Items from $7,500 to $20,000
Procurement Services shall solicit a minimum of three verbal quotations from responsible vendors. Documentation of the quotes will be noted on the purchase order. Generally, the purchase is made from the vendor quoting the lowest price, whose product and offer comply with the terms of the solicitation. If the purchase is not made from the bidder quoting the lowest price, a written justification for the low bid bypass will be retained by Procurement Services.
Items $20,000 and Over
Procurement Services shall solicit a minimum of three written competitive bids from reliable vendors. The written quotes will be retained by Procurement Services. Purchase will be made from the vendor quoting the lowest price, whose product and offer comply with the terms and specifications of the solicitation. If the purchase is not made from the bidder quoting the lowest price, a written justification for bypassing the low bid will be made and retained by the Procurement Services. A bypass of a low bid requires the approval of the Chief Procurement Officer of Procurement Services.
Evaluating the Bids
Once the bids are received, they must be evaluated to determine which vendor will be given the order.
If the products offered by each of the bidding vendors are of equal quality, if each vendor promises the same delivery date and if there are not other considerations, the order would go to the low bidder. However, all these factors are seldom equal and many orders are, therefore, placed with other than the low bidder for good reasons. No set formula can be devised that can be applied to all products for all orders. The quality and delivery requirements will vary for different products and for different uses. The delivery requirements may vary for different orders as well. For these reasons, the act of selecting the bid which best suits the needs of the University’s is one that requires the judgment and experience of Procurement Services.
Follow-up of Non-Bidders
A bidders list which is active and current is maintained by Procurement Services. This stimulates competitive bidding and should result in maximum response to an invitation to bid. Those requesting the purchase of goods or service subject to competitive bidding must allow sufficient lead time so all solicited vendors are able to submit timely bids. Within existing time constraints, alternate vendor(s) will be sought to provide bids. Vendors not returning a bid will be queried as to the reasons they chose not to respond and Procurement Service’s bidders list will be updated accordingly.
Sole Source and Specified Vendors
The originator of the Procurement Requisitions frequently suggests or requests a specific manufacturer or supplier. Procurement Services will review the request for reasonableness, but reserves the right to place orders with vendors whose prices are lower than those of the vendor which appears on the requisition and who have extended their services to the University. The originator will be so advised prior to purchase. When an item is unique, available from only one supplier or a substitution is not feasible (commonly referred to as “sole source”), a Request for a Waiver of Competitive Bid approved by a department head for University fund purchases or the principal investigator for grant purchases must be completed. Procurement Services will determine the reasonableness of the Request for Waiver by investigating the price and services available from the “sole source” vendor. The Waiver must be approved by the Chief Procurement Officer.