Types of Purchases

Purchases made by the City of Portland fall into three broad categories. These are:

• Goods and Services
• Construction and Public Improvements
• Professional, Technical and Expert (PTE) Services

The methods used to purchase these items vary, depending on the type of contract and estimated contract value.  The chart of contract types and dollar thresholds outlines the different procurement methods by purchase category.  

Advertised Bid Opportunities

The City advertises “formal” bid opportunities on its Online Procurement Center website.

Construction and PTE opportunities are also published in the Portland Business Journal.  Subscribe to the Portland Business Journal online .  At times contract opportunities are advertised in community newspapers, websites or magazines.

Unadvertised Bids

Informal contract opportunities may not be advertised. In accordance with state law the City may solicit these bids by phone or fax. If your firm is interested in obtaining informal contracts, it is important that a vendor market products and services to individual City Bureaus or divisions.

Purchases for goods and services valued under $5,000are not advertised, nor does Procurement Services solicit bids centrally. Purchases of this size are made by individual Bureaus or offices. It is important that a vendor market products and services to all applicable City of Portland Bureaus.

Visit the City’s online office directory and information referral service for Bureau contact information. 

Solicitation Documents

If your firm wishes to bid on a City of Portland contract, you can find all solicitation documents, contact information, bidder lists, bid tabulations and notices of intent to award on the Online Procurement Center website.  If you are registered on this site you may automatically receive notices of available documents if you have indicated which commodity codes apply to your business. Vendors are supplied with a list of commodity codes to select from when they register their firms on our Online Procurement Center website.

Carefully review all solicitation documents and make sure your business has met all requirements and conditions. Questions may be resolved by contacting Procurement Services staff. Contact information is also included in solicitation documents.