This procurement is subject to the provisions of the Quebec-New Brunswick Procurement Agreement, the Canadian Free Trade Agreement, the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, the Agreement on Government Procurement under the World Trade Organization and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.
Bidders are requested to include specifications on product quoted with the bid.
No totals required.
Where it is deemed practicable and in the best interest of the Province a contract may be awarded to more than one supplier for the same item or group of items.
Packing slips showing quantity, item(s) and purchase order number must be included on the outside of carton(s) or shipment will be returned to the vendor, collect.
The Province of N.B. will allow government funded bodies to purchase goods or services using long term contracts awarded as a result of an Invitation. By submitting a bid the bidder indicates that it agrees to extend the same pricing to government funded bodies as per the terms and specifications in the Invitation document.
Right to Cancel
In the event the Province of New Brunswick changes the manner in which the goods specified on this tender are obtained, the Province reserves the right to cancel the contract at any time, with 30 days advance notice to the successful vendor(s). The Province of New Brunswick will not be subject to any penalties or costs associated with contract cancellation.
*****Amendment #4*****
The following questions have been presented to PNB:
Q1: Clarification - Section 11 Bullet point 12 - (make available an electronic file (.xml format) or electronic catalogue (.cXML format) in both languages (English and French) that contains all the required product details). Can the hosted catalogue be in .cif or a .xls document? Regarding JPG images for product pictures will you accept a URL to a JPEG image?
A1: A file can be received in .xls format. An image is required for a product picture. A URL is not acceptable at this time.
Q2: How will orders be submitted to supplier when the end-user is reviewing the catalogue? (example: EDI X12, XML, email) Also, will they accept order confirmations?
A2: Orders will be sent to the Vendor through electronic data interface (EDI). The Vendor will be required to provide back a real time receipt for each order to the requesting client department. An email address is indicated in the shipping information for the supplier to send an order confirmation.
Q3: Can you confirm the UOM and Package Quantity for Brand / Manufacturer Product Code # 6247 (Hilroy 3-Prong Report Covers). It indicates 6,900 cartons of 50 report covers on Appendix A - Pricing Form. Is this correct?
A3: No, the UOM should be treated as 'Each'. The total estimated yearly quantity is 6,900 report covers.
Q4: For the top 50 products, would the items quoted need to be the brand and model specified? Or would substitutes be acceptable?
A4: The brand and models specified (including the Top 50) are provided as samples. A bidder can submit a substitute product for any of the products listed.
All other information remains the same.
****
*****Amendment #3*****
The following questions have been presented to PNB:
Q1: Under 2. STANDARD TERMS AND CONDITIONS: Where it is deemed practicable and in the best interest of the Province a contract may be awarded to more than one bidder for the same item or group of items. Then in 7. AWARD: The intent of this tender is to award to only one bidder who is capable of bidding on all Top 50 items. In addition, bidders must bid on at least ninety percent (90%) of all items in order to be considered for award. SNB reserves the right to award additional contracts in
order to fulfil items not available from the primary Vendor. Please clarify if there will be one or more primary Vendor.
A1: As per Section 7 - Award within the Summary of Tender Information document:
The intent of this tender is to award to only one bidder who is capable of bidding on all Top 50 items. In addition, bidders must bid on at least ninety percent (90%) of all items in order to be considered for award. SNB reserves the right to award additional contracts in order to fulfill items not available from the primary Vendor.
Q2: Will the successful bidder be selected based on the lowest price for the top 50 items or all items?
A2: As per Section 7 - Award within the Summary of Tender Information document:
This tender will be awarded based on the lowest overall price of all items listed on the Pricing Form.
Q3: Will the NB supplier preference be applied to this Invitation to Tender?
A3: No, the NB supplier preference will not be applied to this Invitation to Tender as the estimated value of the award is above the threshold value of any relevant trade agreement.
Q4: With respect to copy paper is there a percentage of the total requirement that will be ordered in skid quantities as opposed to cases or reams? If so if you could provide approximate % or just the number of skid order's placed in previous year it would provide direction in terms of pricing.
A4: This type of information is not available.
All other information remains the same.
****
*****Amendment #2*****
The following question has been presented to PNB:
Question: I see #9 Bid Submission Requirements - this contains requirement 90% of all items. Can that be changed?
Answer: The intent of this tender is to award to only one bidder who is capable of bidding on all Top 50 items and is able to bid on at least ninety percent (90%) of all items. In order to meet this requirement, ninety percent (90%) has been determined as the minimum threshold. Due to this, no change will be made to either the Award or Bid Submission Requirements sections as outlined within the Summary of Tender Information document.
All other information remains the same.
****
*****Amendment #1*****
The following question has been presented to PNB:
Question: Is there a question submission deadline? If yes, what is the date?
Answer: All questions and responses will be made available to all bidders 1 (one) week before the closing date (February 28th), through the issuance of an amendment/addendum. Further questions may not be accepted after this date.
All other information remains the same.
****
This tender is for the supply and delivery of Office Supplies and Print Paper to the Province of New Brunswick (PNB). The contract will be for a period of two (2) years commencing June 1, 2022 to May 31, 2024 with the option to renew for three (3) additional one (1) year terms to May 31, 2027 upon mutual agreement between SNB and the vendor.
The intent of this tender is to award to only one bidder who is capable of bidding on all Top 50 items. In addition, bidders must bid on at least ninety percent (90%) of all items in order to be considered for award. SNB reserves the right to award additional contracts in order to fulfil items not available from the primary Vendor.
This tender will be awarded based on the lowest overall price of all items listed on the Pricing Form. (See Appendix A - Pricing Form)
*SEE TENDER DOCUMENTS ATTACHED*
This is a tender notice only. In order to submit a bid, you must obtain official tender documents from the New Brunswick Opportunities Network, another authorized tendering service or as indicated in the tender notice.
Instructions for Bid Submission
1. Effective April 15, 2020, Service New Brunswick is no longer accepting paper bids,
and the Central Tendering Branch is closed to the public. Public tender openings are
no longer taking place; however, results continue to be posted on NBON.
2. Bids will only be accepted by electronic transmission as follows:
a. By e-bidding through NBON (when e-bidding is possible); OR
b. By fax to: (506) 444-4200 (fax to dedicated mailbox).
Note: Proposals in response to a Request for Proposals (RFP) will not be accepted by fax; OR
c. By email to NBBids@snb.ca or SoumissionsNB@snb.ca (do not submit bids to any other email).
Click here
Instructions for Bid Submission for important instructions on how to submit bids by email.
d. Please refrain from submitting your bid through multiple electronic channels
to avoid duplicate bids.
3. All bids must be properly signed by an authorized person.
a. For bids submitted by email or fax: typed signatures (in any font)
that are not on the bid itself (i.e. in the body of the email or on the
fax cover sheet) will NOT be accepted.
4. All bids must be legible, properly completed and contain the proper solicitation number.
5. The proponent is solely responsible for ensuring that the bid submission
in its entirety, including all attachments, is received before Closing Date and Time
as indicated on the solicitation documents.
a. The proponent bears all risk associated with delivering its bid by electronic
submission, including but not limited to delays in transmission between the Proponent's computer and the Province's Electronic Mail System, NBON or fax.
b. The date and time of official receipt of the bid will be the time of receipt
recorded in the NBON system (for e-bids) or the time of receipt in the Province's
Electronic Mail System (for fax and email bid submissions).
6. All bids must be stated in Canadian Funds. Sales taxes should not be included in
the unit, extended or total prices.
7. All tenders must be F.O.B. destination, freight prepaid.
8. This Invitation is being conducted under the provisions of the Procurement Act
and Regulation 2014-93 as of the date of the issuance of the Invitation.
Solicitation documents will be provided in either of the Province of New Brunswick's two official languages; English or French upon request.
A bidder must obtain official solicitation documents from a distribution service, authorized by the Minister of Service New Brunswick, in order to submit a bid. The current authorized distribution services are the
New Brunswick Opportunities Network (NBON) (operated by Service New Brunswick, Province of NB),
BIDSAlert (operated by Tendering Publications Ltd.) and
MERX (operated by Mediagrif Interactive Technologies). Bids should be submitted on the official bid documents
obtained from these authorized distribution services.
All suppliers engaged to deliver services on behalf of the Government of New Brunswick must ensure compliance with the
Official Languages Act in the delivery of those services. For more information, please refer to the
Official Languages Act.
COVID-19 Restrictions for Workers entering New Brunswick
All suppliers and workers entering the province of New Brunswick for work purposes must comply with the requirements established by WorkSafe NB and Public Health, including isolation requirements where applicable.
Click here for more information on these requirements.
The Atlantic Provinces Standard Terms & Conditions for Goods and Services apply to this procurement and are considered to be incorporated into this document. By submitting a bid, you agree and accept these terms and conditions. Current "Atlantic Provinces Standard Terms and Conditions" are available on the New Brunswick Opportunities Network, the Council of Atlantic Premiers' Website or from an authorized service provider.
COVID-19 Supplier Vaccination Policy
Suppliers must comply with all GNB health and safety policies and standards including, without limitation, all health and safety policies and standards related to COVID-19, as applicable. Go to www.gnb.ca/nbon to view the full policy and FAQs.
Under Canadian law (and international agreements), your Bid must arrive separately and independently, without conspiracy, collusion or fraud; see http://www.competitionbureau.gc.ca/eic/site/cb-bc.nsf/eng/home for further information.
QUESTIONS:
Written questions relating to this opportunity may be submitted to the address provided below via email by clicking on Questions. Please be sure to include the solicitation/tender number in the subject line.
EMAIL ADDRESS: bidquestionssoumissions@snb.ca
NOTE:
This email account is strictly for the receipt of questions on open opportunities. This email is not for the submission of bids.
All discounts quoted will be considered to be without limitations.
Award of contracts: no contract shall be awarded and no payment shall be made to a vendor unless authorized by the Minister or his delegates. The Minister may make an award to the preferred vendor conditional on the negotiation and acceptance of a detailed contract between the Province and the vendor. In such cases, should the detailed contract negotiations not be completed in a reasonable period of time, the Province reserves the right to discontinue negotiations with the vendor and
subsequently enter into negotiations with the second preferred vendor.
No right or duty, in whole or in part, of the vendor under a contract issued may be assigned or delegated without the prior consent of the Strategic Procurement Branch.
Unless indicated otherwise in this tender notice or attached documents, all prices must be extended and totalled.
The province of New Brunswick reserves the right to negotiate pricing, value added and other savings opportunities with the successful proponent at time of award and throughout the contract.
Pay Equity
Does your organization have 50 or more employees?
The Government of New Brunswick is committed to encouraging and incentivizing the adoption of pay equity by employers doing business with government.
Prior to the award of procurements for goods and services valued over $1,000,000, suppliers, with fifty (50) or more employees will be required to complete the Pay Equity Learning Module developed by the Women's Equality Branch. Suppliers should provide a copy of their certificate of completion with their bid submission.
To complete the online module and obtain your certificate, please visit www.gnb.ca/payequity. For questions, please contact the Pay Equity Bureau toll free: (877) 253-0266 or by Email: peb-bes@gnb.ca.
All Suppliers engaged to deliver goods or services to the Government of New Brunswick must ensure compliance with the Designated Materials Regulation in the provision or delivery of those goods obligated under that Regulation. Please refer to
Recycle NB's website and the
Designated Materials Regulation for specifics.
PAYMENT OF INVOICES
Payment of invoices is the responsibility of the department or organization to whom the goods are shipped or services are supplied.
Direct Deposit
The Province of New Brunswick is now using Direct Deposit as the standard method of issuing payments. Suppliers are required to provide bank account information and an email address for the notice of remittance. Please send the completed Direct Deposit Form to Service New Brunswick (e-mail address and mailing address are indicated on the form).
Please click on the link below to view the Direct Deposit Form.
https://www2.snb.ca/content/dam/snb/Procurement/DirectDepositVirementDirect.pdf
CONTRACT OF SUPPLY
To be delivered as and when required for the period indicated upon receipt of an official Release under Contract. The Province of N.B. does not guarantee that any amount, make, model, brand, item, part or service will be purchased.
Where the estimated value of the goods or services to be procured is below the lowest applicable threshold value of any relevant trade agreement, Service New Brunswick reserves the right to give preferential treatment to a prospective supplier from New Brunswick. Should this right be exercised, the following order of priority will apply: a) firstly, New Brunswick manufacturers if the goods to be procured are manufactured in New Brunswick; and b) secondly, New Brunswick vendors.
When bid submissions are evaluated on price:
- Applicability of the preferences will be determined based on the price differential between the lowest-priced acceptable bid and the bid receiving the preferential treatment.
- The price differential under which a NB supplier preference may be applied will be limited to 10%. When the lowest-priced acceptable bid before preferential treatment is applied is a New Brunswick vendor, the price differential under which a NB manufacturer preference will be applied will be limited to 5%.
- The preferential treatment will be applied by making the award to the NB supplier.
When bid submissions are evaluated on a point system:
- Applicability of the preferences will be determined based on the price differential between the pricing component of the highest scoring acceptable bid submission and the pricing component of the bid(s) receiving the preferential treatment.
- The price differential under which a NB supplier preference may be applied will be limited to 10%. When the highest scoring acceptable bid submission before preferential treatment is applied is a New Brunswick vendor, the price differential under which a NB manufacturer preference will be applied will be limited to 5%.
- The preferential treatment will be applied by allotting a maximum of an additional 5% of the total possible points to New Brunswick manufacturers' total scores and 4% to NB vendors' total scores. If no bid from a New Brunswick manufacturer has been retained for preferential treatment, New Brunswick vendors may receive a maximum of an additional 5% of the total possible points rather than 4%.
The decision to apply a preference will be at the sole discretion of Service New Brunswick. To be eligible, suppliers must meet the definition of NB supplier as identified by the regulation under the
Procurement Act. NB manufacturers should indicate in their bid that they are a NB manufacturer to be considered for the NB manufacturer preference.
Where permissible under the applicable trade agreements and the regulation under the
Procurement Act, Service New Brunswick reserves the right to give preferential treatment to a prospective supplier from New Brunswick. Should this right be exercised, the following order of priority will apply: a) firstly, New Brunswick manufacturers if the goods to be procured are manufactured in New Brunswick; and b) secondly, New Brunswick vendors.
When bid submissions are evaluated on price:
- Applicability of the preferences will be determined based on the price differential between the lowest-priced acceptable bid and the bid receiving the preferential treatment.
- The price differential under which a NB supplier preference may be applied will vary between 2.5% and 10% depending on the total estimated value of the procurement, in accordance with the ranges set out in the regulation under the
Procurement Act.
- The preferential treatment will be applied by making the award to the NB supplier.
When bid submissions are evaluated on a point system:
- Applicability of the preferences will be determined based on the price differential between the pricing component of the highest scoring acceptable bid submission and the pricing component of the bid(s) receiving the preferential treatment.
- The price differential under which a NB supplier preference may be applied will vary between 2.5% and 10% depending on the total estimated value of the procurement, in accordance with the ranges set out in the regulation under the
Procurement Act.
- The preferential treatment will be applied by allotting a maximum of an additional 5% of the total possible points to New Brunswick manufacturers' total scores and 4% to NB vendors' total scores. If no bid from a New Brunswick manufacturer has been retained for preferential treatment, New Brunswick vendors may receive a maximum of an additional 5% of the total possible points rather than 4%.
The decision to apply a preference will be at the sole discretion of Service New Brunswick. To be eligible, suppliers must meet the definition of NB supplier as identified by the regulation under the
Procurement Act. NB manufacturers should indicate in their bid that they are a NB manufacturer to be considered for the NB manufacturer preference.
For ease of response an MS document has been posted on the New Brunswick Opportunities Network(NBON)to be filled in and returned with your bid document.
For those companies that receive bid documents from MERX you will need to register on the NBON system at www.gnb.ca/tenders to download the MS document. You are however, cautioned not to make any changes to our wording or your response may be rejected.
Should you have any trouble registering on the system please contact the HELP Line at 1-800-561-1422 in Canada or 506-444-5636 outside Canada.
