October 28, 2022 | Reviewed by Sam Scott

One of the most difficult steps in the AV project process is procurement. It may seem simple if you’ve never gone through it, but it can be devilishly complex if you want to do it right.

In this guide, we explain what procurement entails in commercial AV, how to pick the right procurement method for your project, and how to conduct a fair bidding process so you can secure the ideal vendor for your audiovisual solution.

What Is Procurement?

Procurement is the process of obtaining goods or services. The term is most often used in a business context, and it can involve competitive bidding when buyers seek multiple offers to influence their purchase decisions.

Procurement may refer to a wide or narrow scope of activities. For example, some interpretations differentiate procurement from sourcing — the consideration and selection of suppliers — and the transactional process of purchasing.

In commercial AV, procurement is about matching the right project with the right contractor. It involves both the sourcing and purchasing activities.

AV procurement shares similarities with contemporary IT procurement methods and the traditional construction bid process. It is the purchasing of equipment, software and services to complete your AV project. Once you’ve completed your system design, it’s time to procure it.

How you handle your procurement will dictate who you engage, what they’ll take responsibility for, and the quality of your AV system. To get it right, you’ve got to pick the right procurement method and conduct a fair bidding process.

Pick The Right Procurement Method

There are many acronyms in the AV world, but procurement has even more. As AV consultants, we’ve participated in RFPs, RFBs, ITTs, ITQs, RFIs and RFQs. What do they all mean?

The definitions change from organization to organization. Though, requests for contracts generally fall along a spectrum from quotes to proposals. Depending on a few factors, such as the complexity of your AV design and the project environment, you may choose to issue either a request for quote (RFQ) or a request for proposal (RFP).

Request For Quote (RFQ)

If you have a small, well-defined AV project, you may just need a quote from anyone who can supply precisely what you’ve listed. You can do this by issuing a request for quote (RFQ).

Requesting a quote is simple. You tender a complete design and ask bidders to respond with a list of equipment and the cost of labour to install it.

Bidders can prepare quotes quickly. They’re not as onerous as a full proposal, so you will likely get more responses and they’ll be more competitive.

However, RFQs have some distinct disadvantages. For one, you won’t have any control over who bids on your project. The RFQ format does not allow for a full vendor assessment where you can assess bidders’ quality or their ability to complete the work.

Further, if there is any grey area in your project that you fail to define fully in your request, it won’t be included in the quote. That’s why it’s critically important to define the entire project when preparing an RFQ — right down to every cable and task performed. Otherwise, you may find yourself in the unfortunate position of having to pay for extra work mid-contract.

When you procure a vendor via an RFQ, you will secure the items you have detailed at the quoted price — but not a guarantee of a complete, functional system.

So, when should you seek a quote? Here are some situations in which RFQs are preferable to RFPs:

1. Small dollar-value projects

2. Simple projects

3. Work that may not attract many bidders, such as in rural regions without many contractors

4. Clearly defined projects with no complications expected

Request For Proposal (RFP)

If your AV design is more complex, you will benefit from the vendor taking a more proactive approach. Requests for proposals (RFPs) are for when you want bidders to propose an entire solution.

Crafting an RFP is more nuanced than an RFQ. We dare to say it is a subtle art. You must clearly define the outcomes of the project, without being too rigid about the methods and equipment used.

A well-crafted RFP creates an opportunity for a contractor to join you as a partner — to share in the project’s vision and work together to reach common objectives. It is a less transactional, more collaborative approach. It allows you to leverage the vendor’s experience in adapting to project contingencies that could not have been foreseen. But to secure such a partner, you must communicate in a way that attracts the best bidders and inspires them to join you.

RFPs include an AV system design, but they must also describe the requirements of the entire project. These requirements may include the project duration, scope of work, AV commissioning process, and criteria to qualify bidders. You may even describe the business outcomes you’d like to see as a result of the project.

These considerations scratch the surface of what is required to ensure the successful installation of a complex AV design. Further, who will be managing the project? Will your organization take this on, or will you leave it to the installer? If you don’t define these parameters and the vendor’s role in the process, first-rate contractors will read between the lines, sense the precarious grey areas, and steer clear of your project.

To summarize, here is when you should issue an RFP:

1. High-budget projects

2. Complex AV designs

3. Appealing projects likely to attract many bidders

4. Projects in uncertain environments or with contingencies

If you need help crafting an RFP that attracts the best vendors for your AV solution, you can book a call with one of our AV consultants. We’d love to hear from you.

Conduct A Fair Bidding Process

Once you’ve specified your RFQ or RFP, it’s vital that you conduct a fair tender. Your bid documents must make it clear how you will evaluate submissions, so everyone knows what to aim for.

Further, there could be legal consequences for conducting an unfair tender. In Canada, the tender process is governed by a legal precedent that established the response to an RFP as constituting a binding contract. The fundamentals of contract tendering law — in particular, the concept of Contract A — should be understood by your procurement team before conducting a bid.

Finding The Right Contractor For The Job

Legal implications aside, the main reason to conduct a fair bidding process is to secure the right contractor for the job. You do this by evaluating fairly based on the criteria you’ve made clear, which usually includes the following:

• Experience with similar projects

• The individuals responsible for the project

• The quality of the proposed plan

• And, of course, price

Further, contractors may specialize in certain areas relevant to your AV solution. Some are experts in large-scale audio systems, while others focus on hybrid meeting rooms or broadcast technology. Some have experienced project managers who bring years of expertise and Gantt charts to complex integrations, while others are agile and can leverage their relationship skills to get the job done.

The procurement process creates an opportunity to evaluate vendors and set up your AV project for success, but it’s not a one-way appraisal. Your reputation as a fair and equitable project partner is on the line. Tenders that are perceived as unfair by the contractor community will negatively affect your reputation, and you may find it difficult to raise proposals in the future.

We hope this guide helps you attract first-rate vendors to your AV initiatives. And if you need assistance drafting an RFP or seeing your project through to completion, we offer a full suite of AV consulting services, including discovery, design, procurement, and execution.

Just click here to schedule a call.