How to Register on Cal eProcure: Vendor Guide (2026)

What Cal eProcure is

Cal eProcure (caleprocure.ca.gov) is the State of California's procurement portal. The Department of General Services (DGS) describes it as an online marketplace for businesses that sell products and services to the State. DGS states that Cal eProcure launched on December 9, 2015, replaced BidSync, and is the portal for advertising bid opportunities in the California State Contracts Register (CSCR). It also gives access to the State Contracting and Procurement Registration System (SCPRS), Small Business and Disabled Veteran Business Enterprise (SB/DVBE) certification, and statewide Leveraged Procurement Agreement searches.

DGS describes the CSCR as a tool inside Cal eProcure and a central information source for state contracting opportunities: state agencies post solicitations there when they go out to bid. On the portal, solicitations are called "events." DGS's own Office of Business and Acquisition Services lists public works projects on its Bid Opportunities page, points bidders to the CSCR, and says to enter 7760 in the Department field to find DGS opportunities.

Cal eProcure is a state portal, so it does not carry every public construction job in California. The Caltrans contracting resource guide (revised August 2021) states that its Division of Procurement and Contracts uses Cal eProcure for contracts that include minor public works, while contract opportunities for Caltrans major construction projects are listed on Caltrans Contractor's Corner. For city, county, and school district work, our guide to finding government construction bids covers the wider landscape.

As of 2026, DGS states that businesses can register with Cal eProcure at no cost. Registration screens change, so verify current steps on the official portal before relying on a saved workflow.

Registered on Cal eProcure? See matched public bids from thousands of portals free for 7 days so you can compare California State events with the wider public feed.

Step 1 - Open Cal eProcure and choose Register as a New Bidder

DGS's bidder registration instructions say to go to www.caleprocure.ca.gov, click Login/Register in the upper right-hand corner, and on the next page click Register as a New Bidder. DGS's 2026 "How to Do Business with California Government" brochure describes the home-page route as Sell to the State, then Register Now, then fill out and submit the registration. If the button labels differ when you visit, follow the official portal.

Before you start, decide who owns the account and use a company email address that your estimating or contracts team monitors. Treat the registration as an official procurement record, and do not enter tax or company details into any copy of the form that is not on caleprocure.ca.gov. If you get stuck starting registration, DGS lists its eProcurement Unit at eprocure@dgs.ca.gov or (916) 375-2000 for help with navigating the site, event searches, and beginning bidder registration.

Step 2 - Set up the company profile

DGS lists Set up Company Profile as the first registration step. All items marked with an asterisk must be completed. You choose either a Federal Employer Identification Number (FEIN) or a Social Security Number (SSN) as your Tax Identification Number (TIN), and DGS says not to use dashes when entering it. You then add the company name and, if you have one, the company website.

Match the company name and TIN to the records you use for tax, licensing, and contracts; if you bid under both a legal name and a DBA, decide which one belongs on the state profile first. Where the form asks for something not covered here, answer from your official business records and verify current steps on the official portal.

Step 3 - Enter the primary address and add user accounts

DGS's second and third steps are Enter Primary Address and Establish User Accounts. The address step asks for country, address, city, state, and postal code, and DGS notes that you can select additional addresses. For user accounts, you add a primary contact by clicking the Add Contact button, and you can add additional users.

For a construction company, the primary contact should be the person who manages public bids, such as a chief estimator or bid manager. Adding a second user keeps the account from depending on one employee, and the contact list should be updated whenever people change roles or leave.

Step 4 - Manage bidder notifications and UNSPSC codes

The fourth step, Manage Bidder Notifications, asks whether you want to receive CSCR Bid Opportunity Interest Notifications. DGS's instructions say that if you answer yes, you designate bidder notification contacts (more than one email address can receive them), go to Search by Keyword to add UNSPSC codes, and select service areas.

DGS's keyword and UNSPSC guide explains that a UNSPSC is an eight-digit code that identifies a good or service, organized in a four-level hierarchy. Level 1 codes describe broad groups, and Level 4 codes describe very specific items. DGS notes that buyers usually search for goods with Level 3 and Level 4 codes, and it recommends that if you list a Level 3 code, you also list the relevant Level 4 codes that you provide. DGS offers a code browser at dgs.ca.gov/PD-UNSPSC and has taken code questions at helpUNSPSC@dgs.ca.gov.

For construction work, search with the words your estimators use for your scopes, such as concrete, roofing, paving, or electrical, and keep only the codes that match work you bid. Choose service areas the same way: the regions your crews will actually travel to. Too broad floods the inbox; too narrow hides real opportunities.

DGS also notes that the codes that drive your notifications are a separate list from the codes buyers can see on a certification profile. If you later become SB or DVBE certified, update both lists.

Step 5 - Agree to the terms and conditions and submit

The fifth step is Terms and Conditions. DGS's instructions say to click the required box to agree to the terms and conditions for state procurements, then click Submit. DGS states that bidder registration is then complete and that you will receive an email with your temporary password.

The person who accepts the terms should be authorized to act for the business in state procurement. Before you click Submit, review the TIN, company name, address, contacts, codes, and service areas, and save a record of what you entered.

Step 6 - Activate your account and keep it current

DGS's instructions say that after you receive email confirmation of your user ID and password, you activate the account by following the link and logging in with your user ID and the temporary password from the email. You must input a new password after the initial login, and DGS says it must have at least 8 characters, including one uppercase letter, one lowercase letter, one special character, and one number.

After you log in, Cal eProcure opens to a personalized WorkCenter. DGS states that the WorkCenter shows account details and certification status, and that the My Account and Certification areas are managed separately, so each must be updated on its own. DGS's UNSPSC guide says to update notifications by logging in and clicking Manage Notifications under your WorkCenter.

The official sources reviewed for this guide do not describe an expiration date or annual renewal for bidder registration, so verify that on the official portal. In practice, review the profile whenever your contacts, address, or scopes change, and confirm that notices are still arriving.

SB, SB-PW, and DVBE certification

DGS states that once registered, you can apply for Small Business (SB), Small Business for the Purpose of Public Works (SB-PW), or Disabled Veteran Business Enterprise (DVBE) certification through your Cal eProcure account. DGS also states that first-time applicants must register with Cal eProcure before they can reach the certification application. The brochure describes the path as Get Certified, review the application requirements and documents, choose Get Certified (Apply or Reapply), select the certifications you want, click Next, and upload the required supporting documents.

DGS's certification FAQ states that there is no fee for any of the State of California's certifications and that certification is valid for up to 2 years. DGS also states that the State may give a 5% bid preference to certified small businesses, that certification does not guarantee a contract, and that eligibility requirements may have changed since publication, so check dgs.ca.gov/PD-Certification for current rules. The FAQ says bidders on a State solicitation can have an application expedited if the complete application and documents are in at least five business days before the bid due date, though approval by then is not guaranteed. For public works, DGS notes that registering with the Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) is not a requirement for SB-PW certification, but awarding departments must ensure that all contractors register with DIR for qualifying public works projects.

How to find and submit a bid on Cal eProcure

DGS's quick-start guide for certified businesses points to Event Search on Cal eProcure as the place to find an open solicitation in the CSCR. DGS's brochure describes clicking Start Search and opening a bid by searching on keyword, ID number, or department. Department codes narrow the list quickly: DGS says to enter 7760 for DGS opportunities, and the Caltrans guide says to enter 2660 in the department box, click advanced search criteria, and search with the UNSPSC codes on your profile.

Once you find an event, read the description and every attached document before you price anything: the due date and time, any pre-bid meeting, the question deadline, SB or DVBE participation requirements, and addenda. Notifications are a discovery aid, not a substitute for the event record.

The official sources reviewed for this guide do not describe one response workflow used by every Cal eProcure event, so the submission method is whatever the solicitation says. For example, a California Department of Technology invitation for bid states that information, ongoing communications, and question-and-answer sets are posted on Cal eProcure, while bidders deliver bids to the named Procurement Official. Find the section of each event that says where, how, and in what format bids are delivered, follow it exactly, and keep proof of on-time delivery with your bid file.

For subcontractors, DGS states that you can post ads seeking to partner with a prime contractor on a specific solicitation at no cost: log in, click Start Search, open the bid, click Post Vendor Ad, complete the items marked with a red asterisk, and save. DGS recommends starting the ad with your certification number so primes can see your certification profile. For market research, the Caltrans guide describes SCPRS as a database of past state purchases that includes purchase price and buyer information.

If your work crosses into federal projects, our SAM.gov registration guide covers the federal side. For local agencies on multi-agency platforms, see the guides to BidNet Direct, Bonfire, and OpenGov Procurement, or compare monitoring tools in our list of the best construction bidding software for 2026.

How ConstructionBids.ai helps

ConstructionBids.ai brings public construction bids from thousands of portals into one searchable feed with deadline alerts, which can sit alongside your Cal eProcure routine. Registering on Cal eProcure and responding the way each event requires are still on you; we don't replace either. Where an event names a specific delivery method, follow the event's instructions.

What changes is the checking: instead of running Event Search by hand and then visiting local portals one at a time, your team works from one feed filtered to its trades and geography. ConstructionBids.ai plans are $59, $79, and $99 a month, with a 7-day trial of Command. Start the trial and compare what it finds with your own Cal eProcure notifications.