Current through September 18, 2024
A. Purchase Reports
1. The Department of Administration/Division
of Purchases shall maintain records of all purchases and sales made under its
authority and shall make periodic summary reports of all transactions to the
Chief Purchasing Officer, the Governor, and the General Assembly. Cf. R.l. Gen.
Laws §37-2-54(i).
2. The Chief Purchasing Officer shall report
trends in costs and prices, including savings realized through improved
practices, to the Governor and General Assembly. Cf. R.I. Gen. Laws §
37-2-54(i).
3. The Purchasing Agent shall compile
annually within ninety (90) days following the close of the fiscal year an
annual summary report of procurement actions for sole source, emergency, and
small purchase contracts made during the preceding fiscal year. The summary
shall:
a. name each contractor, and
b. state the amount and type of
each contract.
4. All
documentation of contracts made for such procurements shall be made available
for public inspection in accordance with the APRA and retained in accordance
with the approved records retention schedule.
B. Sufficient information, including but not
limited to copies of written and signed determinations, shall be maintained in
purchasing files to document procurement activities, reasons for selection of
the supplier's product/service and justification of price. Every determination
required by the State Purchases Act and these Regulations shall be written and
based upon written findings of fact by the public official making the
determination. These determinations and written findings shall be retained in
an official contract file in the Department of Administration/Division of
Purchases or in the office of the using agency or public agency administering
the contract.
1. At a minimum, documentation
shall include adequate justification of source selection and pricing.
2. The extent of documentation may vary with
user agency needs and requirements and the value and complexity of the
purchase.
3. Procurement officials
shall be required to provide an "audit trail" for every purchase. Such
documentation shall be recorded and maintained in accordance with procedures
established by the Purchasing Agent. Purchasing personnel shall document and
maintain records of all actions with respect to a purchase for the purpose of:
a. providing background information to assure
that informed decisions are made at each step in a procurement;
b. rationale for action taken;
c. providing information for reviews and
audits conducted by purchasing management and audit agencies; and d. furnishing
facts in the event of litigation.
C. Purchasing documentation shall be signed
or initialed (as appropriate) by duly authorized officials. This shall
constitute certification by the official that the action documented meets the
administrative requirements for which he/she is responsible.
1. The Director/Chief Executive of each user
agency shall submit to the Chief Purchasing Officer for approval, a list of
agency officials who shall have the authority to act on behalf of the agency.
The approved list shall be placed on file at the Department of Administration's
Division of Purchases, Office of Accounts and Control and Budget Office.
a. All procurement authorizations shall be
specific as to:
(1) maximum levels of
expenditure commitment, program account; and
(2) persons authorized to call Division of
Purchases personnel to obtain information or provide clarification regarding
procurements; and
(3) agency
officials who have the authority to decide whether a situation requires an
emergency procurement action and who are responsible for following emergency
procurement procedures.
b. The Chief Purchasing Officer shall have
the right to reject for cause the authorization of any official to represent an
agency in procurement transactions.
2. State Purchase Orders shall require the
original signature of either the Chief Purchasing Officer, the Purchasing Agent
or their respective designee.
3.
Requisitions shall require the signature of an official designated by the user
agency Director/Chief Executive as a agent authorized to act on his behalf for
procurement transactions.
4.
Requisitions submitted to the Division of Purchases shall require the signature
of an official designated by the Budget Officer as responsible for certifying
the availability of funds for purchasing actions.
D. Documentation records may be maintained as
paper copies, microfilms, electronic or digital computer files or other means
permitted in accordance with procedures established and published by the Chief
Purchasing Officer, or shall be original documents as required by law or the
State Controller.
E. Audit of
contractors records.
1. The Chief Purchasing
Officer may authorize an audit of books and records of any contractor or vendor
who submitted cost or pricing data for certain negotiated contracts or change
orders at any time until the period of record retention as set forth in R.I.
Gen. Laws §
37-2-34(c)
shall have expired. Audits conducted hereunder shall only be limited to those
books and records reasonably related to cost or pricing data submitted to the
state in accordance with RI. Gen. Laws §
37-2-28.
Audits may be conducted by the Bureau of Audits, the Auditor General, or by an
independent audit firm. Cf. RI. Gen. Laws §
37-2-34.
2. Books and records relating to state
contracts shall be made available by the contractor or vendor for review and
copying by the state auditor immediately upon receipt of notice from the Chief
Purchasing Officer. Failure by a contractor or vendor to make its books and
records available for audit shall result in immediate contract suspension
and/or debarment of the contractor or vendor.
F. All documents relating to any procurement
in which collusion or fraud is suspected shall be made available upon request
to the Attorney General or his designee and shall be retained until the
Attorney General gives notice that they may be released Cf. R.I. Gen. Laws
§
37-2-36.
H. "Bid Abstract" means a summary tabulation
which identifies each bidder and the dollar amount of each bid received and
opened in response to a public solicitation; provided, however, that bid
abstracts for requests for proposals requiring submission of separate technical
and cost proposals shall be limited to bidder identification until such time as
the Purchasing Agent renders a contract award determination.
1. Records exempted from public disclosure by
APRA need not be publicly disclosed, except as otherwise authorized.
2. Public inspection of procurement records
shall be permitted by appointment only and shall be conducted under the
supervision of an Division of Purchases official, except as otherwise provided
for pursuant to R.I. Gen. Laws §§
37-2-18(a)
through (h)"Competitive Sealed Bidding" and
these regulations.
3. No original
procurement records shall be removed for public inspection from the Division of
Purchases.
