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.
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 at
http://www.fin.gov.bc.ca/ocg/pgo/pgo.htm.
No
compensation is awarded through either the ministry or Procurement
Governance Office vendor complaint review process. |
