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________________________________________________________________
Georgia
Code 50-5-51 gives procurement authority to the Department of Administrative
Services (DOAS). Included is the
authority to contract for the rental, lease, purchase or other acquisition of
all supplies, materials, services (other than professional and personal
employment services) and equipment required by the state government or any of
its institutions, to contract for telephone services, have general supervision
over all storerooms and to contract for state printing.
The
Board of Regents policy manual states “The University System shall
utilize the sources of the central purchasing agency for the State of
DOAS
State Purchasing Office (SPO) has delegated general purchase authority not to
exceed $100,000 (for E&G funds) to the Procurement and Contract Services
Department at
The Purchasing Section is established to
manage the procurement of supplies, materials, equipment and contractual
services for the University. It has
the responsibility for preparing, negotiating, executing, awarding and
administering all contracts other than some personal service and all Public
Works contracts. Further, it serves
to coordinate the University’s procurement activity with appropriate
State agencies. In addition to
state statutes, the University adheres to policies established by the Board of
Regents of the University System of Georgia, the University and recommendations
furnished by the state and internal auditors.
Specific
service goals of the department are to define economies, assist in the planning
of purchases, develop standard specifications and reduce administrative costs
and inventories.
The
University budget establishes funds to be used for certain purposes under the
authority of the designated budget head that has the primary responsibility for
approval of all purchases charged against their accounts. The budget head may delegate this
authority to other persons by memorandum to the Purchasing Section of Procurement
and Contract Services.
The
requisition form is the primary vehicle used to initiate a purchase for a
department. Specifications must be provided by the department and must be
specific enough in order to indicate to vendors what it is that the department
is looking for. Departments are
discouraged from simply attaching a catalog page from a particular vendor. Using another products specification as
minimum specifications may be considered as “lock-out”
specifications and therefore considered unlawful. It is possible to reference another
product as “meeting desired minimum technical and quality levels”.
The
Purchasing section is committed to completing departmental purchases in a
timely manner. Many factors determine the time to complete a purchase
including, but not limited to: state procurement regulations, buyer workload, commodity
purchased, availability of funds, vendors, time of year and other contract
considerations. The following lead times (from receipt of requisition to
issuance of purchase order) are considered to be necessary to ensure that
procurements can be completed correctly and within established regulations:
a. Bids
(greater than $5,000 and not otherwise exempted) 30 working days
b. Sole
Source/Sole Brand
10
working days
c. Open
Market purchases (less than $5,000) 7 working days
d. Contract Releases (purchased against state or agency contracts) 10 working days
The
authority to commit University funds for supplies, materials, equipment and
certain contractual services has been delegated to the Procurement and Contract
Services Department within limits established by the Department of
Administrative Services, State Purchasing Office. This policy of purchasing centralization
provides for economies and efficiencies.
University
departments are currently delegated authority up to $3,000 per transaction.
Purchases must comply with other regulations as indicated elsewhere within this
document. Departments may not
“split” purchases to avoid this transaction limit. Purchases by departments which do not
conform to regulations and policy may be determined to be “unauthorized
purchases”. When such a
purchase is detected, the appropriate Department Head shall be notified in
writing and an explanation requested as to the circumstances surrounding the
violation. A final determination
shall be made by the Director of Procurement and Contract Services.
The
Department of Procurement and Contract Services is a service unit, and in order
to be of the most benefit to the University, is largely dependent upon the
cooperation and assistance of all University units, offices and departments. In order to define the relationship
between the Department of Procurement and Contract Services and other
University units, offices and departments as definitely as possible, the
following governing practices are set forth:
·
Only Procurement and Contract Services
should formally solicit quotations from vendors. Departments are encouraged to contact
vendors for informal quotations or budget pricing. All vendor pricing obtained should be
submitted to Procurement and Contract Services when submitting a requisition.
·
The Procurement and Contract Services
Department should conduct all correspondence with the State Purchasing Office
(SPO).
·
All formal correspondence with vendors
should be either handled through or pre-approved by the Procurement and Contract
Services Department. Formal
communications is defined as those which obligate either the vendor or the
University to specific contractual actions. This is particularly true once a
solicitation to bid is in process.
Again, departments are encouraged to seek technical advice and product
availability information directly from vendors.
·
The degree of success that Procurement and
Contract Services Department has is dependent upon receiving timely information
from departments concerning upcoming events and requirements. This allows us to be proactive vice
reactive. We encourage departments
to:
¨
E-mail or telephone us advising of upcoming
projects or needs
¨
Seek our participation in meeting with
vendors
·
The University seeks to deal fairly,
consistently and openly with all vendors in the spirit of cooperation. There are situations, however, where the
bargaining position of the University could be compromised when vendors receive
information regarding orders, prices or future plans. Departments should refrain from
revealing information not absolutely necessary.
·
Contact the Purchasing Section when
solicited by a vendor offering a suspicious “good deal”. This office is in contact with other
Purchasing offices throughout the country and often has knowledge of scams in
progress.
·
Departments contemplating accepting
equipment on a “trial” basis should contact Procurement and
Contract Services first. Vendors,
and sometimes departments, may need to be made aware of certain risks or
obligations especially with regards to risk management and liability issues.
·
Relationships with vendors should be kept
on a business like basis. Refrain
from accepting any gifts and especially those of greater than nominal value.
·
Keep the Purchasing Section notified of
pertinent information relayed by vendors such as potential or actual price
increases, new products etc. This
is especially true if the vendor indicates a price change during the term of a
contract.
·
Departments are cautioned against signing
any agreement or contract.
Agreements or contracts signed by personnel without the requisite
contracting authority are illegal contracts and the person signing may assume
personal liability.
·
In order to administer a contract, it
requires a joint effort between Purchasing and the user department(s). Close coordination and communication is the
key.
Under
competitive bidding, the award should be made to the vendor offering the lowest
price for materials or services meeting the required specifications. Quality and service standards in
specifications must, therefore, be adequately defined.
Three
primary methods are used to obtain goods and services:
a. purchase
orders
b. *petty
cash (administered by Accounts Payable)
c. *Purchasing
card
*
denotes purchasing methods delegated to departments at established levels.
The
general dollar value limits listed below are either delegated by DOAS or
established by University policy:
$1,000 or
less Limit
for use of Petty Cash (minimum reimbursement of $50 – see page 13)
$3,000 Level
for taggable equipment (plus all computers and weapons)
$3,000 or less Limit
for departmental purchases and VISA limits
$5,000
and greater Capitalized
assets (depreciable assets)
$5,000
and greater Limit
requiring competitive solicitation
$100,000 Sealed
Bid limit
The
State of
The
University also maintains Agency contracts which are unique to Georgia Southern
University. Examples include
janitorial supplies, security services, bus charter and food supplies.
The
precedence for using these mandatory sources are: Statewide Contracts, Agency Contracts
and then Georgia Correctional Industries.
Off contract purchases should only be made where the desired good or
service is not carried under a contract indicated above. These mandatory sources of supply
apply to departmental purchases (Procurement Card) as well as those submitted
through Procurement and Contract Services.
The
Procurement and Contract Services Department is responsible for administering
the many statewide contracts issued by DOAS and used by the University. Many of these contracts are mandatory
sources of supply (Statewide Contracts, Georgia Correctional Industries) and must
be used before soliciting other vendors. Additionally, depending upon need, the Procurement
and Contract Services Department will enter into contracts with vendors for
repetitive items and/or services in support of the campus department’s
mission (Agency Contracts). The use
of supply contracts and blanket orders usually improve the University’s
position with regards to price and delivery and are encouraged whenever
feasible. Departments having
repetitive needs for certain commodities are encouraged to contact Purchasing
regarding the possibility of establishing an annual contract.
Georgia
Southern University, as a unit of the State of
It is
unlawful (Georgia Code 50-5-80) for the University to make purchases for the
personal use of its employees. The Board of Regents manual further states that
“employees
of the University System shall not purchase goods or services through channels
used in the purchase of goods and services for the operation of the University
System."
Some
items, the nature of which indicates that their end-use is more personal than
official are prohibited from purchase without prior approval of the Procurement
and Contract Services Department.
These items include but are not necessarily limited to: holiday
decorations, cut flowers, coffee makers, entertainment and/or refreshments,
portable table radios, watches, ground-breaking shovels and other items to be
granted as a donation or gratuity in favor of a person, corporation or association,
employment agency placement fees, greeting cards, trophies and other awards and
shoes.
If
a department routinely buys items listed above (for example: Catering buying flowers for official
functions), then it should submit an exemption request via memo to the
Purchasing Office. We will respond
in writing keeping a copy of your request on file for audit purposes.
Purchases
using funds derived from contracts, grants or gifts are subject to State of
Emergency
situations include the following:
Should
an emergency arise during normal working hours, contact the Purchasing Section
by phone as soon as possible. A
member of the staff will review the situation with you and make a decision on
the appropriate course of action.
The Purchasing Section is required to report to DOAS all emergency
purchases so it is imperative that this office be notified immediately.
Should
an emergency take place after hours, weekends and/or holidays, the department
should make the purchase or acquire the services. If necessary, the department can furnish
the vendor with their VISA card number or advise the vendor that Purchasing
will contact them the next work day with either a purchase order number or a
VISA card number. Departments must
contact the Purchasing Section on the next working day. Proper follow up action will be
discussed and taken at that time.
Two
of the more closely audited items during a purchasing audit are the use of sole
source and sole brand procurements.
Both of these are heavily regulated by the state and require certain
minimum justifications as indicated below.
Sole
source simply means justifying that only one company can provide the good or
service that is being requested.
Justifications must address the following:
o
Exclusive source can furnish services
because of its previous experience with the University and hiring another
source would result in excessive cost to the University. The excessive cost must be quantified. Simply stating that a vendor “did
a good job before” is not justification for sole source.
o
Exclusive source has unique technical
competence or expertise. Explain.
o
Exclusive source possesses patents or other
exclusive rights to the item being furnished. Provide documentation.
Sole
source may not be used as an attempt to contract with a favored service provide
or a favored product (see Sole Brand). This is perhaps the largest abuse of
sole source in purchasing and carefully scrutinized by the audit staff.
While
sole source refers to only one vendor being able to furnish the goods or
services, sole brand does not necessarily limit competition. A common justification for sole brand
involves “standardization” meaning the item must match existing
items. For example: uniforms or scientific lab equipment
where training, spare parts and maintenance are issues involving which brand to
buy and reduced costs to the University.
Departments
desiring to purchase an item or services under sole source and/or sole brand
justifications must complete the sole source form found in the forms gallery on
our web page. A member of the
purchasing staff will review it to ensure all the above minimum requirements
are met. If not, it will be
returned to the department. If
additional sources or brands meeting specifications are found, purchasing will
issue the solicitation as a competitive bid.
Effective
2005 all Sole Source and Sole Brand procurements must be posted on the Georgia
Bid Registry for a minimum of three business days before an award may be made. If a legitimate challenge is made to the
Sole Source or Sole Brand then a competitive bid must be prepared and the
competitive process followed.
The
following commodities require special procedures and/or approvals. Departments having need of the following
should contact the Purchasing Section for further details.
Printing Services: