The Office of Inspector General (OIG) for the City of New Orleans conducted an inspection of  competitive bidding processes within the City of New Orleans (City) Bureau of Purchasing.

The purpose of the inspection was to examine whether City procurement practices for competitive bidding encouraged a level of competition among potential contractors that was consistent with the law and best practices. Competition is an important element in public procurement, ensuring that governments receive the goods and services they need at the best price.

Evaluators reviewed data on the number of responses the City received for Invitations to Bid (ITB), Requests for Proposals (RFP), and Requests for Qualifications (RFQ) issued in 2019 and 2020 in order to identify how many did not receive at least three responses.