Ministry Vendor Complaint Review Process for Procurement
Following is the process for registering a Vendor Complaint relating to
procurement activities carried out by or for the ministry, pursuant to the
government Core Policy manual Chapter 6, Part II; the Vendor Complaint
Review Process for government procurement. This
policy can be found at the following link:
http://www.fin.gov.bc.ca/ocg/fmb/manuals/CPM/06_Procurement.htm
Informal Process
Prior to submitting a formal written complaint or question
about a competitive process or contract award, the vendor should contact
the person named as contact for the competition or contract and try to
resolve the question or issue on an informal basis. If you do not know
who that is, please contact:
Director, Finance and Administration
Ministry of Small Business and Economic Development
Management Services Division
P O Box 9324 Stn Prov Govt
8th Floor, 1810 Blanshard Street
Victoria, B.C. V8W 9N3
Phone: (250) 952-0174
Fax: (250) 952-0171
Formal Process
If the complaint or question is not resolved through informal discussion,
a vendor may then submit a written complaint using the
Vendor Complaint
Form (MS Word).
The
completed form should be mailed or faxed to the Director, Finance and
Administration (contact information in the previous section).
The
Director will log the complaint and forward it to the appropriate ministry
staff for review and response.
Vendor complaints must concern a competition for procurement of goods,
services or construction, or a pending or awarded contract, and can be
submitted during the competition process and up to thirty (30) business
days after you have received notification from the ministry of the final
outcome of the competition.
For
the purpose of a complaint relating to a competition, the vendor must be
an actual or prospective bidder or proponent whose direct economic
interest would be affected by the award of a contract or by the failure to
award a contract.
For
the purpose of a complaint related to a contract award resulting from a
competitive process, the vendor must be a proponent who actually submitted
a proposal in response to the competition for the contract.
The
ministry will make every effort to acknowledge a complaint within five
working days of receipt and to respond to the complaint in writing within
thirty calendar days of receipt. The director of the branch responsible
for posting the opportunity and the supervising Assistant Deputy Minister
will respond to the vendor complaint. The ministry’s Executive Financial
Officer and/or Senior Financial Officer may provide policy advice to
assist in the review.
If
the complainant or others have previously or simultaneously undertaken
other activities such as correspondence with ministers or a request under
Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy legislation related to
the procurement activity in question, the timelines for the ministry
response to the complaint will be altered accordingly since it is likely
relevant records would not be available for review. Also, if formal
processes such as litigation, a complaint through the Office of the
Ombudsman or the Procurement Governance Office have been commenced, the
ministry vendor complaint process will be deemed to have been
by-passed.
The
review of complaints will focus on the process followed by the ministry
and participating staff. If the process has been fair and all vendors
treated consistently, then the adjudication of the complaint would likely
reaffirm the original decision reached. If the review determines
improvements should be made, these will be recommended for future vendor
opportunities. Serious flaws in administration of procurement policy and
process could result in a competition decision or contract award being
cancelled.
Appeal or Second
Step
If the vendor is not satisfied with the results of the ministry’s review
of the complaint, the vendor may then escalate the complaint to the next
level by filing a complaint with the
Procurement Governance Office.
No
compensation is awarded through either the ministry or Procurement
Governance Office vendor complaint review process.
Last Updated
June 02, 2006
