Small Purchases ($5,000 or less) 

• Quotes: Does not require three quotes.
• Documentation: Requires a Purchase Order.
• Insurance: A Certificate of Insurance (COI) is required for any service-related quote.

Medium Purchases ($5,001 to $24,999)

• Quotes: Requires three competitive quotes from comparable vendors.
• Insurance: Certificates of Insurance (COI) are required for any service-related quote.
• Small Contractor's Development (SCD) vendors shall have first preference. SCD is set-aside program for Small Business Enterprises located within New Haven County. All contractors participating in this program must be registered and approved by the SCD.

 Large Purchases (Over $25,000)

• Goods and Services (Over $25,000): Formal/Sealed Solicitations handled through Purchasing.
• Formal Solicitations: Invitations to Bid (ITB); Requests for Proposals (RFP)
• Construction-Related Solicitations ($25,001 to $150,000): SCD vendors shall have preference.

A. Commodity Bids and Service Bids (Sealed Bids)

Used when a complete, realistic specification is available, and selection is made principally based on price.

B. Construction Bids (Over $25,000)

Used for construction or facility improvement contracts.

C. Request for Proposal (RFP)

Used when the product or service is requested without actual detailed specifications, and factors other than price are critical.

D. Request for Qualifications (RFQ)

Used to formally solicit evidence of experience and qualifications, often preceding an RFP or multi-step bidding.

The City of New Haven has implemented a 'No Purchase Order, No Payment Policy’ effective July 1, 2019 to reduce cost overruns, unauthorized work, while automating the steps for payment of invoices. This means that without an official Purchase Order number and/or enough unencumbered funds available, payment of supplier invoices will be rejected or significantly delayed until the change order or adjustments can be processed and approved.

This policy aims to ensure that:

1. All spend shall be supported by an authorized PO prior to requesting the provision of goods/services.
2. Efficient processes are implemented so that goods are delivered when required.
3. The recipient of the goods shall receipt in Munis as soon as the goods are delivered/services performed (i.e. not upon receipt of the invoice);
4. Cost control is effective and therefore: 
5. all expenditure incurred by the City of New Haven is valid and appropriately authorized; and
6. minimizing transactional costs associated with payment for goods and services. 

Bonding Requirements

For those construction or facility improvement contracts or subcontracts exceeding $100,000, the City requires the following:

• Bid Bonds A bid bond representing 5% of the total bid price. Ensures the municipality can cover the cost difference between the low bid and the next lowest bid.

• A Performance Bond on the part of the contractor for 100 percent of the contract price. A "performance bond" is one executed in connection with a contract to secure fulfillment of all the contractor's obligations under such contract; and

• A Labor and Material Bond on the part of the contractor for 100 percent of the contract price. A labor and material bond is one executed in connection with a contract to assure payment, as required by law, of all persons supplying labor and material in the execution of the work provided for in the contract.

Local Preference

This ordinance (section 2-483) was promulgated as part of the City's ongoing effort to support local business enterprises physically located in the City of New Haven.

Prevailing Wage Rates

The City of New Haven is required under State statute to require prevailing wage rates for any construction project with a value in excess of $100,000.00. On ITBs/RFPs that require state wage rates the Bureau of Purchases will indicate in the Invitation to bid that the State wage rates apply and will provide the rates.

Federal Prevailing Wage Rates

The City of New Haven is required under Federal law to require Federal wage rates on federally funded projects. On ITBs/RFPs that require Federal wage rates the Bureau of Purchases will indicate in the Invitation to bid that the Federal wage rates apply and will provide the rates.

Living Wage

Living Wage is governed under the City of New Haven General Code of Ordinances, under section 2-511 to 2-517.  If health benefits are not provided to the covered employee, the covered employer must provide to the covered employee an additional one dollar ($1.00) per hour towards the provision of health care benefits.

Living Wage Rates:

Blanket Purchase Orders 

The City will continue to use blanket purchase orders; however, they will be used far more sparingly than in prior years.

Blanket POs can only be authorized by the Controller or his designee and issued by Purchasing. For a requesting department to be granted a blanket PO, they will have to define a specific use case and present a compelling reason why they are unable to identify the specific goods and/or services that might arise in which funding is needed.

Emergency or Non-Standard Goods/Services

• Because required emergency and/or non-standard services is not immediately associated with a funded PO, an Emergency PO number that is departmental specific will initially be utilized for such services. When the requesting City department contacts the authorized vendor/contractor to initiate such services, the appropriate emergency blanket PO number will be provided to the vendor/contractor, which must be referenced on all invoices specifically associated to those emergency services performed.

• Vendor/contractor has up to 96 hours after initial request by the City department for emergency / non-standard services to electronically submit their invoice to NHInvoice@newhavenct.gov.

• Upon receipt of the invoice, it will be processed by the City of New Haven’s E-invoicing tool and electronically routed to the appropriate personnel within the requesting City department as well as the Finance and Purchasing departments.

• This routing process will trigger proactive discussions between the requesting department and finance to ensure the appropriate funds are identified and properly allocated for such services.

• Upon final approval and agreement of funding allocation, the procurement department will then issue a new, billable PO with the respective funds, or process a change order to an existing PO for the vendor/contractor.

• Upon creation of a new PO or completion of a PO change order, the vendor/contractor will be emailed an electronic copy of the PO. The vendor/contractor will need to revise their original invoice, removing reference of the emergency PO and replacing it with the newly funded, billable PO number. The vendor/contractor shall be required to submit their revised invoice to NHInvoice@newhavenct.gov or PriorityPay@newhavenct.gov if enrolled, so that it can be processed for payment in accordance with the City’s new PO and Invoice policies.

Vendor Invoice Due Date

The payment due date for invoices shall be the later of:

• The date the City or Department receives the goods/services under contract; or

• The date the vendor competes performance of its services for the City/Department; or

• The date the Finance Department receives a valid invoice (emailed to: NHInvoice@newhavenct.gov or PriorityPay@newhavenct.gov), which is complete, correct, and complies with the City's E-Invoicing policy

Payment Terms 

The City of New Haven has adopted NET 30-day payment terms. If these terms cause your business an inconvenience, please ask about the Priority Payment Program, which is a voluntary program that can get you paid in as little as 5 – 10 days. 

Payment Options

The City of New Haven’s preferred method for making payments to vendors, and for issuing reimbursements to employees is by electronic payment (i.e. Automated Clearing House (ACH)). This method of payment is more secure, timely and cost effective. Currently, paper check distribution is also available although subject to restrictions and extra delays due to the manpower and cost. 

Electronic Payment “Preferred Payment Option”

Vendor’s can invoice the City of New Haven 1 time per week, per PO. Once an invoice has received its final approval, it will be immediately processed for payment. New Haven will transfer the payment electronically to the City’s bank with instructions to release the payment to you, per your direct deposit form, on the 30th day from the date your invoice was emailed to New Haven.

Paper Check “Alternative Payment Option”

Vendors can invoice twice a month, the first time between the 1st – 15th and a second time between 16th – end of the month, per PO. If the payment is due Net 30 days, If you prefer a paper check, your payment will be made on the next payment schedule after the contractual terms of Net 30 have been met.

 Vendors seeking payment must contact the City Department for which they have contracted with, after which they may contact the Accounts Payable Department for the City of New Haven. (203)-946-8306.

The City of New Haven is Tax -Exempt under Connecticut State Statute section 12-412a

Priority Payment Program (PPP)

• 100% voluntary program focused on helping strengthen our valued vendor’s cash management, to Get You Paid Quicker if our 30-day payment term causes your business an inconvenience.

• The program will enable the City to release the payment within 24 hours of the invoice being approved verses holding the payment to the 30th day in exchange for a small discount that you propose, as long as it’s fair for both you and the City of New Haven.

• Enable a stronger relationship by aligning mutual goals of both the City and our vendors.

• Achieve long-term savings and protect our community services, the City must continually change our methods and processes to compensate for tighter budgets and stretched resources.

• Vendor has no time or cost associated with tracking down payments.

Electronic Invoicing

The City of New Haven processes invoices using the information provided on the Purchase Order. The Purchase Order is a legally binding agreement between 3rd party vendors and the City of New Haven.

If you are still submitting invoices against 2024 PO’s, please submit them the same way you have previously, directly to the Department.

All new invoices for work completed after July 1, 2024 must comply with the requirements below:

• The date the City/department receives the goods/services under the contract; or

• The date the vendor completed preforming its services for the City/Department; or

• The date the finance department receives a valid invoice for goods and/or services which is complete, correct and accompanied by any supplemental documentation required

Invoice Requirements

A valid invoice consists of the following:

1. Vendor name
2. Vendor address
3. Unique Invoice Number (do not re-use invoice numbers unless you’re submitting a revised invoice that was previously rejected. Each new invoice submitted must have a unique invoice number)
4. Invoice date
5. Purchase Order number - Must be entered identically to how it appears on the purchase order.
6. Invoice total does not exceed the funds available on the PO. If they do, you are required to request a change order prior to completing work or submitting the invoice.
7. Location of Services Provided and/or Goods Delivered
8. Date(s) of Service and/or Goods Delivered
9. Work Order Number (if applicable)
10. Bill to Department (as listed on the original PO)
11. Requestor’s name (optional)
12. Payment Terms
13. Invoice Line items:
    1. Services - Individual line items should be included on the invoice detailing quantity and unit price for labor and time spent on site and all associated costs. Unit prices must be equal to or less than pricing listed on the PO. Service descriptions must use identical language as written on the PO.
    2. Goods - Individual line items should be included on the invoice detailing quantity and unit price for all goods and materials and associated costs. Unit prices must be equal to or less than pricing listed on the PO. Goods / material descriptions must use identical language as written on the PO.
14. Extended price with details (if applicable)
15. Detail or freight charges (if applicable)
16. Other additional charges (if applicable)
17. Total Amount Due (Each Line Item on the invoice must equal the Total Amount Due. Invoices which include amounts for outstanding, previously billed goods / services or a “balance forward” will be rejected. Invoices must only include current charges.)

Invoice Submission

The City of New Haven is adopting a paperless environment and is therefore, requiring all vendors to submit their invoices electronically via email.

Vendors/contractors shall submit all invoices via email to NHInvoice@newhavenct.gov or if you are actively enrolled in the Priority or SCD Payment Program, submit your invoices to PriorityPay@newhavenct.gov. Do not submit an additional copy or duplicate copy to the department; if you do, it will add significant delays into the approval process.

If a City of New Haven employee directs you to send them a copy, DO NOT, and you are instructed to take the following step. Notify Shawn Garris, Purchasing Agent, and CC the requesting City Employee on the email. This will allow the Procurement department to review the new policies and explain how such a request will cause significant delays in the City’s ability to pay the invoice on time.

**You are not required to use a specific invoice format, just ensure that the Invoice file is a Word, Excel or Readable PDF and that items 1-12 are on the Invoice Requirements (see above) on the first page of your invoice.

How to Submit

• Frequency of submittal is determined by the payment option that you select. Depending on the payment option you choose, you can submit an invoice 1 (one) time per week per Purchase Order, or you can choose to invoice the city 2 (two) times per month if you choose the City’s least preferred payment method, due to the increased cost to produce the payment. 
  • Payment Policy

• Single Email Per Invoice that you submit to the City of New Haven. Email Must include the Invoice and any supporting documentation the City requires per your contract.
  • Invoice must be submitted as a Readable PDF (see readable PDF below)
  • If supporting documents are required, please scan all supporting documents into one PDF and attach that as a second attachment on the same email.

Notes

If supporting documents are required for the invoice you’re submitting for payment, they must be included in the same email as the invoice, if not, the invoice will be rejected and you will be required to resubmit the invoice with any required documentation in a single email before the approval process can begin. Every time your invoice is rejected, the City’s payment term “Net 45” will reset and begin when the corrected invoice and/or missing associated documentation has been correctly resubmitted together in a single email.

Invoices electronically submitted will be processed by an automated system that extracts the text data from your invoice and inserts the information into the City’s accounting system. Therefore, invoices must be formatted in a data/text PDF file (not a PDF image file). When submitting the invoice via email, please make sure that you have included any supporting documents requires by the city as a second attachment prior to submitting the invoice. See Supporting Document Guideline below.

The best way to determine if your PDF file is in the correct format is to select and highlight all the text in your PDF file. If text can be highlighted, copied and then pasted from the PDF file onto another blank document (such as notepad, Word, Excel, etc.) then the PDF file is correctly formatted. Most accounting systems, electronic office tools such as Microsoft Word, Excel allow you to print to PDF, which will create a readable PDF.

Creating a Readable PDF Document

There are many methods of creating a readable PDF, the most common, which is available on most software packages supported today.

• Learn how to do create a readable PDF 

Supporting Document Guideline

All supporting documents (if required by the department) must be included with your invoice when submitted via email. Examples of supporting documents include receipts, work logs, time sheets, service reports, proof of insurance, AIA Application for Payment, etc.) If you do not include these documents, your invoice will be rejected, and your payment will be delayed.

When submitting your supporting documents, please scan all supporting documents and save them as 1 (one) PDF, regardless of how many pages it contains. Attach the supporting document PDF, along with the readable Invoice PDF and submit it to either NHInvoice@newhavenct.gov or if you are actively enrolled in the Priority or SCD Payment Program, submit your invoices to PriorityPay@newhavenct.gov.