Competitive Bid Process
Competitive bidding is the process that allows the College to properly survey the marketplace and secure goods and services at fair and reasonable prices. It helps ensure that the College receives goods and services of the best value while also satisfying federal, state, and College requirements.
All transactions $10,000 and greater must be competitively bid.
- For orders under $100,000 this requirement may be satisfied by attaching three competitive quotes to your submission in Workday.
- For orders over $100,000+, Procurement is the authorized organization to conduct a formalized bid process or Request for Proposal (RFP). See details below.
Please contact procurement@babson.edu to start this process.
Solicit Bids
Informed by the specifications that Departments provide, Procurement develops and issues a Request for Information (RFI), Request for Quotation (RFQ), or Request for Proposal (RFP) to solicit bids from suppliers. Each supplier receives the same directions, information, & terms and conditions. Procurement only considers valid those submissions from suppliers that meet the bid requirements and are sent to Procurement by the specified deadline. Although Procurement conducts the RFP process, Departments have responsibilities as well. Upon request, Procurement will assist Departments with any of their responsibilities related to the bid process.
Please Note: Splitting a transaction into smaller dollar amounts, delaying, staggering purchases, and using multiple staff members to purchase the same or related items to avoid the competitive bid process are serious policy violations. All transactions found to be in violation of the College’s competitive bid process will be reported to senior management as unauthorized purchases. Employees responsible for violating transaction(s) may be subject to disciplinary action up to and including termination.
Evaluate Bids
Procurement works with departments to assess each proposal to determine which represents the best value to the College. An open and competitive purchasing environment requires that information related to the bidding process be kept confidential; College employees must conduct themselves ethically, as described above, at all times. Suppliers must contact Procurement to obtain bid results.
Awarding Bids
Procurement negotiates the final proposals and contracts, however since the College department is the ultimate owner of the relationship, it makes the final determination as to which provider receives the award.
No Bid Exception Process
The College is expected to make purchases in an open and competitive environment to ensure that the College receives fair and reasonable pricing. Because a no bid exception or sole source process doesn’t include a survey of the marketplace nor competition among suppliers, it makes it difficult for the College to meet these expectations. Despite these drawbacks, there are some situations in which a sole source process is in the best interest of the College.
When submitting a request to deviate from the standard competitive bid process, Departments must complete the Purchase Order Bid Process Exception Form (docx). The form must be submitted to a requisition in Workday for approval. Completion of this form does not guarantee that Procurement will approve the request. Goods or services available from more than one supplier are subject to the competitive bid process described above. Procurement will help Departments identify suppliers and facilitate the competitive bid process.
Procurement will work with Departments to determine whether a sole source situation exists and, in such cases, reserves the right to negotiate pricing or solicit additional information.