NC BIDS FAQs for Vendors
The North Carolina Business Invitation Delivery System (NC BIDS) is North Carolina's new electronic bidding system. NC BIDS provides vendors the opportunity to respond electronically to specified solicitations. NC BIDS is part of our ongoing procurement modernization effort, as we continue to strive to improve the process of doing business with the state of North Carolina.
Until we move to a complete procurement solution, NC BIDS will enable vendors to respond to specified solicitations electronically. Responding electronically will save vendors time and money by eliminating the need to print and ship paper proposal packages, which should also translate to lower prices for state agencies.
There is no cost to use NC BIDS.
To be able to submit bids electronically through NC BIDS, vendors must be registered in the North Carolina electronic Vendor Portal (eVP). The eVP is an online application used by vendors who are registering to do business with the State of North Carolina.
If you have any questions during the registration process, please contact the NC electronic Vendor Portal Help Desk at 888-211-7440, option 2, or vendor@nc.gov.
The different registration types allow a vendor to register for different services, including:
- NC E-Procurement @ Your Service - Vendors can register to receive purchase orders from State Entities, Local Education Authorities (K-12 Schools Systems), Community Colleges, and participating Local Governments.
- Interactive Purchasing System (IPS) - Vendors can register to receive e-mail notifications of procurement and construction opportunities based on designated commodity/construction codes, and respond to specified solicitations electronically by using the NC BIDS feature of the IPS website (www.ips.state.nc.us).
- HUB Certification - Vendors must request certification through the electronic Vendor Portal if they wish to be certified as a Historically Underutilized Business.
When an agency participates in NC BIDS:
- For all solicitations posted by or for that agency, an optional eBid button can be displayed in IPS. NC BIDS is a feature of IPS.
- When posting a solicitation, Purchase & Contract or the agency will specify whether the eBid button should be displayed for that solicitation. The presence or absence of the eBid button determines whether vendors can submit bids electronically, but P&C or the agency should also explicitly specify how bids are to be submitted.
- For each solicitation handled by or through P&C:
- Each individual solicitation document will indicate whether responses must be submitted electronically through NC BIDS or whether paper responses are required.
- One of the following instructions will also be included in the Special Instructions field:
- Electronic responses ONLY will be accepted
- Mailed responses ONLY will be accepted
- Submissions that do not comply with the stated submissions method will be deemed non-responsive.
- For solicitations under the delegation of an agency, P&C strongly recommends that they also choose to accept only electronic or only paper bids for each solicitation using the guidelines above. However, each agency will need to update their policy based on the decision made by their procurement leader.
- Vendors must always check the special instructions and solicitation document for each solicitation to verify whether electronic or paper bids are required for that solicitation:
- If electronic bids are required, respond electronically to that solicitation using the eBid button displayed in IPS for that solicitation.
- If paper bids are required, do not use the eBid button, you must submit a paper bid.
Submissions can be viewed until the Remaining Time Before Bid Opening clock expires. Files can be uploaded and removed until the Remaining Time Before Bid Opening clock expires. After the Remaining Time Before Bid Opening clock expires, bids cannot be viewed or updated.
No, submissions are disabled automatically when the clock expires.
The maximum file size is 24 MB, but you can upload as many files as needed. Acceptable file types are PDF files and image files (JPG, GIF, etc.)
When scanning a document, the size of the resulting file can be minimized by reducing the DPI resolution setting prior to scanning the document. The default setting can vary and reducing the DPI to 200, for example, can produce a smaller file. Be sure to view the scanned file and verify that it is readable.
If the lower resolution does not adequately reduce the file size, divide the document into multiple files for uploading.
No, there is no fillable PDF form available.
P&C recommends the following naming conventions:
- BidNumber-Bid Response-VendorName
- BidNumber-Bid Response-Specs-VendorName
For example:
- 201900000-Bid Response-XyzCorporation
- 201900000-Bid Response-Specs-XyzCorporation
As per the EXECUTION page, there are two signature options:
- Vendor may apply a wet signature, scan, and then upload this attestation page as an attachment for submission through NC BIDS
- Vendor may apply a digital/electronic signature in the designated box, scan, and then upload as an attachment along with its bid
Please contact the NC electronic Vendor Portal Help Desk at 1-888-211-7440, option 2, or vendor@nc.gov.