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A guide for businesses, nonprofits, and individual Suppliers interested in contracting with the City of Portland.
What is procurement?
Procurement is how the City of Portland gets the goods, services, design, and construction it needs. The procurement process involves sourcing, buying, and managing these resources from suppliers to meet the City's needs efficiently and effectively. Depending on what the City is buying, its cost, and how the City wants to choose what it buys, the City uses different procurement methods.
The City of Portland's Procurement Services department ensures that taxpayer's dollars are spent with equal employment opportunity and business excellence as the highest priorities.
What is an RFP?
A Request for Proposals (RFP) is a specific type of procurement method. In an RFP, the suppliers who submit proposals are evaluated and selected based on a number of criteria. These criteria might include the quality of the items, a supplier's past performance, and the equal employment opportunity and sustainability initiatives of a supplier.
The price of the proposal is also sometimes considered alongside these criteria. In a Qualifications-Based Selection (QBS), the City does not consider the price of the proposal when evaluating proposals.
RFPs contain detailed information about a project's background, needs, and desired outcomes.
Why does the City of Portland use RFPs?
RFPs provide many benefits for the City of Portland. Because the City can consider criteria beyond cost, RFPs help:
- Grow the city's economy
- Increase competition for government contracts
- Increase the amount the City contracts and spends with small and medium local businesses
- Increase environmental sustainability through the City's purchasing power
- Invite suppliers to provide innovative solutions to complex problems
Why does this process seem so complex and time-consuming? What are you doing to make this easier?
The City must follow federal, state, and local procurement laws because it spends tax dollars. Those procurement laws reduce corruption and favoritism, and they ensure that governments are buying the best products and services at the best price.
The process can be challenging for suppliers and City staff alike. Confusing and hard to read documents and processes may mean that Portlanders do not get the best possible city services, that the City takes longer to put contracts for city services in place, and that the City may pay for relatively subpar goods and services at a higher cost.
Through this guide, the City of Portland moves closer to a user-friendly RFP process that encourages more proposal submissions and more equitable, sustainable, and results-driven contracts. If you have feedback or suggestions about any part of your experience with City of Portland RFPs, please fill out this brief survey:
Questions?
For general questions about Procurement Services, please contact pugeneral@portlandoregon.gov for assistance.
Need help with BuySpeed? Contact BuyspeedVendorHelp@portlandoreg… or call 503-823-5047.
RFP Process and Roles Explained
Stages of RFP Process
All RFPs follow this series of steps through development, posting, and evaluation.
| A City of Portland Bureau establishes what they need and their budget. | |
| The Bureau collaborates with City of Portland Procurement Services to write the RFP. | |
| Procurement Services publishes the RFP. Interested suppliers read the RFP, submit questions, and attend the pre-proposal meeting if there is one. | |
| Suppliers submit proposals before the RFP due date. | |
| The City of Portland evaluates proposals in several rounds. In the first round, Procurement Services determines which proposals are responsive (submitted complete responses) and responsible (fulfill minimum requirements). Further rounds score the quality of proposals. | |
After evaluation, the City of Portland releases a Notice of Intent to Award for the top-scoring proposer. The City and the Proposer negotiate and execute the contract. | |
| Proposers who were not awarded a contract can view their scores and the evaluation process. | |
| Proposers can also request feedback from Procurement Services (such as the assigned Buyer or a Procurement Supervisor). |
RFP Sections Explained for Personal Services, Goods, and Services
RFPs from the City of Portland usually have the same basic structure and parts.
Project Information Packet
This document contains all the information the City of Portland wants to share with suppliers about the project.
Section 1: Opportunity Overview
- Background information about the Bureau and specific program or service
- Needs Statement, Business Challenge, or Problem Statement that describes the problem or challenge the City wants to address with the RFP
- Outcome goals, or what the City hopes to achieve with this RFP
- Contract details like the duration of the contract, renewal options, contract type, budget, and information about multiple awards, if applicable
- Estimated RFP Timeline with dates for the pre-proposal meeting, deadline for questions, RFP due date, and evaluation and award stages
- Information about grant funding and related rules, if applicable
- Information about the pre-proposal meeting, if applicable
- Information about how the City will release any additional information about the RFP as addenda
Section 2: How Your Proposal Will Be Evaluated
- Evaluation overview: Provides information about the Evaluation Committee and how the committee will evaluate proposals.
- Evaluation process: Describes the series of phases that the City uses to evaluate proposals.
- The Responsiveness, Responsibility, and Mandatory Criteria Review checks that proposals are complete and that proposers meet minimum requirements and criteria. Proposals that pass this check move to the next phase.
- In the Written Scoring Phase, the Evaluation Committee scores the proposals based on the scoring criteria listed in the RFP.
- Depending on the RFP, the Evaluation Committee may create a "short list" of proposals from top performers.
- Some RFPs will have additional evaluations phases that might include oral interviews, demonstrations, presentations, site visits, clarification of the proposals, or other activities.
- At the end of all evaluation phases, your scores from each phase will be added up to your Total Overall Score.
- The proposer with the highest Total Overall Score may be identified as the finalist.
- Award review and protest
- Describes how the City will notify the public and proposers of contract winners, how proposers can review the evaluation process, and options for protesting the City's decision.
Section 3: Scope of Work
The Scope of Work describes the requirements to achieve the RFP's goals. The organization of this section will vary, but it will typically cover the following:
- The work required to meet the contract outcomes
- What goods or services will be provided, when, and where
- Who will provide it, and who will receive it
- How the supplier is expected to perform
- Opportunities to innovate to achieve these outcomes
- What the supplier is responsible for
- Any operational, policy, or legal requirements that suppliers must follow
- What equal employment opportunity requirements apply, and how they will be measured
- Criteria that suppliers, products, or services must meet
This section is often accompanied by a Specifications, al[TYPO] and Technical Requirements spreadsheet for supplier responses.
Section 4: Exhibits
A list of images or documents that provide context for the project.
Section 5: Sample Contract
A link to a sample contract for this type of RFP.
Section 6: RFP Terms and Conditions
A link to the City of Portland's Terms and Conditions for the RFP process and Awarding and Contracting process. You can view these Terms and Conditions anytime on the City of Portland's webpage: https://www.portland.gov/business-opportunities/documents/terms-and-conditions-rfp-sample-v2/download
Proposal Response Packet
This document lists all the information that the City requests from suppliers. It can be filled out as a form or used as a guideline for structuring your proposal in a separate document.
Section 7: Submission Instructions
Rules around the due date, the proposal page limit, and proposal contents and organization.
Proposal submission instructions: As of March 2, 2026, proposals will be submitted through SAP Ariba [?], the City Electronic Procurement Portal Online Procurement Center. You can always access instructions for how to submit a proposal on SAP Ariba [fix].
How to modify or withdraw your submission: You can modify your proposal before the due date. Modifying your proposal will not count against you during evaluation.
Section 8: Required Proposal Components
Proposal checklist helps you make sure you are submitting a complete proposal.
Proposer Information Form collects basic information about your firm and proposal.
Prompt to respond to the attached City's Specifications, Functional, and Technical Requirements, if applicable. This is usually an attached spreadsheet that you will fill out. Sometimes you will need to answer a longer narrative question as well.
Proposer capabilities will usually ask you to share information about relevant past projects and your firm's skills and resources.
Project team will typically ask for general information about the project team and ask you to share more detailed information about key personnel, including resumes.
Project approach will ask you to use the Scope of Work to provide a proposed Statement of Work. This section is typically organized by project phase or deliverable, and each section will have specific questions for you to answer.
Pricing proposal is an attached spreadsheet that you will fill out.
Request for references if not requested in the proposer capabilities section.
Corporate responsibility asks questions related to your policies and practices around engaging Equal Employment Opportunity and Access in Subcontracting and Equal Opportunity Employer and Community Involvement, and sustainable business practices. The City of Portland is committed to contracting with socially and environmentally responsible businesses, so these questions are an opportunity for you to show how your business practices align with the City's goals and values in these areas.
Exceptions and deviations to the sample contract allow you to request specific changes to the sample contract. You will negotiate these changes with the City if you are awarded a contract. Requesting changes does not impact your evaluation score.
Proposal redactions for public records give you the opportunity to request redactions for your proposal if it is exempt under Oregon Public Records Law before releasing it to the public. Requesting redactions does not impact your evaluation score.
How Else Can We Help You?
- Doing Business with the City of Portland – includes information about registering in SAP Ariba and competing for City contracts
- Resources for Businesses - includes links to guides and handbooks that explain procurement processes, certifications, resources for contractors, post-award compliance, and links to City codes
- SAP Ariba Frequently Asked Questions – includes answers to commonly asked questions about SAP Ariba.
- Support Center – provides guidance, video tutorials, and technical support for working SAP Ariba.
- Anti-Fraud Statement – our efforts to protect your information.