New Jersey Administrative Code › Title 5 - COMMUNITY AFFAIRS › Chapter 34 - LOCAL PUBLIC AND PUBLIC SCHOOL CONTRACTS LAWS › Subchapter 8 - CONTRACTS SUBJECT TO PUBLIC BIDDING › Section 5:34-8.2 - Determinations of aggregation

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 14, July 15, 2024
(a) This section shall
				affect determinations of aggregation for purposes of whether a contract is subject
				to public bidding as set forth in
				40A:11-3,
				40A:11-4 and
				40A:11-7, and as set forth in
				18A:18A-3,
				18A:18A-4, and
				18A:18A-8, and is adopted pursuant to
				40A:11-7.1 and
				18A:18A-8.1. The provisions of this
				section shall not apply to those goods or services where the work is single in
				character and for those goods or services that are necessary for the completion of
				such a contract.
(b) To determine if
				goods or services that are expected to be used will reach the bid threshold during
				the contract year, the contracting agent or purchasing agent, as defined at
				5:34-1.2, shall use professional
				judgment based on prior experience of the contracting unit, estimates and plans for
				the upcoming contract year based on information such as the contracting unit's
				budget and purchasing history, and the amount purchased in the previous contract
				year. When calculating the amount purchased in the previous contract year, the
				calculation shall be based on the period of 12 consecutive months following the
				award of a contract.
(c) To determine if
				goods or services that are expected to be used during a contract year should be
				combined with other similar goods or services in a single bid, the contracting agent
				or purchasing agent shall use the following methods or techniques as may be
				appropriate:
1. The contracting agent or
				purchasing agent shall request the various organizational components of the
				contracting unit to estimate and provide the contracting agent or purchasing agent
				with their needs.
2. Based upon
				appropriate study and evaluation of the competitive marketplace, the contracting
				agent or purchasing agent shall determine the range of goods and services that are
				best suited for aggregation to maximize potential cost savings and to maximize
				vendor participation. This can be accomplished by:
i. Determining whether there are vendors capable
				of submitting bids on a range of goods or services that are sufficiently similar;
				or
ii. Determining that commercial
				business practices related to the provision or performance of the goods or services
				will result in a price advantage to the contracting unit if the goods or services
				were made part of a separate contract.
3. In considering if a particular good or service
				is subject to public bidding, the amount of money spent with a given vendor shall
				not in itself be a determining factor of reaching the threshold.
4. In determining if various expenditures are part
				of the same work or are similar goods or services, the emphasis shall be placed on
				the purpose of the goods and services rather than from whom they are
				purchased.
5. Where portions of any
				goods or services can be purchased through provision of law that do not require the
				contracting unit to publicly bid, such as a State, county, or cooperative purchasing
				contract, any remaining portions may be counted as separate from the portion that is
				not required to be bid. Such purchases may be considered as a separate aggregation
				calculation for the purpose of reaching the bid threshold.