Cuyahoga County and the City of Cleveland buy a steady stream of goods and services, from computers and radios to building maintenance and professional services. They post and receive bids in different ways, and mixing them up is an easy way to lose a bid you priced well.
Cuyahoga County: The Online Portal
Cuyahoga County runs its solicitations through an online procurement portal. Each open event has a summary page with the closing date and time, the buyer, and the attached documents. Responses are generally submitted through the same portal, which is why registering as a supplier ahead of time matters.
County events often break a purchase into lines. Read every line before you decide to bid: some events allow you to bid only the lines you can supply, and some require all of them. The instructions in the event say which.
City of Cleveland: Two Kinds of Postings
The City of Cleveland posts invitations to bid and small-purchase requests for bids on its website, with a separate page for requests for qualifications and proposals.
- Invitations to bid are formal, usually sealed, and delivered on paper by a set time and place.
- Requests for bids on smaller purchases are often answered by email to the buyer named on the posting.
The posting's own instructions always win. If it says paper, an emailed response may not be accepted, and the reverse.
Questions, Addenda and Deadlines
Both list a deadline for questions that comes before the bid deadline. Ask early, in writing, and only through the method the posting gives. Answers often arrive as addenda that change quantities or specifications, so check for them before you finalize a price.
Read the Terms Before You Price
Delivery location, payment timing, required forms and any insurance or bonding requirements all affect what a bid really costs you. If a term is referenced but not attached, ask for it before the question deadline rather than guessing.
After You Submit
Awards often come a week or two after the closing date, though it varies. Whether you win or lose, ask for the bid tabulation. Seeing the other prices is the fastest way to learn what the next bid should look like.
How We Work These Bids
Tevis Engineering bids on Cuyahoga County and City of Cleveland work, and Bid Management Software is the tool we built to do it. It reads both sources automatically, scores each posting against your service codes, keeps the question and closing deadlines in front of you, and tracks every bid through to the award. See also How to Price a Government Bid.