What Is a Society Procurement Marketplace?

What is a society procurement marketplace?

A society procurement marketplace is a structured RFQ (request for quotation) platform where a housing society publishes work it needs done — security, housekeeping, lift AMC, painting — verified vendors submit itemised quotes, and the award is ratified through a Plinth poll with a full audit trail. Residents see what was tendered and why a vendor was chosen.

Why committees still use WhatsApp for tenders

Informal quote collection hides favouritism risk, loses negotiation history when the committee changes, and produces weak paper contracts with no scope of work or exit clause.

What Plinth procurement includes

• Service requests (RFQs) — category, scope, deadline, optional internal budget (never shown to vendors).
• Vendor marketplace — verified vendors browse matching open requests across societies.
• Quote comparison — admin table with delta-from-lowest and vendor ratings.
• Democratic award — committee or society poll seeded from shortlisted quotes.
• Non-lowest guardrail — mandatory documented reason if not the cheapest bid.
• Contracts & milestones — multi-signatory signing, payment schedule, invoice tracking.

Plinth ties procurement to the same governance engine used for AGM resolutions — not a separate ERP bolt-on.

Run a transparent tender on Plinth · Admin setup guide

FAQ

Can residents see vendor quotes? After shortlisting or award — not while quotes are still open. Do vendors see the society name before quoting? Anonymised until the vendor submits a quote. Is budget shared with vendors? Never — budget fields are admin-only.