Structured, machine-readable bid and quote data collected daily from the Massachusetts COMMBUYS procurement portal. Free to download, no account required.
All currently-open procurement bids from the Executive Office of Housing & Livable Communities, updated daily.
One row per bid. 25+ fields covering bid metadata, dates, contacts, and procurement details. Updated each morning.
One row per vendor quote submitted. Linked to bids via
bid_id foreign key. Captures vendor identity and submission details.
We're building out additional tables as the project expands. Planned additions:
All fields captured per bid record in commbuys_results.csv.
| Field | Type | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
bid_id | string | Primary key — full COMMBUYS bid identifier | BD-26-1076-OCDDE-PH005-126796 |
description | string | Bid title / procurement description | Housing Production Trust Fund |
bid_opening_date | datetime | Date and time bids are opened | 05/30/2026 14:00:00 |
available_date | date | Date bid was posted / made available | 03/01/2026 |
required_date | date | Required delivery or completion date | 06/30/2026 |
purchaser | string | Purchasing office within the organization | OCDDE |
organization | string | Top-level government organization | Executive Office of Housing & Livable Communities |
department | string | Department or division within the org | DHCD - Dept of Housing Community Dev |
location | string | Physical location / delivery address context | Boston, MA |
fiscal_year | string | Fiscal year of the procurement | 2026 |
type_code | string | Bid type code (PH005, HD006, etc.) | PH005 |
bid_type | string | Human-readable bid type label | Request for Proposals |
allow_electronic_quote | boolean | Whether electronic quote submission is allowed | Yes |
informal_bid_flag | boolean | Whether this is an informal (small) bid | No |
purchase_method | string | Procurement method (competitive bid, etc.) | Competitive Sealed Bid |
sbpp_eligible | boolean | Small Business Purchasing Program eligible | No |
contact_email | string | Procurement contact email address | procure@eohlc.state.ma.us |
alternate_id | string | Agency's internal reference number | EOHLC2026-64 |
item_number | string | Line item number within the bid | 0001 |
item_description | string | Description of goods/services being procured | Technical assistance services |
unspsc_code | string | UN Standard Products & Services Code | 80101500 |
qty | number | Quantity requested | 1 |
unit_cost | currency | Estimated unit cost (may be blank) | |
uom | string | Unit of measure | Each |
file_attachments | string | Semicolon-separated list of attached filenames | RFP_EOHLC2026-64.pdf; Exhibit_A.docx |
has_quotes_tab | boolean | Whether a quotes tab exists on this bid | True |
quote_count | integer | Number of vendor quotes submitted | 3 |
downloaded_files | string | Semicolon-separated local paths of downloaded attachments | downloads/BD-26-.../RFP.pdf |
All fields captured per vendor quote in commbuys_quotes.csv.
| Field | Type | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
bid_id | string | Foreign key — links to commbuys_results.bid_id | BD-26-1076-OCDDE-PH005-126796 |
quote_id | string | COMMBUYS internal quote identifier | QT-26-88421 |
vendor_name | string | Name of the submitting vendor | Acme Housing Solutions LLC |
vendor_address | string | Vendor mailing address | 123 Main St, Boston, MA 02108 |
submission_date | datetime | When the quote was submitted | 05/15/2026 09:34:00 |
quote_status | string | Current status of the quote | Submitted |
alternate_id | string | Vendor's own reference number (if provided) | |
quote_total | currency | Total quote value (when disclosed) | $285,000.00 |
file_attachments | string | Semicolon-separated list of quote attachment filenames | Proposal_AcmeHousing.pdf |
downloaded_files | string | Local paths of downloaded quote attachments | downloads/BD-26-.../quotes/... |
All data is scraped from public-facing COMMBUYS pages that require no authentication. We use a polite scraper with rate limiting and exponential backoff to avoid overloading government servers.
The discovery script runs daily, querying COMMBUYS for any newly-posted open bids. New bids are scraped in full; known bids are skipped to avoid redundant requests. Open bids are polled multiple times per week to capture any addenda, deadline changes, or new vendor submissions.
Bid attachments (PDFs, Word documents, spreadsheets) are downloaded and stored locally. File download uses the COMMBUYS multi-step form authentication pattern required by the platform.
Bid records are updated each morning. Quote data is refreshed when the polling script detects a change in quote count. The last-updated timestamp on each download reflects when the data was last scraped, not when it changed on COMMBUYS.
Data is sourced from public government records. COMMBUYS
robots.txt permits crawling of all
/bso/ paths. We are not affiliated with the
Commonwealth of Massachusetts or Periscope Holdings.
Understanding where this data comes from helps you interpret it correctly.
COMMBUYS is the Massachusetts statewide eProcurement system operated by the Executive Office for Administration and Finance (ANF). It handles bid solicitations, vendor registration, quote submission, and contract management for state agencies, municipalities, and quasi-public bodies.
Any of 1,200+ registered Massachusetts government organizations — from large state agencies to small water districts. State agencies are generally required to use COMMBUYS for procurements above certain dollar thresholds; municipalities participate voluntarily.
COMMBUYS hosts Invitations for Bids (IFB), Requests for Proposals (RFP), Requests for Responses (RFR), Requests for Qualifications (RFQ), and informal bids. Each type has different evaluation criteria and legal requirements under Massachusetts procurement law.