HOW TO GET STARTED

The process to doing business with San Bernardino County begins with registering with the online procurement system (ePro). You can register at epro.sbcounty.gov/bso/. (Make sure your browser is not blocking pop-up windows).

BEFORE YOU REGISTER YOU WILL NEED THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION:

  •  Tax ID
  •   Company Name
  •   Email Address
  •   Vendor Legal Name
  •   Mailing Address Line (country, city, state/province, zipcode)

PROCUREMENT INFORMATION

FREQUENTLY PURCHASED COMMODITIES

Below are a few commodities that San Bernardino County purchases regularly:

  • Medical Supplies
  • Tools
  • Fire and Law Enforcement Equipment
  • Automobiles
  • Road Safety Supplies
  • Food
  • Office Supplies
  • Furniture
  • Computer Equipment

Most contracts for commodities and services are competitively bid and are awarded by purchasing order, including services such as building maintenance, custodial and landscape services.

CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT AND PUBLIC WORKS PROJECTS

Capital improvement and public works projects such as building construction, road, flood control and solid waste improvements between $45,000 and $175,000 are awarded by an informal construction bid process which will include detail plans and specifications. Capital improvement projects exceeding $175,000 are awarded through a formal construction bid process and require San Bernardino County Board of Supervisor’s approval.

CONSULTANT SERVICES

All consultant service contracts are selected through a request for proposal (RFP) process. The Purchasing Agent may award consulting contracts up to $100,000 without Board of Supervisor’s approval.

LOCAL VENDOR PREFERENCE POLICY

San Bernardino County has established a local vendor preference policy to encourage local vendors to provide goods and services needed for the County operations. This local buying fuels the local economy and contributes to the strength of the community. This policy includes a 5% local preference for vendors whose principal place of business is within the boundaries of the County. To qualify for this policy, local vendors must meet the following criteria:

  • Business established and open minimum 6 months
  • Can demonstrate ongoing business activity
  • Minimum 25% of the full-time regular and management employees working from locations inside San Bernardino County

SUBMITTING A BID

For more information about San Bernardino County Purchasing Department procedures and policies, please refer to the How to do Business with San Bernardino County links below.

HOW TO DO BUSINESS WITH SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY

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VIDEO PRESENTATION

FAQs

Selling

Please go to Buyers By Department webpage to identify the appropriate staff to answer your questions.

No. San Bernardino County has a strict policy not to accept bids that are received once the bid is closed. Many vendors fail to submit a quote by overlooking the “Submit” button, despite having all the information in the quote and the quote being saved. Please make sure you follow the submission directions outlined in the RFP, and you submit prior to the deadline.

When you have received a notification to respond to a bid or have located an open bid that you are eligible to respond to, your first step is to review the Request for Proposal (RFP) attached to the bid. Each bid can have unique submission requirements. First, you will need to log into your ePro account. Once logged in, make sure you are clicked on the “Seller” tab to access the bid.

Once you are under the Seller tab, please click on “Bids” at the top left of the screen, and choose the option “Open.”

Then locate the bid you are interested in. At the bottom of the bid you will see multiple action items. Click on “Create Quote.” This is the beginning process to submit a quote online.

The process to doing business with San Bernardino County begins with registering with the online procurement system (ePro). You can register at epro.sbcounty.gov/bso. When registering, once you complete the general contact and company information you will be requested to select commodity codes.

When departments need a product or service, ePro auto-generates a notification by email to vendors that registered under the specific commodity code of which the department would like to procure. Directions to respond to the notification of bid are detailed in the email you will receive.

Commodity codes are used to identify products and services for departments as a source of business. When selecting the commodity codes that reflect the work of your company we encourage you to invest adequate time to include all the codes related to your company. Often, solicitations are sent to vendors based solely on commodity codes. Therefore, if your business is able to do a project but did not select the exact commodity codes regarding the desired service or product, your company will not receive the initial notification. San Bernardino County wants your company to be included in all the solicitations that you are eligible to bid. Therefore, we encourage you to select all that apply. San Bernardino County utilizes the National Institute of Government Purchasing (NIGP) Commodity Codes.

777 East Rialto Avenue
San Bernardino, CA 92415-0760
Phone: (909) 387-2060