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For Immediate Release
August 29, 2019

BWS to Start Using Hawaii e-Procurement System (HePS) Next Month for Competitive Sealed Bids and Proposals

Move to HePS Improves Fairness and Efficiency in Procurement Process


HONOLULU – The Board of Water Supply (BWS) is moving all its notifications for competitive sealed bids and proposals from its BWS Procurement Website to the Hawaii e-Procurement System (HePS), starting September 3, 2019.  This move applies only to BWS sealed bids and proposals for goods, services, and construction; BWS notices for sole source, exemption, and professional services contracts will continue on the agency’s Procurement website at https://www.boardofwatersupply.com/procurement.

“Posting solicitations through HePS will give the BWS’s solicitations a broader exposure and will notify contractors worldwide about our contract solicitations,” said BWS Manager and Chief Engineer Ernest Lau. “The BWS’s transition to HePS will invite more competition for BWS solicitations, improve efficiencies, drive down costs, and reduce transaction time.”

Contractors register in HePS and indicate categories of goods, services, or construction they provide.  HePS then notifies contractors about solicitations in these categories allowing for their electronic bid response submittals; providing bid tabulation/abstract of bid results and award information with access to data on the bids submitted, including contractor names and bid amounts; and retains project solicitation response and award information in the respective vendor’s HePS account.

The BWS is informing contractors about this upcoming move via various trade organizations, as well as a website post and reaching out to its current vendors. To help contractors register or update their profile in HePS, the BWS is working with the application service provider SicommNet to create training videos. Videos will introduce contractors who are new to HePS to the system and demonstrate how to register in and use the system. The videos will be posted on the BWS website here: www.boardofwatersupply.com/procurement/heps.

For more information about the BWS’s move to HePS or how to access the training videos, please contact the BWS Procurement staff at 748-5071 or email fn_procurement@hbws.org.

About the Board of Water Supply

The Board of Water Supply (BWS), a semi-autonomous agency of the City and County of Honolulu, manages Oahu’s municipal water resources and distribution system.  As the largest water utility in the State, the BWS serves approximately one million customers on Oahu.  The BWS embraces its mission of “Water for Life – Ka Wai Ola” – to provide a safe, dependable, and affordable water supply, now and into the future.  Uwē  ka lani, ola ka honua – “When the heavens weep, the earth lives.”  For more information, visit www.boardofwatersupply.com.

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Contact:

Kathleen Elliott-Pahinui
Information Officer
Honolulu Board of Water Supply
Phone: (808) 748-5319