Request for Standing Offer (RFSO)

A Request for Standing Offer, abbreviated RFSO, is a solicitation used to obtain standing offers from potential suppliers. A standing offer is an offer to provide specified goods or services at pre-arranged prices and under set terms and conditions, when and if the buyer requires them. The Government of Canada uses the term in its guidance for suppliers, as described on the Government of Canada page on supplying services.

Suppliers whose offers meet the evaluation requirements in an RFSO become pre-qualified suppliers and holders of standing offers. The RFSO is therefore the first step in a standing-offer procurement method, not usually a purchase contract by itself. In Canadian French procurement terminology, the term is Demande d'offres à commandes, abbreviated DOC.

How an RFSO leads to call-ups

The buyer sets the terms, prices, validity period and conditions in advance. Individual purchases happen later, when the buyer issues a call-up to a qualified standing-offer holder. According to the Government of Canada's guidance on bidding on opportunities, a call-up issued to a pre-qualified supplier serves as notice to deliver the goods or services.

A buyer may issue an RFSO where it expects to purchase goods or services repetitively. A successful supplier agrees to provide the good or service at a fixed price over a specified time frame. The buyer does not need to run a new competition for each purchase, because the pricing and conditions are already in place.

No guaranteed quantity under a standing offer

An RFSO does not, by itself, mean the government will buy a guaranteed quantity. Government seminar material on how the government buys describes a standing offer as pre-arranged prices and set terms and conditions that apply when and if required. Purchases occur through subsequent call-ups, and the volume depends on what the buyer needs during the offer period.

Once a standing offer is in place, a valid call-up creates the obligation to deliver. The supplier must honour the prices and conditions it offered.

Federal organizations that issue RFSOs on CanadaBuys

Several departments and agencies publish RFSO documents on CanadaBuys, each applying the method to its own recurring requirements:

• Department of National Defence (DND): its RFSO documents invite potential suppliers to provide DND with a standing offer, as in this DND RFSO.
• Parks Canada Agency: its RFSO documents require offers to go to the designated bid-receiving unit and be assessed against the complete RFSO requirement, including technical and financial criteria. See this Parks Canada RFSO.
• Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP): its RFSO documentation has been used to establish National Master Standing Offers, as in this RCMP RFSO.
• Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC): its RFSO documents invite suppliers to provide PWGSC with a standing offer.
• Canadian Heritage: its RFSO documents require offerors to demonstrate how they will meet the requirement, and offers must meet the mandatory technical criteria to be responsive.

What an RFSO means for your bid team

Treat an RFSO as an application to be a pre-qualified supplier, not as a single sale. Submit by the stated closing date and through the stated method. Follow the RFSO instructions and clauses, and meet every mandatory technical and financial requirement, because an offer that misses a mandatory criterion is not responsive.

Price carefully. If you are selected, you must honour the prices and conditions of your standing offer whenever a valid call-up arrives. Because quantities are not guaranteed, build your pricing and capacity planning around the buyer's stated recurring need rather than an assumed volume. Winning a standing offer gets you onto the buyer's list of qualified suppliers, and revenue follows only as call-ups are issued.