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Tenders, contracts and procurement

All our tenders, and those of many other local buyers, are listed on Contracts Finder.

Our thresholds for quotes and tenders are set out in Contract Standing Orders and are part of the Council’s constitution.

We issue Prior Information Notices (PINs) on Find a Tender where possible to notify suppliers in advance of our intentions.  Find a Tender will allow you to register for alerts about tenders free of charge.

Before 1 January 2021, we advertised tenders on the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU).  If a tender was advertised on the OJEU, we will complete the process on the OJEU.  This includes publishing the award notice once the tender is concluded.

We often hold a market testing event before tendering to:

  • Discuss our ideas
  • Make sure that our approach, specification and minimum standards do not prevent suitable bidders from bidding
  • Get feedback from bidders before issuing tenders

These events are advertised on Contracts Finder and in Prior Information Notices.  New suppliers are very welcome.

We have eliminated pre-qualification questionnaires (PQQs) for tenders under £100,000 and use them sparsely for larger procurements.

We don’t require you to have insurance in order to tender, but if you win the contract, you will need to take relevant insurance out at the level specified.

We will give you feedback for each tender with full details of scores achieved and the reasons for scoring.

Advice for bidders

Our quotes and tenders are conducted electronically on our tendering website.

Ensure that you:

  • Submit your bid on time
  • Send us any questions you have by the clarification deadline
  • Can meet the requirements and are prepared to sign the contract issued with the tender
  • Answer all the questions, taking in to account the specification
  • Communicate with us promptly if you are having problems or don’t understand something

Getting work from Norfolk County Council

Never start work without a valid purchase order number: without this, payment may be delayed or withheld.

If you would like to do business with us, you will need to:

  • Accept payment straight into your bank account by BACS
  • Provide an email address for orders and remittance advices

You should always:

  • Send your invoice directly to the address given in the purchase order by email
  • Quote the purchase order number on the invoice

We try to minimise bureaucracy, but we expect you to run your business competently.  You must:

  • Hold necessary insurance, licences and permits before the contract commences
  • Comply with employment and immigration law
  • Pay your employees and sub-contractors on time
  • Comply with tax laws, regulations and filing requirements, including IR35
  • Manage health, safety and environmental compliance properly

Read our standard terms and conditions (PDF) [515KB].  These apply to all purchase orders unless a different set of terms has been issued for that service.

Using other contracting bodies’ agreements

Some of the goods and services we buy are from contracts awarded by other contracting bodies like Crown Commercial Services and ESPO.  This can include things such as PPE, IT equipment, office furniture, tyres and electricity.  We don’t buy enough of these things to justify running a full tender ourselves so make use of the greater buying power of those buying consortia to get best value for money.

If you are interested in supplying us with goods and services, it is worthwhile applying to the framework agreement contracts operated by Crown Commercial Services and ESPO too.

Other information