Defence Construction Canada (DCC) now accepting electronic bid security as e-procurement solution expands.
With the rollout of the latest phase of its e-procurement solution, DCC is now accepting electronic bids for construction contracts that require bid security, DCC says in its newsletter.
“As of August 2016 in the Ontario Region, prime contractors bidding on construction work worth more than $100,000 must submit the required security through an electronic bond or wire transfer,” the newsletter says.
DCC posted the first such tender on MERX on Aug 3,—for the $1.4-million McNaughton Barracks renovation project at CFB Kingston—with two other contracts posted shortly thereafter. Other DCC regions will begin to post these contracts in the coming weeks.
With this capability, DCC can now put larger jobs out to tender electronically than previously, says procurement specialist Alain Xatruch, making it easier for more companies of all sizes—particularly those in remote locations—to bid on more of DCC’s work.
DCC employees are receiving detailed training on the particulars of receiving, verifying and accepting electronic bid security. An important step, for example, is confirming that the electronic bond DCC receives is the exact executed document with no changes or alterations to content.
As contractors and DCC gain experience with electronic bid security, DCC will amend its processes in response to any challenges that arise. “For example, we don’t want to be disqualifying companies because of minor technical glitches or other problems that are preventable,” Xatruch says. “After all, e-procurement is supposed to be about openness.”
DCC is currently considering the feasibility of extending e-procurement to consultant contracts in the architecture and engineering industry in the future. This would bring more than 90 per cent of the work DCC awards each year under the e-procurement umbrella, the DCC newsletter says.
