How to use the supplier portal

Go to the online supplier portal. When you sign up, you'll get a username and password.

You can register as an individual or as a business. If you register as a business, you can sign multiple people up for the account.

Click “Register as a Sourcing Bidder.” The system will walk you through the next several steps, where you'll answer questions about your business.

You need to enter some basic information, like your bidder type and if you'll be buying or selling. You'll also have to enter your contact information and tax classifications.

After entering all your basic info, you can set your email preferences. You can get emails when new bids open in your field. For example, if you check the “Heating Fuel Oil” box, you’ll get notifications about open jobs related to heating oil.

The more categories you sign up for, the more it will increase the amount of bid invites you get through your email.

You can find invitations to bid events and requests for proposals on the “Events” page of the Supplier Portal. We give bid events numbers and descriptions.

The “Event Details” page tells you more about the project and lets you view any documents included with the bid. If you're responding to a Request for Proposal, skip to step 3 of this tab.

You can start the process by clicking “Bid on Event” on the details page. You’ll be able to enter information and answer questions. You'll also see a list of instructions for responding to the bid.

Once you answer all the questions, you can enter your “Unit Bid Price” for the event. You may need to enter separate amounts for each line item.

When you finish entering the price breakdown for each item, click “Submit Bid.”

You must keep your technical proposal and your pricing proposal separate to answer a request. If you don't, we'll reject your bid.

If you enter your pricing proposal as a line item, the system will keep the price hidden until we open your bid. If you need to submit a more detailed price list, you can attach a file.  The file will also stay hidden until we open the bid.

To attach a file, click “Bid” on Step 2 of the “Event Details” page. Then, click “View/Add Attachments.” You'll be able to browse your computer for the right document. You can add a description to the attachments before returning to the response page.

When you login into your account, you'll be brought to the portal homepage. Go to the Main Menu in the upper left and select “Manage Contracts” from the drop-down menu then select “Maintain Contract Documents.”

Make sure all the search fields are blank and check the “Pending Approval Signatures” box. Any pending contracts will show up on the list.

Open the contract and click “Open Main Document for Signing.” The contract will then open in Adobe Reader. You'll need a digital signature to sign the contract. If you already have a Digital ID, skip to step 3.  

Click where you need to sign on the document. Adobe Reader will prompt you to set up a Digital ID if you don't have one.

Follow the prompts in Adobe to create a new Digital ID. You'll need to enter some information about yourself and your business. Then, you'll create a password for your ID.

Once you are done you'll be able to use your ID as a verifiable digital signature.

Once you sign the contract with your Digital ID you will be prompted to save it to your computer. You might want to save the signed contract to a different folder so you will know which document to upload back to us.

Navigate back to the Document Management page in the Supplier Portal. Click on “Upload Signed Document,” located the signed contract on your computer and click “Upload.”  Uploading can take several seconds to complete.