Bureau of Purchasing

What We're About

The Purchasing Bureau within the Department of Finance is charged with the timely and efficient procurement of quality goods and services at the lowest price for the City of Rochester's municipal departments. The Bureau is also responsible for disposing of surplus property. If you're interested in becoming a vendor and doing business with the City, please read on.  

Where We're Located

The Purchasing Bureau is located in room 105-A of City Hall (30 Church St) in Downtown Rochester, on the corner of Church and Fitzhugh Streets. You can get to Fitzhugh Street by taking the Plymouth Avenue exit from 490 to Church Street. When traveling west from Syracuse, turn left at Plymouth Avenue. When traveling east from Buffalo, turn right at Plymouth Avenue. Downtown parking is available at several locations near City Hall.

To contact the City's Purchasing Bureau, call (585) 428-7041 between the hours of 9:00 am and 5:00 pm EST, Monday through Friday.

City Bid Offerings

Weekly listings are updated and may be viewed with the following links:

• Current Bids
• Current Bids listed by Buyer
• Closed Bids (from the last 60 days) 
• Bids closed more than 60 days ago can be requested through a FOIL request.

Bid information is also available through these sources:

• In the reception area of Room 105A in City Hall
• Call (585) 428-7041 to request mailing of a specific bid offering
• In City branch libraries
• On City TV access channel 12 from 11:00 pm to 9:00 am (viewing is repeated every 5 minutes)
• In the classified section of Rochester's Daily Record newspaper. Bid information can be found in the Public Notices section with the Legal Ads on the first work day of each week except when a holiday is observed on a Monday, the ad will appear on Tuesday. Construction (Public Works) bids are available for viewing in the Purchasing Bureau and at two (2) local companies:

How to...

• Become a Vendor
• Do Business With the City
• Get Paid by the City:  Billing and payment procedures are sent to vendors with each purchase order, along with City of Rochester Claim Vouchers. After the delivery of goods or services, the vendor must submit a signed Claim Voucher and invoice directly to the ordering department. (Please make note of the Claim Voucher number should there be a need to trace the claim.) Checks are normally issued within 30 days of a properly submitted claim.

Surplus Sales and Auctions

The Bureau of Purchasing sells used and obsolete City equipment through public auctions. More information 

Rochester Schools Modernization Program

To view bids related to the Rochester Schools Modernization Program (RSMP), click here.

More About Purchasing

• Purchasing Law

• Meeting Community Needs:  Minority Woman Business Enterprises (MWBE) are important to the City.
  To increase the participation of MWBE's, the City of Rochester solicits written quotes primarily from MWBE's for construction (public works) projects up to $20,000. The City also solicits MWBE's for general office supplies and printing. (On projects costing $20,000 or more, NYS law requires the City to advertised for bids and to accept bids from any responsible bidder.)   

Questions?

For more information about doing business with the City, call (585) 428-7041 or send an email to Cheryl.Whitman@cityofrochester.gov.