A faster path to approved facility work.
BuyFair cooperative contracts can help eligible agencies move from selection to purchase order without running a separate RFP.
Months of procurement, or a shorter approved path.
Traditional RFPs can consume months of staff time before work begins. Cooperative contracts can reduce that burden for eligible buyers.
Traditional RFP Process
Cooperative Contract Process
What Is BuyFair?
BuyFair is a national governmental purchasing cooperative led by Region 15 Education Service Center, a Texas state agency. Its competitively solicited contracts give eligible agencies a documented procurement option.
Roberts Environmental Control Corp is a BuyFair-awarded vendor for HVAC, mechanical, and design-build services.
Membership is free. Documentation is available to support your internal review.
BuyFair's 6-Step Competitive Process
- Solicitation: Region 15 ESC develops the competitive solicitation with detailed evaluation criteria
- National Advertisement: Published nationally to ensure broad vendor participation and competition
- Piggybacking Language: Solicitation includes cooperative language enabling multi-state use
- Sealed Responses: Vendors submit sealed proposals evaluated against published criteria
- Independent Evaluation: Evaluation committee scores and ranks all responses
- Award: Contracts awarded to qualified vendors based on best value
The benefits of cooperative contracting.
A cooperative path can reduce procurement time while preserving documented competitive selection.
80% Time Savings
Reduce the time spent developing, advertising, evaluating, and negotiating a separate RFP.
Significant Cost Reduction
Lower the staff, consultant, legal, and advertising effort tied to a separate solicitation.
Full Compliance
BuyFair contracts are competitively solicited with documentation available for agency and legal review.
Pre-Vetted Quality
Vendors are evaluated on qualifications, experience, capability, and value, not price alone.
Reduced Risk
Established terms, insurance requirements, and performance standards help agencies move with confidence.
Emergency Ready
When systems fail or funding deadlines are tight, cooperative contracts can support faster action.
Who Can Use Cooperative Contracts?
BuyFair cooperative contracts are available to over 90,000 public agencies and eligible organizations nationwide.
Public school districts with capital improvement, life safety, or facility upgrade needs
Higher education facilities with HVAC, mechanical, or building infrastructure needs
Healthcare facilities with critical HVAC, air quality, or infection control needs
Municipal buildings, public works, courthouses, and government-owned facilities
Government facilities requiring mechanical, HVAC, or building system upgrades
501(c)(3) organizations and community facilities eligible for cooperative purchasing
Tribal government facilities and organizations eligible under cooperative statutes
Churches, synagogues, mosques, and religious facilities eligible through BuyFair
Frequently Asked Questions
Answers to the most common questions procurement teams ask about cooperative contracting.
Does this bypass competitive bidding?
No. BuyFair contracts are competitively solicited through Region 15 Education Service Center. Your agency uses that documented solicitation result instead of running a separate one.
Is this compliant in our state?
Cooperative purchasing is widely authorized, including in Illinois under the Governmental Joint Purchasing Act and Intergovernmental Cooperation Act. Agencies should confirm local requirements with counsel.
Will we get competitive pricing?
Cooperative pricing is established through competitive solicitation. Agencies also reduce the soft costs tied to running a separate RFP.
What if our project is complex?
The cooperative contract provides the procurement framework. Engineering, design, equipment selection, phasing, and installation are tailored to the facility.
We've always done RFPs. Why change?
Infrastructure needs often move faster than an RFP calendar. Cooperative contracting can preserve documentation while reducing procurement time.
How quickly can we start?
After selection and purchase order, Roberts DBS can move into project kickoff without a separate RFP cycle. That can protect summer, grant, or shutdown windows.
Ready to review the cooperative path?
Tell us about the project, timeline, and approval requirements. We will help define the next step.