When permit activity spikes or key staff members leave unexpectedly, the pressure builds quickly. Inspections fall behind. Residents start calling. Your team is doing everything you can, but the traditional RFP process means real support could still be months away.
In our webinar, Do You Need an RFP? Key Questions for City Leaders, SAFEbuilt’s Steve Nero and Juliana Hoffman explain how cities are using cooperative purchasing and strategic procurement to move faster — without cutting corners or risking compliance issues.* The goal isn’t to avoid the rules. It’s to use the tools that already meet them.
Why cities need faster procurement options
Permit surges that exceed what the current team can handle
Staffing gaps caused by resignations, retirements, or hiring challenges
When those issues collide, backlogs grow quickly. Nero’s first piece of advice is simple: Don’t panic. Cities across the country face the same situation, and there are compliant paths to get help quickly.
Before choosing a procurement method, he recommends stepping back to understand:
Where the real bottlenecks are
What type of support is needed
Which procurement options your local rules allow
This quick assessment keeps the next steps focused and prevents rushed decisions that slow things down later.
What they often don’t realize is that the same mechanism can be used for service‑based support, including inspections, plan review, and permitting.
Here’s how Nero breaks it down:
Cooperative contracts allow you to engage a vendor while staying aligned with local procurement laws.
A public agency completes a full, competitive procurement process and awards a contract. Other jurisdictions can then “piggyback” on that awarded contract — when allowed by their local and state rules — instead of starting from scratch.
Because the competitive work has already been done, your city can move from identifying a need to issuing a purchase order much faster than a traditional RFP would allow.
This is why cooperative purchasing becomes a practical option when timelines are tight and service levels are at risk.
Even when the need is clear, the biggest hesitation cities have is whether cooperative purchasing truly meets local procurement requirements. Nero sees this often, and his guidance is consistent:
Bring procurement into the conversation early
Connect them directly with the cooperative organization
Review how the original competitive process was conducted
Once procurement teams see the documentation, compliance concerns usually fade. In many cases, the cooperative’s process is as thorough (or more thorough) than what a city would run on its own.
Separate from cooperative purchasing, some jurisdictions classify building department work as professional services, which may allow a different approval path — sometimes through a board or council — without issuing a full RFP.
This varies by jurisdiction, and many communities are tightening guidelines, which is why cooperative contracts remain an important option to evaluate. *
As Nero puts it, “Time is everything when your community needs resources.” Fast, compliant procurement isn’t about bypassing rules — it’s about maintaining service levels when your community needs you most.
If you’re facing staffing shortages, permit surges, or growing backlogs, you’re not alone — and you’re not limited to a long RFP timeline.
Watch Do You Need an RFP? Key Questions for City Leaders to see how cooperative contracts work, how to address compliance questions, and how cities are getting support in days instead of waiting for a full bid cycle.
* Disclaimer: The information provided is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Procurement requirements vary by jurisdiction. Agencies should consult their legal counsel and review applicable state and local laws, ordinances, and procurement policies before proceeding.