Common Vendor Questions

Procurement Services maintains a list of qualified potential suppliers or contractors for all goods and services required throughout the year. If you wish to have your company added to the list, contact Procurement Services expressing your interest and/or email the following information:

• Full company name
• Address
• Phone, fax, email, website link
• Sales and technical support contacts
• Authorized product lines/brand name
• Commodity type, quality
• Brochures/corporate profile
• Area of service, delivery

While the City cannot legally adopt a program that provides a preference for Vernon-based companies, we do enjoy doing business with local companies and encourage them to compete for the City’s business.

All open procurement bid opportunities are posted to the City website and Bonfire - Procurement Portal, you may download from either website. For capital project construction opportunities, tenders are typically issued through an engineering consultant hired by the City. The tenders can be purchased directly from the consultant at the time of bidder registration.

The City of Vernon will post open procurement bid opportunities on our website and through the Procurement Portal - Bonfire.

For some purchases, advertisements may also be found in the local newspapers, BC Bid and on CivicInfo BC.

A copy of the City's Procurement Policy can be found here. 

All standard terms and conditions are available from the City website. These documents have been posted for convenience however, on occasion the City may make changes to the posted standard terms and conditions or issue supplemental special conditions. It is the vendor or contractor’s responsibility to ensure they review the bid and/or contract documents to ensure they have the most recent terms and conditions. 

All open procurement bid opportunities are posted to the City website. Once the contract has been executed or the purchase order has been issued the results will be posted. Posting results may take up to three weeks.

For the majority of used equipment and surplus material, the City uses BC Auction. Item details are provided on the auction website along with bid closing date and time. Bidders must register (at no cost) with BC Auction to be eligible to bid.

The City will also consider the use of other disposal methods including:

• Kiijii
• Castanet
• Auto Trader
• Local area auctioneers

The City advertises all disposal items under All Open Requests (look for DISPOSAL under the Project Description).

Any person, business, or corporate entity, under most circumstances, is eligible to become a City vendor.

Typical documentation required for contractors providing services would include, but not be limited to:

• Proof of a City of Vernon or inter-community business licence
• Copy of current WorkSafe BC clearance letter
• Certificate of insurance – evidence of commercial general liability and/or professional errors & omissions liability insurance
• A prime contractor assignment (if applicable)

In an effort to take advantage of large-volume pricing, the City often issues a request for quote to establish annual contracts. The term of these annual contracts and supply agreements are based on the bid requirements and may result in multi-year terms with renewal options.

In order to provide the many services that it does to residents and visitors alike, the City purchases a wide variety of goods and services.

Goods and services are broken down into the following general categories:

• Consumable supplies - Products that have a one-time life cycle; typical examples are paper products, office supplies, cleaning supplies and fuel
• General supplies - Items such as tools, uniforms, office machines, furniture, and smaller pieces of equipment
• Capital Assets - These are items not previously described, having a value in excess of $10,000; this includes improvements to City-owned roads, land and buildings, vehicles, and larger pieces of equipment
• Services - These include professional services provided by consultants such as; environmental, architectural, design and engineering services;  also included are general services of janitorial, snow removal and landscape maintenance