My company is looking at a Request for Quotation (RFQ) from Hennepin County for management consulting services, NAICS 541611. The solicitation was posted on their hosted portal. To download the actual plans and specifications, the portal requires a monthly subscription fee. I am used to federal solicitations on SAM.gov being free, so this surprised me. I tried searching on the county's main website and on the state's procurement portal, but the RFQ only seems to be accessible through this paid portal. The deadline is next week, so I need to decide quickly if I should pay the fee. Can a county legally charge for access to a public bid document like an RFQ? Is there another way to obtain these documents without paying a subscription fee to a third-party portal?
The county charges for bid documents on its portal. Is there a free way to read a public bid?
Ask a question- Yes, a county can legally charge for access to public bid documents; however, you should always check the county's procurement code for specific rules on fees.
- Federal solicitations on SAM.gov are free, but local governments operate under different rules.
- Many local governments outsource their procurement portals to third-party vendors, and those vendors o
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Yes, a county can legally charge for access to public bid documents; however, you should always check the county's procurement code for specific rules on fees. Federal solicitations on SAM.gov are free, but local governments operate under different rules. Many local governments outsource their procurement portals to third-party vendors, and those vendors often charge a fee for access to detailed solicitation documents. Your best approach is to contact the county's procurement office directly and ask for a copy of the RFQ. State and local procurement codes generally have provisions for public access to these documents, even if a vendor charges for convenience. If the county cannot provide it directly, they should be able to direct you on how to make a public records request for the document without paying the portal's subscription fee.
No, there is no free way to read a public bid if the county portal charges for access. Helen is right that state and local rules are different, and many state and county procurement portals charge a fee for access to bid documents. My shop has dealt with this plenty. You have to decide if the potential contract is worth the fee. For federal work, the FAR requires proposed contract actions over $25,000 to be synopsized in SAM.gov, which is free. For state and local, there's no federal rule like that. Some state procurement portals are free, but a lot of county and city ones charge.