What to check before you make a low risk purchase between £10,001 and £100,000

Essential checks before starting an request for quotations (RFQ) procurement process.

Before you start an RFQ

Before you start a new request for quotations (RFQ) process, you must check:

  • if any special conditions may apply to your purchase
  • whether one of our pre-approved supplier can meet your needs

Some purchases are affected by conditions that mean you'll need to follow a different buying process.

Special conditions that may apply to your purchase

These conditions include considerations related to:

  • Clinical governance
  • Construction
  • Consultation services
  • Healthcare services
  • Information governance
  • Research services
  • Safeguarding
  • Technology and software
  • Transfer of Staff (TUPE)

You must check whether any of these conditions apply before you start a procurement activity.

Mandated contracts (pre-approved suppliers)

Mandated contracts are pre-approved suppliers that all employees can use to buy items and services that are frequently needed.

When you need to buy something, you must check the list of mandated contracts (pre-approved suppliers) first to see if your need can be met using an existing contract.

Buying technology and software

If you're buying software, licences, or non-standard hardware you must first get approval.

If you are using grant funding

If you are using grant funding to make a purchase, you must make sure goods or service you need to buy meets the relevant grant conditions. 

To arrange the grant to be paid to your supplier, contact your service area's finance business partner. You should be able to find out who your finance business partner by asking your line manager or head of service.

Awarding on price and quality 

The procurement process asks suppliers to give you a price against your requirements. It also asks suppliers to answer supporting questions about quality to make sure that what they are saying they will provide you meets your minimum standards.   

Where these minimum standards are met, we say that this means the tender is being evaluated on price only.   

If you need more quality assurances other than minimum standards, contact procurement.team@essex.gov.uk to get advice your next steps. 

Last published date:
Next review date: