While looking for contracting work in Victoria, I was directed to register at the BC Bid Web site in order to become eligible to bid on public contracts, which occasionally include writing contracts.
I found little on the Web site to explain what BC Bid is and what it has to do with the average tech writer, and so I decided to delve deeper. Here’s what I discovered, with the generous help of Gordon Williams, Communications Manager at the Ministry Labour and Citizens’ Services.
What is it?
BC Bid is an online service where public sector organizations publish bids for public tender. They are required to do so for contracts above a certain financial ceiling. Very few of the contracts listed on BC Bid are writing contracts, as most stand-alone writing jobs are considered small in monetary terms.
The Numbers
Anything over $100,000 must be put out to public tender, usually through BC Bid. (There may be writing contracts included in the larger bids, of course: a contract to develop an IT application may include a technical writing component.)
For contracts of up to $100,000, the agency can choose to open the work to public competition or choose to award to one qualified supplier.
If an agency decides to award contracts of $50,000 to $100,000 directly to a contractor, a public statement must be issued (on BC Bid) explaining why it has been directly awarded, and allowing a time period for objections.
Contracts under $25,000 can be directly awarded after at least three quotes have been sought from suppliers, but they may also be opened to public competition.
Contracts under $5,000 are often directly awarded after getting quotes from suppliers.
The Terminology
In the maze of purchasing terminology and acronyms on BC Bid, three terms are of particular interest to writers:
Request for Expressions of Interest = RFEI. This describes an invitation to interested suppliers to give information about themselves for future reference. It may be used by agencies to identify qualified suppliers who might be invited to bid for contracts later.
Request for Qualification = RFQ. This is an invitation to vendors or suppliers to register on a permanent list of suppliers that can be circulated to agencies. For example, the Public Affairs Bureau may issue RFQs to build a list of communications contractors who might be called upon as work arises.
Request for Proposal = RFP. This is the most specific requirement, and the only one of the three I’m describing that actually means work is on offer. It invites suppliers to explain how they would provide a service in response to an identified requirement by the agency.
Responding to RFPs
BC Bid oversees the process for fairness, but the final decisions to award contracts are made by the agencies who posted the opportunity. The agencies are required to document all their evaluation criteria.
Successful vendors are reported publicly, and there is a process for registering objections to contract awards. Interestingly, hourly rates quoted by contractors are never revealed, as this is considered, under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, as proprietary business information. However, the total sum paid to a contractor over a year will be reported in government’s financial statements (for example, “ABC Writing Inc, $12,000”).
Is the system rigged?
One complaint I have heard is that RFPs are sometimes issued to fulfill a legal requirement, rather than as a genuine contracting opportunity, when an existing contractor already has the contract. The reason these already “filled” contracts are sometimes offered publicly has to do with money and public accountability.
Let’s say I land a $10,000 contract to do work for a particular government program. Time goes on, the project becomes bigger than envisioned, and the $10,000 becomes $50,000.
At this point the financial ceiling will likely have been reached and the contract—if more work is required—will need to be opened up for public competition on BC Bid. In such a case, my bid will be evaluated against the same criteria as the others; however I should have substantial advantages in bidding for it over others, because I will have a greater understanding of the requirement.
However, if the work is specialized and my unique skills and experience mean that I alone can do the work most efficiently, the program may award me the contract without opening it to public competition.
So the system may not always feel fair, but it has been considered, discussed and reconfigured over the years to be as fair as possible. The trick, as always, is to do your research as thoroughly as possible, and then get your name known.
Ideas for winning government writing contracts
There are steps we can all take to improve our chances of winning work from the government:
Keep an eye on BC Bid for RFPs for writing contracts. They occasionally turn up.
Watch BC Bid for writing-related RFEIs and RFQs, and get your name on the list.
Watch BC Bid for the names of successful IT or other technical contractors, where it looks like writing work might be involved. Have a chat with the vendor to see if they might need your services for this or future contracts.
Check the Corporate Supply Arrangements listings (url below) to see if there are any listed that might need writing services, and contact the suppliers to offer your services.
Stay tuned to government activities: legislative changes, for example, may require government policy redrafts and perhaps generate the odd technical writing contract.
Technical Details
For BC Bid hardware and browser requirements, see their browser guide (PDF format).
One thing the document does not explain is that many users experience difficulty in accessing the bid system, because of conflicts between BC Bid’s interface and security systems. You may have to disable Ad Blocking and other security features to allow the pop-ups used by BC Bid.
