primes who use SCS subs get extra points on their proposal
Open to brand new businesses
SCScertification@kingcounty.gov
State and Federally-funded Projects
State and Federally-funded projects use the funding requirements — often Federal MWBE, DBE, UDBE, and SBE certification
Federal certifications may be useful if want to work in other states
SBE set-aside — small biz enterprise = prime — for FTA & FAA projects (Federally-funded transportation and aviation projects)
E-Procurement
- Free registration
- Small biz opportunities
- Online bidding
- Self-service supplier portal — can update profile
- Access to historical online bid data
Upload W-9 during registration
NAICS codes used to invite suppliers — be sure to enter all applicable codes — tutorial available to find applicable codes
Lets you get on County rosters during registration
Be sure to both register and certify — and respond to solicitations
All procurements completed through e-procurement portal
King County Contracting Process
Limits:
- $10,000 — “Direct Buy” — County Agencies can make purchases with no competitive requirement
- $10,000-$50,000 — “Informal Solicitation” — invitation only, minimum 3 suppliers — pick providers from roster to invite
- $50,000+ — Publicly advertised bidding opportunity
Advertised through e-procurement portal and newspapers:
- solicitation abstract (can see without being logged in)
- supplier portal invitation — through NAICS codes
- newspapers — Seattle Times, Seattle Medium, NW Asian Weekly, DJC
- Twitter & LinkedIn
- Some also included in Washington State WEBS
When you get invited, it will send you an email that you can accept or decline to participate — can change mind up until deadline
Insurance requirements vary depending on the type of procurement / project — will have different minimums
Types of Procurement
ITB = Invitation to Bid — when they know exactly what they’re looking for — awarded based on price from the “lowest responsive and responsible bidder”
RFP = Request for Proposal — submit the best solution to achieve the agency’s desired outcome / objective — award based on “best value”
RFQ = Request for Qualification — pre-qualifies suppliers based on their SOQ and places them on a Master Contract Roster (for use at a later date)
RFI = Request for Information — asks for input from industry pros for potential upcoming solicitations — no award
Submitting Your Bid / Proposal
Process:
- Ask questions via email (only talk to agency staff before advertised, otherwise ask Contract Specialist)
- Preproposal / pre-bid meetings
- Addendum — must review, revise, resubmit your response acknowledging the addenda if you submitted before addenda released
- Submit
- Evaluation
- Award / Negotiation / Contract Execution
Evaluation process for RFP / RFQ:
- Service level
- Experience
- Sustainability
- Timeline
- Technology
- Small business
- Price
If not awarded, can request evaluation feedback
Getting Paid
Purchase Order (ACH deposit or check; NET30)
P-card — paid instantly (works like a credit card)
Invoice must include:
- PO number
- Supplier name
- Remit address
- Invoice number
- Date
- Total amount due (including tax)
Send invoice to Invoices.AP@kingcounty.gov
Tips for Success
- Certify as SCS
- Ask questions during solicitation
- Attend pre-bid meetings
- Request bid / proposal feedback
