Procurement FAQs

I. Where can I find procurement opportunities with the Department

II. What solicitations are advertised in eMaryland Marketplace or posted on the Bid Board?

III. How do I get a copy of a published solicitation?

IV. Can you explain the difference between large procurements and small procurements?

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I. Where can I find procurement opportunities with the Department?

Vendors who wish to learn of procurement opportunities with DBM should visit eMaryland Marketplace, the DBED Procurement Opportunities section of DBED's Web site or the department's Bid Board located on the 15^th Floor at 217 E. Redwood Street, Baltimore, MD.

eMaryland Marketplace is the state's primary vehicle for providing notification of procurement opportunities. By law, all procurement opportunities with Maryland state agencies that are expected to exceed $25,000 in cost must be advertised on eMaryland Marketplace.

II. What solicitations are advertised in eMaryland Marketplace or posted on the Bid Board?

DBED must endeavor to obtain broad-based competition from responsive and responsible bidders. Solicitations for contracts valued between $10,000 and $25,000 must either be published in a newspaper or periodical of general circulation, or in an electronic media generally available to the business community, or posted on an agency bid board. Most small procurements can be found on the department's Bid Board located at 217 E. Redwood St., Baltimore, MD, or on our Web site. For contracts that are expected to exceed $25,000, Maryland law requires that a solicitation notice be published on eMaryland Marketplace at least 20 days before bids are due.

III. How do I get a copy of a published solicitation?

If a solicitation is posted on eMaryland Marketplace, it can be downloaded from the Web site. If posted on the DBED's Bid Board, the notice will tell you whom to contact to get a copy of the document. DBED is required to supply vendors with copies of the solicitation documents that are advertised. However, some documents require a fee prior to obtaining the document.

IV. Can you explain the difference between large procurements and small procurements?

Large procurements:

For contracts that are expected to exceed $25,000, Maryland law requires that a solicitation notice be published on eMaryland Marketplace at least 20 days before bids are due.

Small procurements:

A small procurement means the procedure used to obtain items reasonably expected by a procurement officer to cost $25,000 or less or, in the case of revenue-producing procurements, to provide annual gross revenues to the State of $25,000 or less (COMAR 21.05.07.01).

DBED has the authority to make awards of services and information technology (except telecommunications) procurement contracts that do not exceed $50,000, regardless of the method of source selection, e.g., competitive, sole source, or emergency procedures. The only limitation to this authority is that we may not artificially divide a single procurement requirement into a number of small procurements in order to avail ourselves of this award authority. Because Maryland encourages broad-based competition from responsive bidders, notice of solicitations for contracts valued between $10,000 and $25,000 are posted on our Bid Board or on our Web site. DBED also has the authority to make awards of commodity contracts that do not exceed $25,000.Commodity contracts estimated to exceed $10,000 are published on eMaryland Marketplace.