What to put in your request
A supplier can only price what they can see. Answer these and the quotes come back for the same job, which is the only way they can be compared.
- Each product and what it is for: floors, washrooms, kitchens, glass, surfaces that touch food, or disinfecting. Name the products you use now if you are happy with them.
- How much you use a month, or the floor area and the number of people on site, so suppliers can work out quantities.
- Concentrate or ready to use. Concentrates need diluting, bottles and labels, and someone trained to mix them; some suppliers install dosing units that do the mixing.
- Paper: toilet rolls and hand towels by ply and sheets per roll or pack, and the dispensers they must fit.
- Dispensers for soap, sanitiser, paper and air freshener: bought outright, or supplied with a refill contract, and who owns them if you change supplier.
- Where disinfection matters most, such as food areas, clinics or childcare, and what each product must be safe on: food-contact surfaces, natural stone, stainless steel.
- Delivery: how often, to which sites, and whether the supplier must hold stock for you.
- Any rules of your own: preferred brands, eco-labels, or products your auditor or client has approved.
What to compare when the quotes come back
The lowest total is where comparing starts, not where it ends.
- Cost per use, not per container: the dilution rate of each concentrate and how much ready-to-use product it makes.
- For paper: the price per sheet or per metre, with ply and sheet size, rather than per roll or case.
- For disinfectants: what the label says it acts against (bacteria, fungi, viruses), the dilution and the contact time it needs to work. The national specification for disinfectants requires all of these on the label.
- For hand sanitiser: the type and percentage of alcohol, and the standard it is made to.
- Dispensers: free on loan, rented or bought, any minimum monthly order to keep them, and what removing them costs at the end.
- Delivery charges, minimum orders, how quickly an urgent order arrives, and whether the supplier trains your staff to dilute, use and store the products safely.
On SupScope every quote arrives with the same three figures: the total, the lead time and the deposit. The first comparison is done before you open anything. The rest of this list is what to read in each supplier's notes and documents.
Paperwork worth asking for
- An NRCS registration number on every disinfectant
- Under compulsory specification VC 8054, every chemical disinfectant for use on surfaces must be registered with the NRCS before it is sold in South Africa, and its registration number printed on the pack. That includes any product that claims to be antibacterial or to kill germs on hard surfaces. Check the number on the label of each product quoted.
- A safety data sheet with the first delivery
- The Regulations for Hazardous Chemical Agents make the supplier of a hazardous chemical give the workplace its safety data sheet when it is first supplied, again whenever the sheet is updated, and to anyone at the workplace who asks for it. You need them on hand for the people who use the products. VC 8054 separately requires every registered disinfectant to have one.
- Correct labels, including on bottles you fill yourself
- The same regulations forbid a supplier to supply a hazardous chemical that is not labelled to the GHS system: the product name, the hazardous ingredients, the manufacturer's or importer's contact and emergency numbers, and the hazard pictograms and warnings. Nobody may label a hazardous product "non-toxic" or "non-hazardous". You must also, as far as reasonably practicable, label any container you decant into, so if you buy in bulk, ask the supplier for labels for the spray bottles.
And from any supplier
- A SARS Tax Compliance Status PIN
- It replaced the old tax clearance certificate. Checking it on eFiling shows the supplier's status on the day you check, not the day it was issued.
- A B-BBEE certificate or sworn affidavit
- Only if your own scorecard counts it. Small suppliers (turnover up to R10 million) may use an affidavit instead of a verified certificate.
- Company registration and a bank confirmation letter
- Worth having before the first payment, so the account you pay is the company you chose.
General guidance, not legal advice. Regulations change, and some depend on your municipality or the job, so confirm anything you rely on with the authority concerned.
How this works on SupScope
- Step 1
Post it once
Describe the job and choose Cleaning & Hygiene Supplies and your province.
- Step 2
It reaches the right suppliers
Only suppliers who work in this trade and cover your province see it.
- Step 3
Compare and award
Quotes arrive side by side. Accept one and the others are told.