How to Bid on Contracts

Contractors and companies can bid to work on public projects for the City of Syracuse. Learn about how to bid on opportunities and the bidding process. 

For information on how to do business with the City of Syracuse, use these helpful links:
 Register as a Bidder  | Request an RFP  |

How to Bid on Contracts from the City

We follow a bidding process to hire contractors and companies to perform work or provide goods to the City of Syracuse:

• When a project cost is less than $50,000, we ask for written quotes from three suppliers. We don't need a standard contract for these projects.
• When a project costs more than $50,000, we advertise the job so any contractor can apply. We provide standard contracts for these types of projects.

HOW WE ASK FOR BIDS

We have a bidding process for all projects except specialized contracts that we don't advertise. There are four ways that we collect bids:

1. An invitation for bids is open and public. We give the job to a responsible bidder who offers the lowest price. 
2. We can also release a request for proposal to help us if we're having trouble deciding who to choose for a project.  Companies submitting a proposal must give us a more technical outline of how they plan to do the job, separate from just their pricing bid.
3. A request for information allows us to learn more about companies to help us make business decision, or figure out what we should ask for in an upcoming bid. We do not award jobs based on requests for information.
4. We use unadvertised emergency bids in emergency situations. We’d use this type of bid if:

• we'd risk losing a warranty for a vendor we’re working with, or
• we needed to hire a vendor who is the only one who can provide certain services or goods.

THE BIDDING PROCESS

We keep all bids that we advertise on record with the Division of Purchase. Copies of bid specification documents must be requested from our office.