Contractors and suppliers

Effectively managing suppliers and contractors benefits your organization and its residents by ensuring:

• reliable delivery of goods and services
• higher quality work
• work being finished on time and on budget
• ongoing, trusting relationships with supplier and contractors

Procurement

Procurement is simply the act of buying goods or services from a company.

Tendering

Tendering is a method of procurement. Companies compete against each other by bidding on the goods or services you need. Tendering will get you the best price from a reliable supplier or contractor—the best value for your dollar.

Organizations that don’t use a formal tendering process can be taking a big risk. For example, when contractors are hired without proper insurance or certification and an accident happens, you’re at risk of being on the wrong end of costly lawsuits.

See also: Tendering contracts

How do you know whether or not to go to tender?

Many housing providers use tendering for contracts worth $10,000 or more.

For these contracts, it is really worth the time and effort to go to tender, especially an RFP (link to different kinds of tenders), to get the best value.

While some housing providers tender use tendering for smaller contracts, through an invitation to tender, others believe that simple comparison shopping is good enough.

What kind of work should be put out to tender?

• major construction projects
• work that is costly or needs specialized equipment
• work that requires special skills (for example, plumbing, electrical, carpentry or equipment servicing)
• work requiring more staff time than is usually available, such as carpet cleaning, snow removal or painting
• professional services that require a high level of professional, scientific, technical or managerial ability and knowledge, such as architects, engineers and land surveyors