New Jersey Administrative Code › Title 5 - COMMUNITY AFFAIRS › Chapter 34 - LOCAL PUBLIC AND PUBLIC SCHOOL CONTRACTS LAWS › Subchapter 1 - GENERAL PROVISIONS AND DEFINITIONS › Section 5:34-1.2 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 14, July 15, 2024
The following words and terms, as used in this chapter, shall
				  have the following meanings, unless the context indicates otherwise:
"Aggregate" or "aggregation" means the sums expended or to be
				  expended for the provision or performance of any goods or services in connection
				  with the same immediate purpose or task, or the furnishing of similar goods or
				  services, during the term of the contract awarded by a contracting agency.
"Bid threshold" means the dollar amount set in
				  40A:11-3, and in
				  18A:18A-3, above which a contracting
				  unit shall advertise for and receive sealed bids.
"Board of education" means and includes the board of education of
				  any local school district, consolidated school district, regional school district,
				  educational services commission, county special services school district, county
				  vocational school and any other board of education or other similar body other than
				  the State Board of Education, the Commission on Higher Education or the Presidents'
				  Council, established and operating under the provisions of Title 18A of the New
				  Jersey Statutes and having authority to make purchases and to enter into contracts
				  for the provision or performance of goods or services. The term "board of education"
				  also shall include the board of trustees of a charter school established under P.L.
				  1995, c.426 (18A:36A-1 et seq.).
"Competitive contracting" means the method described in
				  40A:11-4.1 et seq. and 18A:18A-4.1 et
				  seq. of contracting for specialized goods and services in which formal proposals are
				  solicited from vendors.
"Concession" means the granting of a license or right to act for
				  or on behalf of the contracting unit, or to provide a service requiring the approval
				  or endorsement of the contracting unit, and which may or may not involve a payment
				  or exchange, or provision of services by or to the contracting unit.
"Contract" means any agreement, including, but not limited to, a
				  purchase order or a formal agreement, which is a legally binding relationship
				  enforceable by law, between a vendor who agrees to provide or perform goods or
				  services and a contracting unit which agrees to compensate a vendor, as defined by
				  and subject to the terms and conditions of the agreement. A contract also may
				  include an arrangement whereby a vendor compensates a contracting unit for the
				  vendor's right to perform a service, such as, but not limited to, operating a
				  concession.
"Contracting agent" means the governing body of a contracting unit
				  or its authorized designee that has the power to prepare the advertisements, to
				  advertise for and receive bids and, as permitted by law, to make awards for the
				  contracting unit in connection with contracts.
"Contracting unit" means: any county; municipality; board of
				  education; or any board, commission, committee, authority, or agency, which is not a
				  State board, commission, committee, authority, or agency, and which has
				  administrative jurisdiction over any district project, or facility, included or
				  operating in whole or in part, within the territorial boundaries of any county or
				  municipality which exercises functions which are appropriate for the exercise by one
				  or more units of local government, and which has statutory power to make purchases
				  and enter into contracts awarded by a contracting agent for the provision or
				  performance of goods or services.
"Contract year" means the period of 12 consecutive months
				  following the award of a contract.
"Director" means the Director of the Division of Local Government
				  Services in the Department of Community Affairs.
"Division" means the Division of Local Government Services in the
				  Department of Community Affairs.
"Extraordinary unspecifiable services" or "EUS" means services
				  which are specialized and qualitative in nature requiring expertise, extensive
				  training and proven reputation in the field of endeavor.
"Goods and services" or "goods or services" means any work, labor,
				  commodities, equipment, materials, or supplies of any tangible or intangible nature,
				  except real property or any interest therein, provided or performed through a
				  contract awarded by a contracting agent, including goods and property subject to
				  12A:2-101 et seq.
"Governing body" means: the governing body of the county, when the
				  purchase is to be made or the contract is to be entered into by, or in behalf of, a
				  county; the governing body of the municipality, when the purchase is to be made or
				  the contract is to be entered into by, or on behalf of, a municipality; a board of
				  education, when the purchase is to be made or the contract is to be entered into by,
				  or on behalf of, a school district; or any board, commission, committee, authority
				  or agency of the character described in definition of contracting unit.
"Lowest price" means the least possible amount that meets all
				  requirements of the request of a contracting agent.
"Lowest responsible bidder or vendor" means the bidder or
				  vendor:
1. Whose response to a request for
				bids offers the lowest price and is responsive; and
2. Who is responsible.
"Multi-year contract" means a contract or other agreement
				  operating in excess of 12 consecutive months.
"Official newspaper" means any newspaper designated by the
				  contracting unit pursuant to
				  35:1-1 et seq.
"Purchase" means a transaction, for a valuable consideration,
				  creating or acquiring an interest in goods, services and property, except real
				  property or any interest therein.
"Purchase order" means a document issued by the contracting agent
				  authorizing a purchase transaction with a vendor to provide or perform goods or
				  services to the contracting unit, which, when fulfilled in accordance with the terms
				  and conditions of a request of a contracting agent and other provisions and
				  procedures that may be established by the contracting unit, will result in payment
				  by the contracting unit.
"Purchasing agent" means the individual duly assigned the
				  authority, responsibility, and accountability for the purchasing activity of the
				  contracting unit, and who has such duties as are defined by an authority appropriate
				  to the form and structure of the contracting unit; or in the case of a board of
				  education, the secretary, business administrator or the business manager of the
				  board of education duly assigned the authority, responsibility and accountability
				  for the purchasing activity of the board of education and having the power to
				  prepare advertisements, to advertise for and receive bids and to award contracts as
				  permitted by 18A:18A-1 et seq., but if there be no
				  secretary, business administrator or business manager, such officer, committees or
				  employees to whom such power has been delegated by the board of education.
"Professional services" means services rendered or performed by a
				  person authorized by law to practice a recognized profession, whose practice is
				  regulated by law, and the performance of which services requires knowledge of an
				  advanced type in a field of learning acquired by a prolonged formal course of
				  specialized instruction and study as distinguished from general academic instruction
				  or apprenticeship and training. Professional services may also mean services
				  rendered in the provision or performance of goods or services that are original and
				  creative in character in a recognized field of artistic endeavor.
"Public works" means building, altering, repairing, improving or
				  demolishing any public structure or facility constructed or acquired by a
				  contracting unit to house local government or school district functions or provide
				  water, waste disposal, power, transportation (but not the contracting for
				  transportation services), and other public infrastructures.
"Remaining amount" means the value of similar goods and services
				  that are needed for the remainder of the current contract year, plus those similar
				  goods and services to be needed in the subsequent contract year.
"Responsible" means able to complete the contract in accordance
				  with its requirements, including, but not limited to, requirements pertaining to
				  experience, moral integrity, operating capacity, financial capacity, credit, and
				  workforce, equipment, and facilities availability.
"Responsive" means conforming in all material respects to the
				  terms and conditions, specifications, legal requirements, and other provisions of
				  the request.
"Service or services" means the performance of work, or the
				  furnishing of labor, time, or effort, or any combination thereof, not involving or
				  connected to the delivery or ownership of a specified end product or goods or a
				  manufacturing process. Service or services may also include an arrangement in which
				  a vendor compensates the contracting unit for the vendor's right to operate a
				  concession.