The City of West Hollywood purchases a wide variety of materials, supplies, equipment and services through a decentralized purchasing system managed individually by divisions and departments throughout the City.

HOW DO I FIND OUT ABOUT BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES WITH THE CITY?

1. View current opportunities on the City Clerk's web page under Public Notices. Look for RFP/RFQ/BID Notices.
2. Formal bid opportunities are advertised in the West Hollywood Independent newspaper.
3. At the Public Notices page, register to receive email notifications of Public Notices from the City Clerk.
4. Register your business as a vendor on the Planet BIDS website for notification about Public Works Project Bids

TYPES AND METHODS OF PURCHASING

Informal Bid Process
For quotes under $25,000 three quotes are obtained by the staff of the department or division. These quotes may be obtained by telephone or in written form. The City does not have a central procurement system.

Formal Bid Process
When the item or service to be procured is estimated to cost over $75,000, a specification package is developed and made available to all interested vendors. The City's policy is to obtain goods and services of the highest quality for the lowest cost. Final awards are approved by the City Council.

Depending on the complexity of the bid, a pre-bid conference may be held on formal bids. The purpose of the pre-bid conference is to provide a forum in which vendors may ask questions about the bid document.

LOCAL PREFERENCE

The City provides a 4% preference to local vendors (i.e. a business, firm, or enterprise with fixed offices or locally taxable distribution points within the city, that holds a valid business tax certificate, issued by the city, and bears a street address within the city.) This is accomplished by reducing their bids by 4% (but not more than $5,000) when comparing such bids to those of other bidders.

GENERAL CONTRACT REQUIREMENTS

Living Wage Ordinance
Anyone entering into a contract with the City will be required to comply with the City of West Hollywood Living Wage Ordinance.  The 2022-2023 Living Wage Rate expires on June 30, 2023. The new 2023-2024 Living Wage Rate is effective July 1, 2023. 

Please visit the City's Living Wage page for more information.

Prevailing Wage 
For those contracts requiring prevailing wage, copies of the rate of per diem wages are on file in the office of the City Clerk or at the State of California Department of Industrial Relations.

Insurance
Contractors with the City will be required to procure and maintain, for the duration of the contract, the following insurance policies. Note: specific insurance types and requirements may vary by type of contract.

• Worker's Compensation Coverage - Coverage for employees, including employees of subcontractors, in accordance with the laws of the State of California.
• General Liability Coverage - Based on Insurance Services Office "Commercial General Liability" policy form CB 0001 or the exact equivalent. Limits may vary, but are no less than $1,000,000 per occurrence.
• Automobile Liability Coverage - Business Auto Coverage based on ISO Business Auto Coverage form CA 00 01 including symbol 1 (Any Auto) or the exact equivalent. Limits may vary, but are no less than $300,000 per accident.
• Professional Liability Coverage - Professional Liability or Errors and Omissions Insurance as appropriate and written on a policy form coverage specifically designed to protect against acts, errors or omissions of the consultant for work performed under the agreement. Policy limits are no less than $1,000,000 per claim and in the aggregate.
• Excess or Umbrella Liability Insurance (Over Primary) - To be determined in consultation with the City, but limits are no less than $1,000,000 per claim.