Vendor debarment

A business or individual vendor that commits an ethical breach or illegal action can be barred from bidding on or entering into a contract with the state for up to three years. The legal term for this is debarment. Debarment helps ensure a vibrant, open, and competitive procurement marketplace for bidders and the state of Washington. This applies to both public works and goods and services. 

Current contractor debarments

Public works debarments: Washington State Department of Labor and Industries maintains a list of contractors not allowed to bid on public works projects.  

Goods and services debarments: No debarments are in effect at this time. 

Overview of the debarment process

The section contains a simple overview of the debarment process. For detailed information about the process, please review WAC 200-305-010.

Anyone can submit a debarment referral form (Word 4MB) to us. View an example referral and instructions (Word 4MB).

1. Your referral needs to include:
   • The name of the person or business you are referring for debarment.
   • The facts supporting the referral.
   • The facts supporting the reason for the referral.
   • Your contact information.
2. Send us the completed form one of two ways:
   • Email it to Debarment@des.wa.gov
   • Print and mail it to:
     Department of Enterprise Services
     Debarment Office
     1500 Jefferson St. SE
     MS 41466
     Olympia, WA 98504-1466
3. We will confirm we have received your referral.
4. We will conduct an initial assessment.
5. If the facts presented support further investigation, we will investigate and notify the referring party of the results.
6. We will then issue a debarment recommendation.
7. The recommendation may be appealed