4.10.25. Request for Supply Arrangements

1. Before establishing a supply arrangement (SA), the contracting officer will prepare and issue an RFSA, which will allow for a suitable pool of suppliers who meet the stated evaluation criteria. Industrial security requirements (that is, personnel, physical and information technology security) should be identified at this time, when any or all of these security aspects will be applicable to all client departments of the SA.
2. The following forms must be used by client departments for the first page of the bid solicitation issued under a SA and for the first page of the resulting contract:
   PWGSC-TPSGC 9400-3, Bid Solicitation
   PWGSC-TPSGC 9400-4, Contract
3. Contracting officers will set the contracting limits in the SA document for the identified users as defined in the supply arrangement, as the case may be. For supply arrangements for goods, services or construction, contracting officers may set the maximum contract limit using the Appendix A: Contracting Approvals of the Directive on the Management of Procurement, as a guide. The Directive sets the dollar limit for contract entry for goods, services and construction, above which departments must seek the approval of TB to enter into the contract.
4. A legal contract does not exist between Canada and the supplier until a contract is awarded through the completion of form PWGSC-TPSGC 9400-4.
5. Supply Arrangement Reporting: The supply arrangement authority may indicate in the supply arrangement the reporting requirements for the supplier, or the client, as applicable. The SA should indicate the time frame within which each report must be submitted following the reporting period. See SACC Manual clause S0010C. See also 8.75.1 Reporting for Standing Offers and Supply Arrangements for more details on reporting.
6. Financial Viability: Supply arrangement authorities should note that since the statement of work or requirement cannot be adequately defined in advance, only a preliminary review of the supplier's financial viability will be conducted for the sole purpose of pre-qualifying suppliers for SAs. See SACC Manual clause S0030T. See also 5.60.1 Financial Capability for more details on financial capability.
7. Identified Users: The identified users authorized to use supply arrangements could include any government department, agency or Crown corporation listed in Schedule I, Schedule II, Schedule III of the Financial Administration Act. See SACC Manual template RFSA, Part 6A, article 6.

1. Requests for Supply Arrangements (RFSAs) subject to international trade agreements must be published at least once a year on Government Electronic Tendering Service (GETS) and made available continuously on GETS. Notices for RFSAs subject to international trade agreements must include the following components:
   
   1. a description of the goods or services, or categories of goods and services, for which the RFSA may be used;
   2. the conditions for participation/criteria to be satisfied by suppliers for inclusion on the list;
   3. the methods the procuring entity will use to verify that a supplier satisfies the conditions;
   4. the name and address of the procuring entity, and any other information necessary to contact the entity and obtain all relevant documents relating to the list;
   5. the period of validity of the list and the means for its renewal or termination, or where the period of validity is not provided, an indication of the method by which notice will be given of the termination of use of the list;
   6. an indication of which trade agreements apply to the RFSA.

   If one or more international trade agreements apply, the RFSA must be posted for at least 25 calendar days before any bid solicitation(s) under the resulting Supply Arrangement can close. If a state of urgency that is duly substantiated by the procuring entity renders this time impracticable, this time period may be reduced to no less than 10 days.

   Suppliers must be allowed to apply for qualification at any time, and all qualified suppliers must be included on the SA within a reasonably short time.

   For information on determining whether or not international trade agreements apply to a RFSA, see 3.50.5 Applicability of trade agreements to standing offers and supply arrangements.

2. For bid solicitations and proposed contracts under a supply arrangement (SA), the following applies:
   
   1. Where the estimated value of a proposed contract under the SA is below the applicable trade agreement thresholds, those agreements do not apply.
   2. Where the estimated value of a proposed contract under the SA is equal to or above the applicable trade agreement thresholds, those agreements apply to the bid solicitation.
   3. Where one or more of the international trade agreements apply to a bid solicitation under a SA, a Notice of Proposed Procurement (NPP) must be published on GETS. If a supplier that is not included on the SA requests to participate in the bid solicitation under the SA, they must be able to apply for qualification. If qualified, the supplier must be included on the SA within a reasonable period of time and be allowed to participate in the bid solicitation in question. However, after bid closing, the contracting officer does not have to delay the contract award process in order to allow a supplier to go through the qualification process.
      For information on determining the solicitation period of bid solicitations under SAs, see 4.75.5 Determining the solicitation period.

In order to simplify and streamline guidance with respect to trade agreements, the information previously found in this Section has been incorporated into 4.10.25.5 International trade agreements and use of supply arrangements.

For reference purposes only, Section 4.10.25.10 is available in the Supply Manual archive, Version 2020-1.

Where the estimated value of a proposed contract under the supply arrangement is above the CFTA threshold, CFTA applies to the bid solicitation. Otherwise, CFTA does not apply to that proposed contract.

Where CFTA applies to a bid solicitation under a supply arrangement, the CFTA allows the use of source lists without publication of a NPP, provided that all suppliers on the source list be invited to bid and that they be able to apply for qualification at any time. It is PWGSC policy that suppliers must be given at least 15 calendar days to bid.

Pursuant to CFTA, the existence of a list of qualified suppliers must be published at least once a year by an invitation to qualify on GETS or predetermined newspapers. The invitation to qualify must contain the conditions to be fulfilled by suppliers to qualify. Suppliers must be allowed to apply for qualification at any time.