PROVINCE OF NEW BRUNSWICK
DEPARTMENT OF SUPPLY AND SERVICES
CENTRAL PURCHASING BRANCH
EFFECTIVE ON TENDERS ISSUED PRIOR TO JUNE 1, 2003
Standard Terms and Conditions for Goods and Services Tenders

NOTE: The following Standard Terms and Conditions apply to all tender invitations for goods and services issued by the Central Purchasing Branch subsequent to the date given above unless otherwise specified in the tender documents. Specific terms and conditions in the tender documents shall take precedence over these terms and conditions. The Central Purchasing Branch will be the sole judge as to whether a bid complies with these terms and conditions and a decision to reject a bid for non-compliance will be final.

1. General

  1. Headings are used for convenience only, and they shall not affect the meaning or interpretation of the clauses, terms or conditions.
  2. Words in the singular include the plural and vice versa.
  3. References to the Purchaser, the Province, The Central Tendering Branch, the Central Purchasing Branch and the Minister mean Her Majesty the Queen in right of the Province of New Brunswick and are used only for administrative purposes.
  4. “Minister” denotes the Minister of Supply and Services or those persons delegated authority by the Minister to act on his/her behalf.
  5. The word “may” denotes the permissive.
  6. The words “shall” or “will” denote the imperative.

2. Definitions
    1. “Bid” means a submission by a vendor in response to a tender or Request for Proposals.
    2. “Bidder” means a person, firm or organization that submits a bid or proposal in response to a tender invitation.
    3. “Contract” means all types of agreements; regardless of what they may be called, for the procurement of goods and services.
    4. “Preference” means an advantage in the solicitation of tenders or advantage for award granted to a bidder by reason of the bidder’s business location or origin of the goods or services being procured.
    5. “Request for Proposal” means an invitation by the Minister to receive proposals from suppliers that will be evaluated on the basis of other factors in addition to price.
    6. “Tender“ means an invitation by the Minister to receive bids from suppliers that will be evaluated primarily on the basis of price.
    7. “Tender documents” are those documents issued by the Minister in the tender or Request for Proposals” and include any addenda subsequently issued prior to the tender closing.
    8. “Tender invitation,” means an invitation by the Minister to submit a bid or proposal.

3. Legislation
    1. This tender is being conducted under the provisions of the Public Purchasing Act and Regulations as of the date of the issuance of the tender. Bidders may obtain a copy of these documents from The Queen’s Printer, Province of N.B., P.O. Box 6000, Fredericton, N.B. E3B 5H1

4. Bid Submission
    1. Bids must be received no later than the local time and date indicated in the tender documents in Room 205 Marysville Place, Fredericton, N.B. Bidders are responsible for ensuring that their bids are received on time regardless of the method used to submit the bid. The time stamp of the Central Tendering Branch shall be considered as the time of receipt of the bid. Bids submitted after the closing date and time will not be accepted under any circumstances.
    2. Bids submitted by facsimile will be accepted, except where a bid security, plans or samples must accompany the bid submission. The Province cannot ensure the confidentiality of bids submitted by facsimile and will not be responsible for ensuring that such bids are received and deposited in the tender box prior to the closing time. A bid submitted by facsimile must be fully transmitted prior to the closing time. A vendor submitting a bid by facsimile does so at its own risk.
    3. Where required by the tender documents, a bid or portion of a bid may be submitted in electronic form as specified in the tender documents.
    4. Except when submitted electronically or by facsimile, the bid should be in a sealed package with the tender number and closing date clearly visible.
    5. Unless otherwise specifically stated in the tender invitation, the bidder must obtain official tender documents from a tender distribution service authorized by the Minister of Supply and Services in order to submit a bid. Failure to submit the official forms or provide proof that the forms were properly obtained will result in rejection of the tender.
    6. An appropriate official of the firm submitting the bid must sign the bid. Unsigned bids will not be accepted.
    7. Bidders are responsible for ensuring that the bid is legible and complete. Any incomplete or illegible bids will be rejected.
    8. The name and address of the bidder must appear on the tender form and all information requested in the tender documents must be supplied.
    9. Bids or proposals submitted by vendors are irrevocable and shall remain open for acceptance by the Central Purchasing Branch for the number of days indicated by the bidder from the time and date specified for the closing of the tender or Request for Proposals. If no such number of days is indicated, the offer will remain open until any subsequent order is issued.
    10. The bidder acknowledges and agrees that the Province will not be responsible for any costs, expenses, losses, damages or liability incurred by the bidder as a result of, or arising out of, the submission of the bid, or due to the Province not accepting or rejecting the bid.

5. Pricing and Delivery
    1. All prices must be extended and totaled. The unit price shall be the price per unit of sale as stated in the tender documents. The extended price will be established by multiplying the unit price by the quantity and, in the event of an error in calculation of the extended price, the unit price will govern in the bid evaluation and contract administration.
    2. Unless otherwise stated in the tender documents, a total of all line item prices plus all shipping and handling charges must be included in the space provided on the tender form or the bid will be rejected.
    3. Unless otherwise stated in the tender documents, all prices are to be net prices and are to include Canadian customs duties and excise taxes.
    4. Unless otherwise stated in the tender documents, all prices are to be FOB destination and include all delivery charges and the Province will not assume responsibility for the goods or services until they are delivered to the destination specified in the tender documents. Shipping charges, if extra, must be clearly indicated and included in the total bid price.
    5. Sales taxes (HST, GST, PST, etc.) are not to be included in the unit, extended or total prices.
    6. All prices will be subject to any increase or decrease in applicable taxes.
    7. Unless otherwise indicated in the tender documents, all prices must be firm for the duration of the contract.
    8. Delivery time will be assumed to be the time specified in the tender invitation unless specifically stated to be otherwise in the bid. Time is of the essence and, when specified in the bid, delivery time should be specific and in calendar days from the date a purchase order is issued. Failure to meet promised completion/delivery date may result in cancellation of any resulting order.
    9. If, from the tender closing date until completion or termination of a long term contract, the vendor offers to any third party the same goods or services in similar quantities at a lower price than in the bid, the price to the Province for these goods or services shall then be lowered by the vendor to this lower price for all goods or services ordered after the offer to the third party.

6. Interprovincial Agreements on Public Procurement
    1. The provisions of the Agreement on Internal Trade, the Atlantic Procurement Agreement and the Quebec-New Brunswick Procurement Agreement will apply as stated in the tender invitation.
    2. For procurements which are not subject to the provisions of one or more of the interprovincial procurement agreements, the Province of New Brunswick reserves the right to apply Provincial or regional Preferences, consider local content in the evaluation of bids and/or refuse to consider bids from vendors from other jurisdictions when it is considered to be in the best interests of the Province. When determining the use of these conditions, the Province will consider, among other factors, the extent to which New Brunswick vendors have access to equivalent procurement opportunities in those jurisdictions and the treatment accorded by those jurisdictions to bids from New Brunswick vendors. The Province will be the sole judge of whether these conditions will be used and the extent to which they will be applied.
7. Specifications
    1. The specifications in the tender invitation are the minimum acceptable. Deviations from the specifications that are considered by the Central Purchasing Branch to be of a minor nature may be permitted at the sole discretion of the Central Purchasing Branch.
    2. Unless otherwise stated in the tender invitation, the use of a specific manufacturer and/or model number in the specifications is intended to establish the design, type of construction, quality, functional capability and/or performance level required. When substitutions are bid, the make, model number, stock number and other descriptive information necessary to establish equivalency must be provided by the bidder. The Province reserves the right to inspect or test any product bid in order to determine equivalency and, if requested, the bidder must make the product available for inspection or testing without delay. The Province will be the sole judge of equivalency. The Province will not accept tenders for alternative products or services, that is, a different material, a different method of work or different approach.
    3. Unless otherwise stated in the tender invitation, all material must be first quality.
    4. Items that are used, demonstrators, obsolete, seconds or which have been discontinued are unacceptable unless the tender invitation specifically states otherwise.

8. Acceptance and Rejection of Bids
    1. The Central Purchasing Branch reserves the right to accept or reject any or all bids and to accept any part of any bid as deemed to be in the best interests of the Province.
    2. The Central Purchasing Branch reserves the right to waive any technicality in any bid where it is deemed to be in the best interest of the Province.
    3. The Central Purchasing Branch reserves the right to reject bids from any bidder who, in the reasonable opinion of the Central Purchasing Branch, is deemed incapable of providing the necessary labor, materials, equipment, financing or management resources to perform the work or supply the goods in a satisfactory and timely manner. The decision of the Central Purchasing Branch is final.
    4. Failure to comply with the Standard Terms and Conditions or any other terms or conditions contained in the tender documents may result in rejection of the bid. The Central Purchasing Branch shall be the sole judge of whether a bid is rejected or accepted and a decision to reject a bid is final.
    5. Any deviations or exceptions to the terms, conditions or specifications in the tender documents must be described fully. In the absence of such statement, the bid shall be accepted as in strict compliance with all terms, conditions and specifications. Any bid that contains qualifications or conditions that are contrary to, or inconsistent with, the tender documents may be rejected at the discretion of the Central Purchasing Branch.
    6. All bids or proposals submitted become the property of the Province of N.B. and may be distributed for evaluation purposes.

9. Award of Contracts
    1. No contract shall be awarded and no payment shall be made to a vendor unless authorized by the Minister or his delegates.
    2. The Minister may make an award to the preferred vendor conditional on the negotiation and acceptance of a detailed contract between the Province and the vendor. In such cases, should the detailed contract negotiations not be completed in a reasonable period of time, the Province reserves the right to discontinue negotiations with the vendor and subsequently enter into negotiations with the second preferred vendor.
    3. No right or duty, in whole or in part, of the vendor under a contract issued may be assigned or delegated without the prior written consent of the Central Purchasing Branch.

10. Cancellation of Tenders

    1. Tender invitations or resulting contracts may be cancelled in whole or in part and/or a contract may not be awarded, without penalty, when the price bid exceeds the funds allocated for the purchase; there has been a substantial change in the requirements subsequent to the issuing of the tender invitation; information has been received by the Province subsequent to the issuing of the tender invitation which is deemed to substantially alter the procurement; or there was insufficient competition in order to provide the level of service, quality of goods or pricing required. The Province will be the sole judge of whether there is sufficient justification to cancel the tender under these conditions.
    2. If no bids are received in response to a tender invitation which are compliant with the terms, conditions and/or specifications, the Province reserves the right to enter into negotiations with one or more vendors in order to complete the procurement.


11. Miscellaneous Terms and Conditions

    1. The Province is subject to the Right to Information Act and cannot guarantee the confidentiality of the contents of any bid after the final contract is awarded to the successful vendor.
    2. The Central Purchasing Branch will be the only official source of information regarding this tender and information from any other source shall be considered unofficial and may not be correct. Information, offers or commitments from any other source shall not be binding on the Province.
    3. All electrical equipment must be CSA, WHPS, CUL or ETL certified. CGA and/or UCL certification is acceptable for electrical equipment used as part of fuel burning appliances and equipment.
    4. The bidder warrants that there are no patents, trademarks or other rights restricting the use, repair or replacement of the goods or services furnished or any part thereof. By submitting a tender, the bidder indicates that it agrees to indemnify and save harmless the Province from and against all claims, demands, losses, costs, damages, actions, suits or other proceedings by whomsoever made, filed or prosecuted in any manner by reason of such use, repair or replacement of the goods or services being a violation of any patent, trademark or other right.
    5. The Province of New Brunswick will seek to purchase recycled and/or environmentally sensitive products where practical and effective.
    6. The Province of N.B. will allow government funded bodies to purchase goods or services using long term contracts awarded as a result of a tender. By submitting a tender the bidder indicates that it agrees to extend the same pricing to government funded bodies as per the terms and specifications in the document.
    7. Payment of invoices is the responsibility of the department to whom the goods are shipped or services are supplied.
    8. All terms and conditions in this document are considered to be incorporated into the tender documents and by submitting a tender the bidder indicates that it agrees to accept these terms and conditions.