Contract administration: means all functions, duties, and responsibilities associated with managing, overseeing, and carrying out a contract between a procurement unit and a contractor, including:
(a)
implementing the contract;
(b)
ensuring compliance with the contract terms and conditions by the conducting procurement unit and the contractor;
(c)
executing change orders;
(d)
processing contract amendments;
(e)
resolving, to the extent practicable, contract disputes;
(f)
curing contract errors and deficiencies;
(g)
terminating a contract;
(h)
measuring or evaluating completed work and contractor performance;
Contractor: means a person who is awarded a contract with a procurement unit. See Utah Code 63G-6a-103
Division: means the Division of Purchasing and General Services, created in Section 63A-2-101. See Utah Code 63G-6a-103
Executive branch procurement unit: means a department, division, office, bureau, agency, or other organization within the state executive branch. See Utah Code 63G-6a-103
Independent procurement unit: means :
(a)
(i)
a legislative procurement unit;
(ii)
a judicial branch procurement unit;
(iii)
an educational procurement unit;
(iv)
a local government procurement unit;
(v)
a conservation district;
(vi)
a local building authority;
(vii)
a special district;
(viii)
a public corporation;
(ix)
a special service district; or
(x)
the Utah Communications Authority, established in Section 63H-7a-201;
the Department of Transportation, but only to the extent of the procurement authority provided under Title 72, Transportation Code; or
(e)
any other executive branch department, division, office, or entity that has statutory procurement authority outside this chapter, but only to the extent of that statutory procurement authority. See Utah Code 63G-6a-103
Issuing procurement unit: means a procurement unit that:
(a)
reviews a solicitation to verify that it is in proper form;
(b)
causes the notice of a solicitation to be published; and
(c)
negotiates and approves the terms and conditions of a contract. See Utah Code 63G-6a-103
Oversight: Committee review of the activities of a Federal agency or program.
Process: means a writ or summons issued in the course of a judicial proceeding. See Utah Code 68-3-12.5
Procurement: means the acquisition of a procurement item through an expenditure of public funds, or an agreement to expend public funds, including an acquisition through a public-private partnership. See Utah Code 63G-6a-103
Procurement item: means an item of personal property, a technology, a service, or a construction project. See Utah Code 63G-6a-103
Protest officer: means :
(a)
for the division or an independent procurement unit:
(i)
the procurement official;
(ii)
the procurement official's designee who is an employee of the procurement unit; or
(iii)
a person designated by rule made by the rulemaking authority; or
(b)
for a procurement unit other than an independent procurement unit, the chief procurement officer or the chief procurement officer's designee who is an employee of the division . See Utah Code 63G-6a-103
Public entity: means the state or any other government entity within the state that expends public funds. See Utah Code 63G-6a-103
Public funds: means money, regardless of its source, including from the federal government, that is owned or held by a procurement unit. See Utah Code 63G-6a-103
Rule: includes a policy or regulation adopted by the rulemaking authority, if adopting a policy or regulation is the method the rulemaking authority uses to adopt provisions that govern the applicable procurement unit. See Utah Code 63G-6a-103
Rulemaking authority: means :
(a)
for a legislative procurement unit, the Legislative Management Committee;
(b)
for a judicial procurement unit, the Judicial Council;
(c)
(i)
only to the extent of the procurement authority expressly granted to the procurement unit by statute:
(A)
for the facilities division, the facilities division;
(B)
for the Office of the Attorney General, the attorney general;
(C)
for the Department of Transportation created in Section 72-1-201, the executive director of the Department of Transportation; and
(D)
for any other executive branch department, division, office, or entity that has statutory procurement authority outside this chapter, the governing authority of the department, division, office, or entity; and
(ii)
for each other executive branch procurement unit, the board;
(d)
for a local government procurement unit:
(i)
the governing body of the local government unit; or
(ii)
an individual or body designated by the local government procurement unit;
(e)
for a school district or a public school, the board, except to the extent of a school district's own nonadministrative rules that do not conflict with the provisions of this chapter;
(f)
for a state institution of higher education, the Utah Board of Higher Education;
(g)
for the State Board of Education or the Utah Schools for the Deaf and the Blind, the State Board of Education;
(h)
for a public transit district, the chief executive of the public transit district;
(i)
for a special district other than a public transit district or for a special service district, the board, except to the extent that the board of trustees of the special district or the governing body of the special service district makes its own rules:
(i)
with respect to a subject addressed by board rules; or
(ii)
that are in addition to board rules;
(j)
for the Utah Educational Savings Plan, created in Section 53B-8a-103, the Utah Board of Higher Education;
(k)
for the School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration, created in Section 53C-1-201, the School and Institutional Trust Lands Board of Trustees;
(l)
for the School and Institutional Trust Fund Office, created in Section 53D-1-201, the School and Institutional Trust Fund Board of Trustees;
(m)
for the Utah Communications Authority, established in Section 63H-7a-201, the Utah Communications Authority board, created in Section 63H-7a-203; or
Solicitation: means an invitation for bids, request for proposals, or request for statement of qualifications. See Utah Code 63G-6a-103
Solicitation response: means :
(a)
a bid submitted in response to an invitation for bids;
(b)
a proposal submitted in response to a request for proposals; or
(c)
a statement of qualifications submitted in response to a request for statement of qualifications. See Utah Code 63G-6a-103
State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes a state, district, or territory of the United States. See Utah Code 68-3-12.5
State cooperative contract: means a contract awarded by the division for and in behalf of all public entities. See Utah Code 63G-6a-103
serves as the central procurement officer of the state;
(c)
serves as a voting member of the board; and
(d)
serves as the protest officer for a protest relating to a procurement of an executive branch procurement, except an executive branch procurement unit designated under Subsection 63G-6a-103(38)(b), (c), (d), or (e) as an independent procurement unit, or a state cooperative contract procurement, unless the chief procurement officer designates another to serve as protest officer, as authorized in this chapter.
(2)
Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, the chief procurement officer shall:
(a)
develop procurement policies and procedures supporting ethical procurement practices, fair and open competition among vendors, and transparency within the state’s procurement process;
(b)
administer the state’s cooperative purchasing program, including state cooperative contracts and associated administrative fees;
(c)
enter into an agreement with a public entity for services provided by the division, if the agreement is in the best interest of the state;
(d)
ensure the division’s compliance with any applicable law, rule, or policy, including a law, rule, or policy applicable to the division’s role as an issuing procurement unit or conducting procurement unit, or as the state’s central procurement organization;
(e)
manage the division’s electronic procurement system;
(f)
oversee the recruitment, training, career development, certification requirements, and performance evaluation of the division’s procurement personnel;
(g)
make procurement training available to procurement units and persons who do business with procurement units;
(h)
provide exemplary customer service and continually improve the division’s procurement operations;
(i)
exercise all other authority, fulfill all other duties and responsibilities, and perform all other functions authorized under this chapter; and
With respect to a procurement or contract over which the chief procurement officer has authority under this chapter, the chief procurement officer, except as otherwise provided in this chapter:
(a)
shall:
(i)
manage and supervise a procurement to ensure to the extent practicable that taxpayers receive the best value;
(ii)
prepare and issue standard specifications for procurement items;
in accordance with Section 63G-6a-109.5, coordinate with the Division of Technology Services, created in Section 63A-16-103, with respect to the procurement of information technology services by an executive branch procurement unit;
(v)
correct, amend, or cancel a procurement at any stage of the procurement process if the procurement is out of compliance with this chapter or a board rule;
(vi)
after consultation with the attorney general’s office, correct, amend, or cancel a contract at any time during the term of the contract if:
(A)
the contract is out of compliance with this chapter or a board rule; and
(B)
the chief procurement officer determines that correcting, amending, or canceling the contract is in the best interest of the state; and
(vii)
make a reasonable attempt to resolve a contract dispute, in coordination with the attorney general’s office; and
(b)
may:
(i)
delegate limited purchasing authority to a state agency, with appropriate oversight and control to ensure compliance with this chapter;
(ii)
delegate duties and authority to an employee of the division, as the chief procurement officer considers appropriate;
(iii)
negotiate and settle contract overcharges, undercharges, and claims, in accordance with the law and after consultation with the attorney general’s office;
(iv)
authorize a procurement unit to make a procurement pursuant to a regional solicitation, as defined in Subsection 63G-6a-2105(7), even if the procurement item is also offered under a state cooperative contract, if the chief procurement officer determines that the procurement pursuant to a regional solicitation is in the best interest of the acquiring procurement unit; and
(v)
remove an individual from the procurement process or contract administration for:
(A)
having a conflict of interest or the appearance of a conflict of interest with a person responding to a solicitation or with a contractor;
(B)
having a bias or the appearance of bias for or against a person responding to a solicitation or for or against a contractor;
(C)
making an inconsistent or unexplainable score for a solicitation response;
(D)
having inappropriate contact or communication with a person responding to a solicitation;
(E)
socializing inappropriately with a person responding to a solicitation or with a contractor;
(F)
engaging in any other action or having any other association that causes the chief procurement officer to conclude that the individual cannot fairly evaluate a solicitation response or administer a contract; or
(G)
any other violation of a law, rule, or policy.
(4)
The chief procurement officer may not delegate to an individual outside the division the chief procurement officer’s authority over a procurement described in Subsection (3)(a)(iv).
(5)
The chief procurement officer has final authority to determine whether an executive branch procurement unit’s anticipated expenditure of public funds, anticipated agreement to expend public funds, or provision of a benefit constitutes a procurement that is subject to this chapter.
(6)
Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, the chief procurement officer shall review, monitor, and audit the procurement activities and delegated procurement authority of an executive branch procurement unit, except to the extent that an executive branch procurement unit is designated under Subsection 63G-6a-103(38)(b), (c), (d), or (e) as an independent procurement unit, to ensure compliance with this chapter, rules made by the applicable rulemaking authority, and division policies.
