How to do business with us
We have to follow a competitive process when awarding our contracts.
We'll sometimes issue our own tenders but we may choose to use frameworks and contractual arrangements available through our membership of the Kent Buying Consortium and the Laser Energy Consortium.
These contracts have been competitively tendered and meet legal requirements. We also have access to a number of contracts including those arranged by the Central Buying Consortium and the Crown Commercial Services.
We encourage and develop business opportunities in the borough and our neighbouring areas. However, we can't make any exclusive provisions for local businesses during the tendering processes as we have to ensure we meet our obligations to give equal opportunities to all bidders.
Our Purchase Order Terms and Conditions
We contract businesses under our terms and conditions. These terms and conditions will apply to the exclusion of other terms and conditions.
Current opportunities
Opportunities are listed on the government's Contracts Finder Portal and Kent Business Portal websites as appropriate. It's free to log into the portals to see the opportunities and on them and they will be all of the opportunities across most Kent authorities, not just Gravesham.
Supplier accreditation scheme
Supplier accreditation is an important element in the management of risk during the procurement process.
We're committed to developing and maintaining a high quality contractor base and we encourage our construction services related contractors to achieve accredited status through Constructionline.
Because of legislation we're unable to insist that a contractor is registered with an accredited database as a prerequisite for being considered for work opportunities. But, the Constructionline database offers potential advantages for contractors looking to extend their work in the public sector.
There is no cost to us to use the service. Fees for suppliers are based on annual financial turnover and for consultants by the number of professional and technical staff employed. Once a supplier is accredited details are posted on a web based electronic database available to over 2,000 clients to search. There are over 15,000 suppliers registered on the database.
You can find out more on the Constructionline website.