New Jersey Administrative Code › Title 5 - COMMUNITY AFFAIRS › Chapter 34 - LOCAL PUBLIC AND PUBLIC SCHOOL CONTRACTS LAWS › Subchapter 5 - ELECTRONIC PROCUREMENT › Section 5:34-5.2 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 14, July 15, 2024
The following words and terms, when used in this subchapter, have
				  the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
"Bid" means the response submitted by an offeror through an
				  electronic procurement platform in response to a request for bids, for which the
				  contract is awarded to the lowest responsible and responsive bidder or, in the case
				  of the sale or surplus property (including renewable energy certificates) or the
				  sale or lease of real property, to the highest bidder. This term also encompasses a
				  bid being submitted through a paper-based process parallel to electronic bid
				  submission.
"BPU" means the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities.
"Commodity" or "commodities" means gasoline, diesel fuel, snow
				  removal chemicals, public works materials and supplies, including road and roadway
				  construction materials, or any other such materials as may be approved by the
				  Director to be procured by a local unit through a reverse auction.
"Electronic procurement" means the use of computer technology and
				  the Internet for the solicitation and submission of offers; the provision of notice
				  of revisions or addenda to advertisements or offer documents; the use of reverse
				  auctions; and related practices to assist in determining the successful offeror
				  pursuant to law for goods and services contracts, public works contracts, the sale
				  of personal property, and other public procurement-related activities and services
				  as may be determined appropriate by the Director.
"Electronic procurement platform" or "platform" means a computer
				  software program facilitating electronic procurement of goods and services and
				  public works contracts provided by the vendor of the software over the Internet as a
				  service, except that this term shall not include an electronic municipal tax lien
				  service subject to the provisions of N.J.S.A. 54:5-19.1a and N.J.A.C. 5:33. This
				  term shall also encompass platforms for the online competitive sale of surplus
				  property or real property, or competitive solicitations for the lease of real
				  property. Email systems, including, but not limited to, Outlook, Gmail, and Hotmail,
				  shall not constitute electronic procurement platforms for purposes of this
				  subchapter; however, this definition shall not be interpreted to prohibit either
				  party from receiving email prompts concerning answers to offeror questions, issuance
				  of notices, or other information transmitted through the electronic procurement
				  platform.
"Energy" means gas supply service or gas related service or
				  electric generation service or electric related service as set forth in the Electric
				  Discount and Energy Competition Act (
				  P.L.
				  1999, c. 23 ) and Board of
				  Public Utilities rules regarding Government Energy Aggregation Programs at N.J.A.C.
				  14:4-6.
"Local unit" means a board of education as defined in the Public
				  School Contracts Law,
				  N.J.S.A.
				  18A:18A-1et seq., or a contracting unit as defined
				  in the Local Public Contracts Law, P.L. 1971, c. 198 (N.J.S.A.
				  40A:11-1et seq.).
"National cooperative contract" means a contract that has been
				  developed utilizing a competitive bidding process by a contracting unit as defined
				  at N.J.S.A. 52:34-6.2b(3)that is located in another state. For purposes of this
				  definition "competitive bidding process" requires open competition, or competition
				  among qualified or pre-qualified offerors, submission of bids, advertisement of the
				  procurement as a national cooperative contract or a regional contract that includes
				  New Jersey in its region, and awarded pursuant to a "lowest responsible," "most
				  advantageous to the local unit, price and other factors considered," or other
				  similar standard legally employed by the local unit awarding the contract.
"Offer" means the response submitted by an offeror through an
				  electronic procurement platform, or submitted by paper if allowed by the local unit
				  in parallel with electronic submission, in response to a solicitation for bids,
				  proposals, qualifications, or quotations conducted in a manner authorized under the
				  laws of the State of New Jersey.
"Offeror" means an individual or entity submitting an offer
				  through an electronic procurement platform in response to a solicitation for bids,
				  proposals, qualifications, or quotations conducted in a manner authorized under the
				  laws of the State of New Jersey, or an individual or entity submitting a paper-based
				  response if allowed by the local unit in parallel with electronic submission.
"Offer package" means the forms, documents, and data entry fields
				  provided to prospective offerors for use in responding to a solicitation.
"Offer submission" means documents and information entered into
				  data entry fields that comprise an offeror's response to a solicitation for bids,
				  proposals, qualifications, or quotations conducted through an electronic procurement
				  platform or a paper-based submission process if allowed by the local unit in
				  parallel with electronic submission.
"Personal identifying information" means information that can be
				  used to distinguish or trace an individual's identity including, but not limited to,
				  the individual's name, Social Security number, or biometric records, alone or when
				  combined with other personal or identifying information that is linked, or linkable,
				  to a specific individual, such as, but not limited to, a mother's maiden name and
				  date and place of birth.
"Public works" means as set forth at
				  N.J.A.C.
				  5:34-1.2. The term "public works" shall include
				  "public works construction" contracts as defined at
				  N.J.S.A.
				  40A:11-4.9.
"Qualifications" means responses submitted by contractors or
				  vendors in response to a request for qualifications solicited by a local unit, from
				  which the local unit will determine which contractors or vendors are permitted to
				  submit bids or proposals.
"Real property" shall include, in addition to land and anything
				  growing on, attached to, or erected on the land, development rights or easements, or
				  any right, interest, or estate in the area extending above any real property, or
				  capital improvement thereon, to such a height or altitude as any title, interest, or
				  estate in real property may extend, commonly known as "air rights."
"REC" means a renewable energy certificate issued by the New
				  Jersey Board of Public Utilities, such as, but not limited to, solar renewable
				  energy certificates (SRECs).
"Reverse auction" means an auction where bidders submit
				  progressively lower bids versus a bidder's initial bid, with the winner submitting
				  the lowest responsible bid, rather than a standard auction process where the highest
				  bid wins.
"Set-aside program" means a program enacted by a local unit as
				  permitted under
				  N.J.S.A. 18A:18A-51
				  through 59 or 40A:11-41 through 49, as applicable, whereby certain contracts or
				  portions thereof are reserved for qualified minority business enterprises, qualified
				  women's business enterprises, qualified small business enterprises, qualified
				  veterans business enterprises, or any other qualified business enterprises for which
				  set-aside programs are permitted under the Local Public Contracts Law or Public
				  School Contracts Law.
"Surplus property" means personal property not needed for a local
				  unit's public use. This term shall encompass renewable energy certificates (RECs)
				  but shall not include personal property that is necessary or incidental to the
				  furnishing, refurnishing, or refurbishing of a building sold or leased as part of an
				  online auction of real property.