The ministry is committed to fair, open and competitive procurement in its acquisition of goods and services. The Vendor Complaint Review Process (VCRP) is an integral part of this commitment.
If you have an issue or complaint with a ministry contract competition, contract award or proposed contract award, the following steps are available for having your concern reviewed:
Step 1 - Informal
Get in touch with the procurement contact (named in the procurement notice or package) by phone, mail or e-mail. You may find that your question or complaint can be satisfied in this way, without having to engage in a formal process.
If you do not know who the procurement contact is, the Ministry of Advanced Education and Labour Market Development's contract services advisor can give you the contact information or forward your concern to the appropriate person.
The ministry's contract services advisor is:
Diana Lucas
Finance & Administrative Services Branch
4th Floor - 835 Humboldt Street
PO Box 9178
Victoria, B.C. V8W 9H8
Phone: 250 356-2556 FAX: 250 387-9695
E-mail: Diana.Lucas@gov.bc.ca
Step 2 - Formal Review Process
If you have been unable to have your concern resolved informally, the next step is the Vendor Complaint Review Process (VCRP) through which you can submit your complaint in writing to the procurement contact or contract services advisor.
Complaints must concern a contract competition or a pending or awarded contract, and can be submitted any time during the competition process and up to thirty (30) business days after you have received notification from the ministry of the final outcome of the competition.
The VCRP is limited to issues of procurement policy and procedures. It is not available for issues related to vendor or ministry contract performance or conduct during a contract. These issues are dealt with through dispute resolution processes identified in individual contracts.
Please use the Vendor Complaint Review Form or a similar format that provides all of the information requested in the form. This will assist the ministry in giving your complaint the attention it deserves, in a timely manner. It may be submitted by facsimile, e-mail or mail, as above, or as indicated in the procurement notice.
The ministry will review your complaint in accordance with the government-wide procedures derived from the Ministry of Management Service's Procurement Governance Office, and will acknowledge receipt of your complaint within 3 to 5 days and provide a written response within 30 days.
When unable to respond within 30 business days, the ministry will advise you of the reason for the delay and when you may expect a response.
Step 3 - Formal Complaint
Failing resolution at the second step, your next contact is the Ministry of Advanced Education and Labour Market Development's Assistant Deputy Minister of Management Services, who is responsible for overseeing procurement policy and practices for the ministry. You can submit your concern via mail, facsimile or e-mail to:
Neil Matheson
Assistant Deputy Minister, Management Services
Ministry of Advanced Education and Labour Market Development
P.O. Box 9879
Victoria, B.C. V8W 9T6
FAX: 250 356-8322
E-mail: EDUC.ADMManagementServices@gov.bc.ca
Please note, the Assistant Deputy Minister will consider a complaint only if there has been an attempt to resolve it through Steps 1 and 2.
Step 4 - Final Escalation
As a final step, your complaint may be directed by mail, facsimile or e-mail to the Chief Procurement Officer of the Ministry of Management Service's Procurement Governance Office.
Chief Procurement Officer
Procurement Governance Office
Ministry of Finance, Office of the Comptroller General
PO Box 9413
Victoria, B.C. V8W 9V1
FAX: 250 356-6164
E-mail: procurementgovernance@gov.bc.ca
Only in exceptional circumstances will the Procurement Governance Office consider a complaint that has not been submitted to the Ministry of Advanced Education and Labour Market Development through the process outlined above.
Note: For detailed VCRP information and benefits of this process, please see the Procurement Governance Office's VCRP website at: http://www.fin.gov.bc.ca/ocg/pgo/pgo.htm or call the ministry Contract Services Advisor named above for a hard copy.
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