Procurement Guide

Table of Contents

Introduction		UCAR Contracts Office Objectives
Policy		Organizational Conflicts of Interest
Contractual and Requisitioning Authority		Source Selection
Vendor Relations		Purchases From Employees
Vendor Contact		Acquisitions

Introduction

This guide is intended for the purpose of assisting UCAR/NCAR/UOP employees in the acquisition of equipment, goods and services.
 

Policy

It is the policy of UCAR/NCAR/UOP to acquire all goods and services from outside sources utilizing full and open competition, whenever feasible, through the Contracts Office.  UCAR's Acquisition Policy is located in section 3-2-1 of the UCAR Policy Manual.

Contractual and Requisitioning Authority

Contractual Authority

Authority to make financial commitments on behalf of UCAR resides with the President of UCAR.

The President has delegated the responsibility of preparation, execution, and administration of UCAR purchases, subcontracts and agreements to the Contracts Office per UCAR Policy 1.1.6.  No binding commitment for materials or services shall be made on behalf of UCAR, except by those having contractual authority, and acting within the limits of the said authority  (excluding petty cash, emergency purchases, purchases of less than $500, and UCAR Purchasing Card purchases). Commitments, arrangements, or promise of business, made by personnel without proper contractual authority is prohibited, and shall be subject to Ratification discussed below.

Petty cash purchases, purchases under $500 processed on a request for check, honorariums, and purchases using the UCAR Purchasing Card purchases are exceptions to the normal practice of submitting Purchase Requisitions to contracting for procurement. 

A special delegation of authority which may grant contractual authority to individuals in specific situations such as field projects, for a specified period of time can be granted.  All requests for special delegations shall be addressed to and approved by the VP of Finance and Administration in advance.

Except in emergencies or as approved on an individual basis by the UCAR President or NCAR Director, all commitments shall be made in accordance with established UCAR policies.

Requisition Authority

This Authority is granted to specific employees to approve an expenditure of funds up to various dollar limits on account keys for which that individual has been delegated authority, verified in “Signature Authority” database.   Requisitioning authority includes the authority to sign purchase requisitions, requests for check, or Travel Authorizations, but does not include the authority to sign or execute purchase orders, subcontracts, agreements or grants of any type.

Ratifications

A  “ratification” is the procedure to sanction purchases made by unauthorized personnel, and will occur when the guidelines detailed above have not been followed. The ratification procedure is posted on the Contracts Web page.

Vendor Relations

UCAR personnel whose duties and responsibilities involve dealing with vendors shall observe the following guidelines:

1. All suppliers seeking or participating in business with UCAR/NCAR/UOP will receive fair and impartial treatment.
2. All supplier contacts will be in strict conformity with ethical business practices that are in the best interests of UCAR.
3. To avoid conflict of interest, UCAR prohibits purchases from UCAR employees, their immediate families, or their business affiliates except under limited conditions.   Reference Acquisition of Goods and Services, Policy 3-2-1.
4. All UCAR employees having an interest in any supplier of goods or services to UCAR/NCAR/UOP, or a supplier who is bidding or proposes to do work for UCAR/NCAR/UOP, must promptly disclose the nature of this interest to the Contracts Manager. This policy will not apply where interest consists only of ownership of stock, where interest is not controlling or substantial.
5. No employee shall perform consulting services or engage in other employment for, or business with, UCAR suppliers without written approval of the UCAR President or NCAR Director as outlined in the UCAR Policy 2-4-1 on Outside Employment.
6. Solicitation or acceptance of gifts, gratuities, kick-backs, fees or commissions, with the intent of influencing the award to a specific firm or business is forbidden.  UCAR Policy 1-1-4, Conflict of Interest identifies the receipt of gifts, entertainment and favors as conflicts that may result in disciplinary action to the employee concerned. The UCAR contracts Code of Ethics limits acceptable gifts to no more than $20. 
7. If any supplier or potential supplier offers to compensate UCAR personnel in any way for the purpose of obtaining business, or otherwise attempts to improperly influence such personnel, the Manager of Contracts should be immediately notified. 

Vendor Contact

While Contracting personnel are the primary point of contact for vendor communications, occasions may arise when a contact will be made in which Contracts does not participate. This is acceptable if the non-Contracts UCAR representative informs the vendor that they are not authorized to commit UCAR and they keep the Contracts Office appraised of any discussions that may lead to a contractual obligation.
 
Prices and specific information received from vendors shall be considered UCAR- confidential. Quotations or proposals of one vendor may not be divulged to another, and such information shall not be circulated indiscriminately within UCAR and never outside of UCAR.

UCAR is not bound by the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and thus does not disclose to suppliers what vendor won the business, or at what price. Likewise, debriefings of lost business may or may not be held, at the Contract’s Office discretion.

UCAR encourages their personnel to schedule plant visits and surveys of supplier facilities to ascertain capabilities and monitor progress relative to existing commitments. Notify the Contracts Office of all visits that are being considered or that have been made.

UCAR Contracts Office Objectives

The objective of the UCAR Contracts Office is to obtain goods and services on a best value basis including quality, schedule, and cost.

1. There are many procurements that do not lend themselves to be evaluated solely on pricing or schedule. A “Best Value” procurement is where many evaluation factors are taken into consideration such as: technical approach, reliability, warranty and support, references, testing results, as well as price and delivery, and the selection is made on the “best value” to UCAR with all factors taken into consideration.
2. While consideration will be given to the unique circumstances of each procurement, the ultimate purchase decision will be made without prejudice and will be based on specific evaluation factors.
3. Proposals and other data received concerning prices, costs, delivery commitments or related information submitted by a supplier in connection with purchases shall not be revealed to any person who does not have an express need to know. Requests for this type of information concerning pricing or competing proposals of suppliers should never be disclosed outside of UCAR and should be referred to the Contracts Office.

Organizational Conflicts of Interest

An "Organizational Conflict of Interest" is a situation where a contractor’s role may bias their judgment or objectivity or give them an unfair competitive advantage in current or future acquisitions.  An example would be a situation where UCAR hires an architectural firm to design a building and then allows the firm to bid on the construction project.  As the architect, their judgment and objectivity may be biased in the design to tailor it to their construction capabilities.  Furthermore, their knowledge of the project gives them a competitive advantage during the construction source selection.   This conflict of interest may result in an unfair competitive advantage, or be perceived as an unfair advantage or bias by the competitors.

Some additional examples of situations where potential organizational conflicts of interest arise are when contractual performance involves the following:

1. Vendor preparation of specifications or having input to the specific approaches or methodologies to be used in competitive procurements.
2. Vendor access to internal information not available to the general public concerning NSF or UCAR plans or programs.
3. Vendor access to UCAR proprietary information which cannot lawfully be used for purposes other than those authorized by the owners.
4. Evaluation by one vendor of another vendor's products or services, where there has been substantial involvement in the development or marketing.
5. Vendor preparation and furnishing of advice to NSF or UCAR in a technical area where the vendor is also being paid by UCAR to provide consulting assistance in the same area.
6. The preparation and furnishing of advice to NSF or UCAR on a regulatory matter where the vendor is also being paid by UCAR to provide assistance on a similar matter to any organization regulated by NSF.

Source Selection

It is the Contracts Office policy to seek new qualified sources and to monitor the performance of current vendors. Surveys of vendors' facilities may be conducted to estimate the performance and/or technical capability of potential and/or current suppliers. A survey by questionnaire may also be used to gather information from potential suppliers to evaluate their financial, business or technical capabilities.

 
Purchases From Employees

It is UCAR policy not to make purchases from current employees except when the following conditions are met:

1. The supplies or services desired cannot be obtained from any other source; and,
2. The procurement is in the best interest of UCAR.

Acquisitions

1. Employees may make purchases and request reimbursement from petty cash for purchases of $100 or less. See the UCAR Petty Cash guidelines.   The employee is reimbursed through a petty cash fund by submitting the original paid receipts and a "Petty Cash Voucher" signed by the employee who has the appropriate requisition authority.   For purchases over $100 but less than $500, employees may request reimbursement for purchases using the "Request for Check" form.  All purchases of $500 or more must be processed through the Contracts Office or be purchased using the UCAR purchasing card.
2. The UCAR Purchasing Card (UPC) program provides a credit card to authorized employees to make purchases and have them billed directly to UCAR.  It is at the option of each division whether to utilize this credit card program and to set the dollar limits and account keys the employee can charge against.  The UPC has a standard single item purchase limit of $5,000, however higher limits can be granted on a case-by-case basis.
3. Under normal circumstances the purchasing card cannot be used for travel related expenses. UCAR's Travel Department issues a separate credit card to employees for travel related purchases.  Please contact the Travel Department for information related to travel purchases.   For more information on the UPC program please contact the Contracts Office.
4. Acquisitions less than $10,000 do not require competitive bids, however competition is a best business practice and should be obtained if it appears to be in the best interest of UCAR to do so.
5. Acquisitions in excess of $10,000 require competition prior to award unless there is a valid sole source justification. The sole source justification must be in writing and signed by the author. The sole source form must be attached to the Purchase Requisition (PR) when submitted to the Contracts Office.
6. The requisitioner must provide a Statement of Work or specification with each PR, to detail a   technical description for the goods or services being procured. If available, attach a list of potential sources. The requisitioner should also advise the Contracts Office of desired delivery dates, reporting requirements, evaluation factors, and any other information pertinent to the acquisition.
7. Except for emergencies, schedule is not a valid reason to justify the absence of competition where it otherwise would be required. The Contracts Manager will decide whether or not the facts justify the lack of competition.
8. Proposals received by the Contracts Office will be forwarded to the technical evaluation team based on the evaluation factors contained in the RFP or IFB. Proposals must be evaluated solely on the factors specified in the solicitation.
9. Purchasing through E-bay or other auction houses can be problematic, as the Government and our other Sponsors will not reimburse UCAR for items that don’t arrive or are defective. The Contracts Office does not recommend purchasing via this avenue, and will not participate directly in this type of acquisition. Procuring via an auction house may be warranted under the following circumstances:

   a.  There is time to wait for the product to become available on the Web site and to participate in the bidding process with no guarantee of being the winning high bidder.

   b.  The Division accepts the risk of purchasing a potentially defective product with no warranty or guarantee whatsoever and realizes that they can not seek reimbursement from the government for defective products or products that are not delivered at all. 

   c.  The Division is willing to staff the auction line when required, which may be over the weekend.

10. Purchasing from Discount stores such as Sam’s Club or Costco are permissible as long as the purchases are authorized business expenses that are approved by the cardholder's manager.  (Note that the UPC card is not accepted by these merchants.)  Contact Contracts with questions.
     

Contracts Office Contacts

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Last Revised April 20, 2006