Oregon Administrative Rules
Chapter 137 - DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Division 46 - MODEL RULES GENERAL PROVISIONS RELATED TO PUBLIC CONTRACTING
Section 137-046-0300 - Preference for Oregon Goods and Services

(1) Tiebreaker Preference and Award When Offers Are Identical. Under ORS 279A.120, when a Contracting Agency receives Offers identical in price, fitness, availability and quality, and chooses to Award a Contract, the Contracting Agency shall Award the Contract based on the following order of precedence:

(2) Determining if Offers are Identical. A Contracting Agency shall consider Offers identical in price, fitness, availability and quality as follows:

(3) Determining if Goods or Services or Personal Services are Manufactured or Produced in Oregon. In applying Section 1 of this rule, Contracting Agencies shall determine whether a Contract is predominantly for Goods, Services or Personal Services and then use the predominant purpose to determine if the Goods, Services or Personal Services are manufactured, produced, or performed in Oregon. Contracting Agencies may request, either in a Solicitation Document, following Closing, or at any other time the Contracting Agency determines is appropriate, any information the Contracting Agency may need to determine if the Goods, Services or Personal Services are manufactured or produced in Oregon. A Contracting Agency may use any reasonable criteria to determine if Goods, Services or Personal Services are manufactured, produced, or performed in Oregon, provided that the criteria reasonably relate to that determination, and provided that the Contracting Agency applies those criteria equally to each Offer.

(4) Procedure for Drawing Lots. When this rule calls for the drawing of lots, the Contracting Agency shall draw lots by a procedure that affords each Offeror subject to the drawing a substantially equal probability of selection and that does not allow the person making the selection the opportunity to manipulate the drawing of lots to increase the probability of selecting one Offeror over another.

(5) Discretionary Preference and Award. Under ORS 279A.128, a Contracting Agency may provide, in a Solicitation Document for Goods, Services or Personal Services, a specified percentage preference of not more than ten percent for (i) Goods fabricated or processed entirely in Oregon or Services or Personal Services performed entirely in Oregon or (ii) for goods or services provided by a benefit company that is incorporated, organized, formed or created under ORS 60.754 and has the majority of the benefit company's regular, full-time workforce located in this state, if the goods or services cost not more than five percent more than the goods or services available from a contractor that is not a benefit company. When the Contracting Agency provides for a preference under this Section, and more than one Offeror qualifies for the preference, the Contracting Agency may give a further preference to a qualifying Offeror that resides in or is headquartered in Oregon. A Contracting Agency may establish a preference percentage higher than ten percent by written order that finds good cause to establish the higher percentage and which explains the Contracting Agency's reasons and evidence for finding good cause to establish a higher percentage. A Contracting Agency may not apply the preferences described in this Section in a Procurement for emergency work, minor alterations, ordinary repairs or maintenance of public improvements, or construction work that is described in ORS 297C.320.