State agency customers including boards, commissions and institutions of higher education requiring publishing services may use the state printing and imaging services provided by the Department of Enterprise Services (DES). Customers can choose to solicit bids for publishing services as long as there is no sensitive or personally identifiable information present that is not publicly available and DES Printing Services is included.

Sec. 311 added to chapter 43.19 RCW

For every printing job and binding job ordered by a state agency, the agency shall consult with the department on how to choose more economic and efficient options to reduce costs.

After consultation has occurred, customers can use state printing services exclusively to order printed materials, without seeking additional competitive bids. Benchmarking studies have shown your state printer to be below the average mean and highly competitive compared to local commercial printers.

If consultation has occurred and the competitive bidding process is elected:

1. State agency customer identifies and defines the need for publishing services excluding any work with sensitive or personally identifiable information.
2. Any solicitations with job details must be posted to the state’s common vendor registration and bid notification system (WEBS) regardless of estimated dollar amount.
   • Any solicitations must include DES
   • Bid specifications must encourage the use of recycled paper.
   • Biodegradable ink must be used when feasible.
3. Bid due dates will be honored. Depending on the complexity of the job, customers should allow 24-48 hours for bids to be posted to WEBS.
   • Large projects or projects that require special paper, finishing or binding options should be given extra time as may print providers will need to get pricing for sub contracted portions of the project.
4. All bid results must be provided to DES Printing and Imaging Services (DES Print Estimator).