Public Contracts Scotland (PCS)

Public Contracts Scotland (PCS) is a national website, provided by the Scottish Government, where all public sector buying organisations must advertise all regulated procurements (contracts valued at £50k or above excluding VAT for goods and servvices but excluding utilities and concession contracts). 

Quickfire Guide

Quickfire Guide

Public Contracts Scotland (PCS) Quickfire Guide

Procurement officers use PCS to:

  • advertise future opportunities by using a Prior Information Notice;
  • invite specific suppliers to submit quotations for low value/risk goods and services through the online 'Quick Quote'  system;
  • automatically post UK wide contract notices via the Find a Tender Service (FTS) for those contracts over threshold;
  • post below-threshold contract notices;
  • publish Contract Award Notices;
  • publish their Contract Registers which detail all of their organisations current contracts from regulated procurements  (£50k or over for goods and services);
  • reserve suitable contracts for supported businesses

Main contractors on public sector contracts can use PCS to advertise their sub-contracting opportunities.

As a supplier you can:

  • use PCS at any time to browse for contract opportunities.   You do not need to register on PCS to be able to do this
  • register as s supplier on PCS to receive automatic e-mail alerts for relevant new contract opportunities or a direct request for a Quick Quote

  • register your interest and bid for an opportunity.

Using PCS Tenders

Procurement officers will state in their Contract Notice whether bidders have to respond to the tender via PCS or PCS-Tender, and will include instructions on how to access the tender documents and respond to the opportunity.

What you need to do:

Register on Public Contracts Scotland

To register on the site, visit Public Contracts Scotland where you will be asked to follow a short and simple process.

  • Set up a Company profile and select product categories that you operate in: this will ensure that you are sent emails from PCS when new contract opportunities are posted which match your selected categories;
  • Set up a Supplier Finder Profile on Public Contracts Scotland (PCS) to increase your chances of being selected for a Quick Quote - include some commentary about your organisation and keywords;
  • Ensure that your supplier finder profile and product categories accurately reflects your organisation and is kept up-to-date with current information so that procurement officers can find you and you receive the emails you want.  You should delete information that is incorrect or out-of-date e.g. contact details of a person who has left your organisation;
  • Use a general email address for your organisation and establish an internal process to allocate responsibility for picking these up and actioning (including cover for sickness/leave, etc.).

What Happens Then?

Quick Quotes

Procurement officers may use Quick Quote on PCS to obtain competitive quotes for low value/low risk purchases from suppliers who are registered on the website. Only suppliers selected to quote by the procurement officer can access the details of the contract opportunity and submit a quote. More information on this process is covered in the quotation section of the Supplier Journey.

Please note that suppliers do not need to register separately in order to receive quick quotes.

Contracts

For higher value contracts (regulated procurements of £50k or more excluding VAT for goods and services) procurement officers will publish Contract Notices on PCS which give information about the planned tendering process. Registered PCS suppliers will automatically receive email alerts when Contract Notices matching the commodity codes in their company profile are advertised.

Through PCS you can then:

  • download the Contract Notice and other procurement documents e.g. the invitation to tender;
  • Register your Interest in the opportunity;
  • use the online post-box to raise questions with the procurement officer, if the procurement officer is using PCS to manage their bids;
  • bid for the contract, uploading your bid documents, if the procurement officer is using PCS to manage their bids.

More information on the tendering process is covered in the Tenders section of the Supplier Journey.

PCS Support: Contact Information

Further PCS information and support e.g. User Guides and Frequently Asked Questions, can be found via the PCS Help & Support section.

PCS contact details are as follows: