Conducting Business with the Town
The Purchasing Division is responsible for the overall conduct and oversight of all purchases for Town of Wake Forest equipment, supplies, services, etc.
The Town strives to provide all vendors and suppliers an opportunity to bid on goods, services and construction projects. Competitive bidding procedures are utilized as required by NC General Statutes and Town of Wake Forest Policies and Procedures to ensure that the best value in goods and services is obtained through open vendor competition.
In addition, the Town participates in programs that allow the opportunity to purchase under NC contracts and in cooperative agreements with other governmental units.
Registering to Do Business with the Town
If your company is interested in doing business with the Town, you must first register your company. To do so, complete the Vendor Application.
If your company will be performing any type of service for the Town that requires you to be on-site, the Town must receive a valid Certificate of Insurance. The Town’s insurance requirements can be viewed by clicking on the TOWF Insurance Requirements form. Companies that do not meet the required minimum level of insurance must be exempted by the Town.
Purchasing Methods
The Town obtains goods and service using three basic methods: (1) Procurement cards “P-cards”, (2) purchase orders and (3) contracts.
P-cards and purchase orders are use primarily for supplies, equipment, materials, etc. Contracts are used for construction and services.
Town departments may procure supplies, equipment, materials, etc. provided the total expenditure does not exceed $2,500, without submitting a requisition to Purchasing. Purchases at this level do not require bidding and departments are urged to purchase from the most economical source available.
For expenditures exceeding $2,500, departments must submit requisition to the Purchasing division. Based on the dollar amount, Purchasing will obtain item(s) using best practice techniques, including but not limited to existing contracts, request for quotes, request for bids, etc.
Payment & Tax Information
The Town of Wake Forest is required to pay state and local sales tax. The tax amount is not shown on the purchase order but the vendor should show the tax amount as a separate line item on the invoice. Payments are processed every other week with term limits of net/30, unless otherwise agreed. For more information on payments, visit Financial & Fiscal Operations - Accounts Payable.
Bidding/Quotes
Qualified bidders are invited to compete for the Town’s business by submitting informal and formal responses to Requests for Proposals when the Town needs to contract for materials, equipment or services. Interested bidders may be included on the Town’s bid notification emails by completing the Vendor Application.
The Town currently uses its website, as well as the NC State Division of Purchase & Contract’s Interactive Purchasing System (IPS) website to publish its electronic notices. The Town reserves the right to reject any or all bids or proposals and to make the award in its best interest.
Minority Outreach
Bidders are expected to comply with nondiscrimination provisions. The Town is an equal opportunity employer and invites small and minority contractors to bid. We strongly encourage minority and women owned business to pursue business opportunities within the Town and throughout Wake County.
The Town does not operate a minority certification program but does identify vendors in the database as minority vendors based on the information supplied by the vendor. See Minority and Women-Owned Business Enterprise (MWBE) section.