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                   Terms and Definitions


    Acceptable product list: list of products which conform to the applicable compendia, specifications, standards, or other descriptions, and which have proven acceptable.

    Acceptable quality level (AQL): the specified minimum performance that must be achieved by the product to assure the purchasing authority that the goods or services will perform as required.

    Acceptance: refers to the act in which the person to whom the offer is made exchanges his or her own promise or performance for the promise made in the offer; approval of specified services, or supplies as partial or complete fulfillment of a contract. It is one of the elements in forming an express contract.

    Advance payment: payments made prior to the and in anticipation of receiving the contracted goods or services.

    Agent: refers to a person authorized by someone else, call the principal, to act for him or her.

    Approved source list: a list of businesses able to supply specific goods and services and approved on the basis of the suitability of their facilities and capabilities.

    Back order: that portion of an order for merchandise not available for delivery by the vendor at the scheduled time and promised for delivery at a later date.

    Best value: (1) an assessment of the return which can be achieved based on the total life cycle cost of the item; can include an assessment of the functionality of the item; can use cost/benefit analysis to define the best combination of quality, service, time, and cost considerations over the useful life of the acquired item. (2) highlights the importance of technical merit and or performance of a bid to satisfy a particular requirement, relative to the importance of the bid price one is prepared to pay to satisfy this particular requirement.

    Bid: an offer submitted by a prospective vendor in response to an invitation for bid (IFB) or issued by a purchasing authority; becomes a contract upon acceptance by the buyer.

    Bid bond: an insurance agreement, accompanied by a monetary commitment, by which a third party (the surety) accepts liability and guarantees that the bidder will not withdraw the bid, the bidder will furnish bonds as required, and if the contact is awarded to the bonded (insured) bidder, the bidder will accept the contact as bid, or else the surety will pay a specified amount.

    Bid evaluation criteria table: identifies in the bid solicitation document, the mandatory and main point-rated evaluation criteria areas to be evaluated, the rating values applied to each of the main areas and the proposed contractor selection method.

    Bid opening: the formal process in which sealed bids are opened, usually in the presence of one of more witnesses, at the time and place specified in the invitation for bids. The amount of each bid is recorded and bids are made available fur public inspection.

    Bid tabulation: a public document listing all vendors who received a copy of the invitation for bid (IFB), with a list of the items in the IFB, and showing unit prices and extended prices for each item for each bidder. May also include total prices, delivery terms and conditions, whether each bidder has met the requirements for licenses, bonds, evidence of insurance, or other information deemed appropriate by the bid opening officer. Solicited vendors not responding to the IFB and shown as “no bid”.

    Bidders list: a list of names and addresses of vendors from whom bids, proposals or quotations can be solicited.

    Certificate of compliance: a document with vendor’s or manufacturer’s written assurance that the goods or services delivered fulfill contractual requirements.

    Change order: a written alteration to a contract or purchase order, signed by the purchasing authority, in accordance with the terms of the contract, unilaterally directing the contractor to make changes.

    Claim: a written assertion or demand, by one of the parties to a contract, which seeks as a contractual right, payment of money, adjustment of contract terms or other relief for injury, loss or damage arising under or relating to the contract.

    Competitive negotiation: a method for acquiring goods and services for public use in which discussions may be conducted with responsible offerors who submit proposals in writing.

    Competitive sealed bidding: preferred method for acquiring goods and services for public use in which award is made to the lowest responsive and responsible bidder, based solely on the response to the criteria set forth in the IFB; does not include discussions or negotiations with bidders.

    Competition: the effort of two or more vendors to secure the business of a purchaser by the offer of the most favorable items to price, quality, promptness of delivery, and/or service.

    Consideration: refers to a type of mutual commitment that must exist to form an express contract. It means that the person making an offer intends that the person to whom it is made does or promises to do something he or she is not legally obligated to do; and that the person accepting the offer actually does or promises to do something not legally required.

    Contract: refers to promises or agreements for which the law established enforceable duties and remedies.

    Contract administration: the management of all actions that must be taken to assure compliance with the terms of the contact after the award of the contract.

    Cooperative purchasing: procurement conducted on behalf of two or more public procurement units.

    Cost/benefit analysis: evaluation of the trade-off between the cost of a good or service and the value of benefit to be obtained in order to choose among alternative.

    Design specification: a specification establishing the characteristics an item must possess, including sufficient detail to show how it is to be manufactured.

    Emergency purchase: a purchase made to alleviate a situation in which there is a threat to health, welfare, or safety under certain conditions defined as an emergency by the jurisdiction, that does not allow time for normal, competitive purchasing procedures.

    Express contract: refers to those contracts either written or oral, in which all of the formal elements for contract creation exist.

    Express warranty: refers to an explicit guarantee as to certain facts given by a vendor in direct and appropriate language, rather than left to inference or implication (when one contracting party promises or asserts the existence of certain facts and those promises and assertions become a reason that the other party enters into the contract.)

    Evaluation criteria: mandatory and/or point-rated criteria used to establish the minimum requirements that a bid must meet to be considered a responsive proposal.

    Evaluation of bids: the examination of bids after opening to determine the bidder’s responsibility, responsiveness to requirements, and other aspects of the bid to determine successful bidder.

    F.O.B.: free on board.

    Functional specification: a specification setting forth the results required from the supply or service

    Implied warranty: refers, in contract law, to a warranty that arises by law in certain circumstances without a person expressly making a guarantee or assurance.

    Informal bid: a competitive bid for price quotation for supplies or services that is conveyed by letter, telephone, or other means and does not require a sealed bid, public opening, or public reading of bids.

    Invitation for bid (IFB): a formal request to prospective vendors soliciting price quotations of bids, contains, or incorporates by reference, the specifications or scope of work and all contractual terms and conditions.

    Life cycle cost: the total cost of ownership, the total cost of acquiring, operating, maintaining, supporting, and (if applicable) disposing of an item.

    Offer: refers to a promise or commitment one person makes to another to do or not to do a specified thing in the future. It is one of the elements in forming an express contract.

    Payment bond: a bond which assures payments, as required by law, to all persons supplying labor or material for the completion of work under the contract.

    Performance: the technical, operational, and quality characteristics of the end item.

    Performance bond: a bond, executed subsequent to award by a successful bidder, to protect the buyer from loss due to the bidder’s inability to complete the contact as agreed; secures the fulfillment of all contract requirements.

    Performance specification: a specification setting forth the capabilities and performance characteristics the article must satisfy.

    Principal: refers to person who has authorized another, called an agent, to act for the person.

    Progress payment: payments made in advance of full delivery as specified percentages of the total purchase are delivered, or certain stages of work performance are achieved.

    Purchase description: the words used in a solicitation to describe the supplies and services to be purchased; includes specifications that are attached to or form part of the solicitation.

    Quality: the composite of all attributes or characteristics, including performance that satisfy a user’s need.

    Receiving: the function of accepting from all sources all items of supply used in the Department.

    Receiving inspection: inspection of purchased items at the point of receipt, after delivery by the vendor, to ensure compliance with specifications and agreements.

    Rejection: refusal of delivered supply or service that does not meet contract specifications or requirements.

    Restrictive specification: specifications that unnecessarily limit competition by eliminating items capable of satisfactorily meeting actual needs, often by requiring features which exceed the minimum acceptable characteristics required for satisfactory performance.

    Request for proposal (RFP): all documents, whether attached or incorporated by reference, utilized for soliciting competitive proposals.

    Request for quotation (RFQ): an informal solicitation or request for information, where oral or written quotes are obtained from vendors, without formal advertising or receipt of sealed bids. Used only where statues do not require formal sealed bids, such as small or emergency purchases, but price competition is desired.

    Regulations: are specific written processes and requirements that statues authorize governmental agencies to create to implement them. They are often called “rules” and have the same legal effect as statues.

    Requirement: the specific supplies or services and the time period within which they are needed.

    Requirement analysis: value analysis applied to the writing of specifications to eliminate products or services that are not cost effective.

    Requisition: an internal document by which a using agency sends details of supplies, services, or materials required to the purchasing department.

    Specification: a description of the physical or functional characteristics, or the nature of a supply or service; the requirements to be satisfied by a product, material, or process indicating, if appropriate, the procedures or determine whether the requirements are satisfied.

    Solicitation: a request for bids to provide supplies or services.

    Statues: are laws passed by Congress or a state legislature and signed by the President or the governor of a state, respectively, that are codified in volumes call “codes” according to subject matter.

    Subcontract: a contract with another business entity entered into by a prime contractor or another subcontractor to obtain supplies or services of any kind under a prime contract.

    Tabulation of bids: the recording of bids and bidding data listing items offered, prices, delivery, schedules, etc., submitted in response to a solicitation for purposes of comparison, analysis, and record keeping.

    Warranty: the representation, either expressed or implied, that a certain fact regarding the subject matter of a contract is presently true or will be true; a promise that certain facts are truly as they are represented to be and that they will remain so, subject to any specified limitation.