XII. Procurement of Goods and Services

The subrecipient must have written purchasing policies. The subrecipient shall follow the same policies and procedures it uses for procurement from its non-Federal funds. The subrecipient shall ensure that every purchase order or other contract includes any clauses required by Federal statutes and executive orders, their implementing regulations, and the grant contract provisions. The subrecipient must have all goods and equipment on site prior to the end of the grant to request reimbursement for the item under the grant; items received after the grant ends are not allowable expenses under the grant. Procedures must avoid acquisition of unnecessary or duplicative items. Where appropriate, lease versus purchase analysis should be performed as well as other appropriate analysis for determining the most economical method for obtaining items or services. Recipients are encouraged to use Federal/State excess and surplus property when possible. 

1.  PROCUREMENT STANDARDS

Subrecipients shall use their own written procurement procedures and regulations, provided that the procurement conforms to applicable Federal law and the standards identified in the Procurement Standards Sections of CFR 200.317-200.326. Any subrecipient whose procurement system has been certified by a Federal agency is not subject to prior approval requirements of 28 CFR Parts 200.  OCJP’s prior approval will only be required for areas beyond limits of the subrecipient certification.

Subrecipients must:

·        Have a documented process to check for organizational conflict of interest with potential contractors;

·        Have a process in place to ensure that contracts are not awarded to contractors or individuals on the List of Parties Excluded from Federal Procurement and Non-procurement Programs;

·        Perform a System for Award Management (SAM) review of potential contractors or individuals; and

·        Not award or permit any award at any level to any party which is debarred or suspended.

For details regarding debarment procedures, see the government-wide guidelines for debarment and suspension codified in 2 C.F.R. Part 180, and 2 C.F.R. Part 2867 , which adopts the OMB guidance in subparts A through I of Title 2 CFR Part 180, as supplemented by Title 2 Part 2867, as the DOJ policies and procedures for non-procurement debarment and suspension.

Ensure written procurement procedures address all requirements listed in 2 CFR Part 200 sections:

PROCUREMENT STANDARDS

·        §200.317 Procurements by states.

·        §200.318 General procurement standards.

·        §200.319 Competition.

·        §200.320 Methods of procurement to be followed.

·        §200.321 Contracting with small and minority businesses, women's business enterprises, and labor

·        surplus area firms.

·        §200.322 Procurement of recovered materials.

·        §200.323 Contract cost and price.

·        §200.324 Federal awarding agency or pass‐through entity review.

·        §200.325 Bonding requirements.

·        §200.326 Contract provisions.

2.      ADEQUATE COMPETITION

All procurement transactions, whether negotiated or competitively bid and without regard to dollar value shall be conducted in a manner so as to provide maximum open and free competition.  Interagency agreements between units of local government are excluded from this provision.

3.      NON-COMPETITIVE PRACTICES

The subrecipient shall be alert to organizational conflicts of interest or non-competitive practices among contractors that may restrict or eliminate competition or otherwise restrain trade.  Contractors that develop or draft specifications, requirements, statements of work, and/or Requests for Proposals (RFP’s) for a proposed procurement shall be excluded from bidding or submitting a proposal to compete for the award of such procurement.  Any request for exemption must be submitted in writing to OCJP. Sole source procurements must adhere to the standards set forth in 2 C.F.R. § 200.320(c) in the Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards.

Recipients may conduct noncompetitive (“sole source”) procurement through solicitation of proposals from only one source when one or more of the following circumstances apply:

• The item/service is available only from one source.

• The public exigency or emergency for the requirement will not permit a delay resulting from competitive solicitation. 

• Competition is determined inadequate after solicitation of a number of sources.

All sole-source purchases should be reviewed by the Project Director or designee. In any event, the Project Director should be apprised of any sole-source purchase as soon as possible. A written memorandum explaining all emergency purchases and all other sole-source purchases exceeding an amount determined by management should be attached to the file copy of the purchase order.

Any sole source purchase over $250,000 requires prior approval from the OCJP Program Manager.