Doing Business with Monroe County

Picture of new laptop with Monroe County Purchasing Department page on screen.Overview

The purpose of this section is to provide you with a general introduction on how to successfully do business with Monroe County. We are open for business from 9:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. Our offices are located in Room 200 of the County Office Building (39 W. Main St.) in Downtown Rochester on the corner of West Main and Fitzhugh Streets. You can get to Fitzhugh Street by taking the Plymouth Avenue exits from I-490, and we can be reached at 585 753-1100. Our website is updated each Friday with new bid and RFP opportunities.

Vendor Registration

All suppliers and contractors interested in bidding on products and services purchased through the Division or Purchasing and Central Services must be assigned a vendor number and can do so by downloading and completing a New Vendor Registration Form (XLSX) through this website. This registration serves several purposes including:

  • Identifying you as a potential vendor;
  • Capturing contact information about your business; and
  • Identifying which products or services your company provides.

Vendors already registered as a County vendor who need to update their information (i.e., change in address, new telephone number, etc.) can send an e-mail notifying Purchasing of these changes to [email protected].

New Vendor Registration Form (XLSX)

Material Groups (Codes and Descriptions)

Advertising Public Bids

Monroe County advertises all public bids in our official newspapers, the Rochester Business Journal and the Daily Record. In addition, the County advertises its public bids and RFPs on the Purchasing website.

We encourage vendors to frequent our website to download or request bid documents as well as RFPs by using the online registration form. Vendors may also visit the Division of Purchasing and Central Services in person to pick up hard copies of public bids.

Registration for Copies of Public Bids

Copies of public bids, with the exception of certain construction projects which include detailed plans and specifications, are available online at no charge. However, you will not be able to download any bid document or RFP from our website or request copies of construction projects without first registering and submitting the mandatory Online Registration Form. Make sure your cookies on your system are enabled and the privacy settings on your browser is set to low to avoid the re-registration process every time you need to download bids.

Receiving Copies of Public Bids for Construction Projects

State Law requires the County to secure a deposit for the safe return of plans and specifications for the performance of certain construction projects. Vendors may electronically request copies of these documents and provide their credit card numbers for processing. For further information on the refunding of deposits, please see the Frequently Asked Questions section of this website.

Registration for Copies of RFPs

Copies of RFPs are available online at no charge. However, you will not be able to download any RFP from our website without first registering and submitting the mandatory Online Registration Form. Make sure your cookies on your system are enabled and the privacy settings on your browser is set to low to avoid the re-registration process every time you need to download bids.

Submission of Bid Responses

All Public Bids must be submitted by the specified due date and time to the Division of Purchasing and Central Services, at the time indicated on the bid documents. ALL PUBLIC BIDS MUST BE SUBMITTED TO PURCHASING IN SEALED ENVELOPES WHICH CLEARLY IDENTIFY THE BID PROJECT NUMBER AND THE TITLE OF THE SERVICE/PRODUCT BEING BID. ANY OTHER WRITING ON THE ENVELOPE, WITH THE EXCEPTION OF COMPANY LOGOS, ETC. MAY RESULT IN BIDS BEING MISPLACED AND OTHERWISE REJECTED.Public Bids are opened and read publicly by the Buyer on the bid date and time specified. This is an open meeting and all are welcome to attend.

Submission of Requests for Proposals/Qualifications Responses

All responses must follow the format described in the proposal documents.

Opening of Public Bids

At the date, time and location indicated in the public bid document, Buyers in the Division of Purchasing and Central Services will open each sealed proposal, announce the bidder and the amount bid. Purchasing and Central Services will make every effort to post these results on the Monroe County website that same day under the BID RESULTS section. IT SHOULD BE NOTED THAT THIS POSTING DOES NOT REPRESENT THE AWARD OF A CONTRACT.

Opening of RFPs

There is no public opening of responses to requests for proposals/qualifications.

Award of Public Bids

The Purchasing Manager is the County Official authorized to award public bids and must make this award based on the lowest responsive, responsible bidder. Responsiveness pertains to whether or not the bidder complied with the specifications in the bid document. Responsibility is determined by taking into account the extent to which a bidder has the financial ability, accountability, reliability, skill, sufficiency of capital resources, judgment and integrity to provide the product or perform the services.

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