Ohio Administrative Code › Title 3341 - Bowling Green State University › Chapter 3341-6 - Compliance with Occupational Safety and Health Standards › Section 3341-6-38 - Purchasing, sales, and disposal of university property and asset control

Current through all regulations passed and filed through July 1,
			 2024
(A) Policy
			 statement and purpose
The purpose of this policy is to ensure the proper
				administration of the university's purchasing and inventory disposal
				activities.
(B) Policy
(1) Opening statement
Bowling Green state university shall conduct its procurement
				activities in an efficient and cost-effective manner 
										to
										
										support the mission of the university while
				maintaining compliance with applicable university, state, and
				federal laws and regulations. All university procurement activities shall be
				administered through the division of finance and administration
				.
(2) Competitive bidding
			 procedures apply to all departments and individuals at
			 Bowling Green state university. For purposes of this policy, "competitive
			 bidding" refers to competitive selection procedures that require the
			 solicitation of proposals (RFP), quotes (RFQ), and or information (RFI) from
			 multiple suppliers of the good or service being considered. Bowling Green state
			 university reserves the right to award none, all, some or part of any
			 competitive bidding event. The purchasing department shall be the only point of
			 contact for prospective vendors during any competitive bidding event until an
			 award is made. Competitive bidding will be required in the following
			 circumstances:
(a) The purchase or lease of
			 any good when the cost is twenty-five thousand dollars or
			 greater; the procurement of services when the cost is fifty thousand dollars or
			 greater; construction 
										projects when the estimated cost is two hundred
			 fifteen thousand dollars or greater;
			 architect and engineer design projects when the cost is
			 fifty thousand dollars or greater.
Competitive bidding events may also be
				conducted for purchases below the established competitive bidding limits
				whenever it best serves the interests of the university.
(b) Any purchase or lease of any
			 good or service subject to competitive bidding
			 shall be 
										communicated in a way that is
			  in the university's best
			 interest
			 and as required by university, state or federal regulations.
(3) Waiver of competitive bidding
The purchasing department has the authority to waive
				competitive bidding when any of the following requirements are met:
(a) Sole source vendor - as determined by the
			 responsible purchasing officer, and approved by the vice president of finance
			 and administration (VPFA) or in the absence of the VPFA, by the university's
			 president.
(b) Emergency situation
			 requiring such action - as determined by the president, or the vice president of finance and administration,
			 or the
			 designee of either of them.
(c) Need to utilize an existing vendor or to
			 maintain consistency of good/ product where changing vendors or utilizing
			 different brands would result in additional cost or  unnecessary or excess costs to facilitate a change - as
			 approved by the responsible purchasing officer based on satisfactory supporting
			 documentation.
(d) Existing state
			 of Ohio contracts, inter-university council contracts, Bowling Green state
			 university contracts or other institutional memberships
			 
			 utilized as a source for the established price and
			 terms and conditions.
(4) Contract requirements
Bowling Green state university requires purchase orders or
				vendor contracts when procuring goods or services for the university, except
				for purchases made through the BGSU purchasing card (PCard) program. An
				independent contractor agreement is required of all contractors working on
				behalf of BGSU. The defined signatory per the delegation of contract and
				signatory policy rule
				3341-1-07
				of the Administrative Code must approve all contracts and independent
				contractor agreements.
(5)
			 Grants procurement
(a) All grant expenditures
			 with a cost exceeding ten thousand dollars requires
			 supporting documentation demonstrating that at least two price quotes were
			 obtained for cost comparison. This documentation can be in the form of formal
			 vendor quotes or screenshots of online vendor pricing.
(b) Grants procurement outline of
			 requirements
Amount
Procurement type
Description
$0 - $10,000
Micro-purchases
No competitive quotes required if the price is
						  considered reasonable
Distribute purchases equitably among qualified
						  suppliers as practical
$10,
															001- $250,000
Small purchases
Price quotations must be obtained from at least two
						  qualified sources
Quotes can be obtained directly from suppliers or
						  through screenshots of online prices
$250,001+
Sealed bids
Publicly advertised and solicited from adequate
						  suppliers
Lowest responsive and responsible bidder
						  wins
Contract is a firm fixed price
$250,001+
Competitive proposals
Publicly advertised and solicited from adequate
						  suppliers
Most advantageous bid (price and other factors
						  considered) wins
Contract can be either a fixed price or cost
						  reimbursement type
Any
Non-competitive proposals (sole source)
Good/service is only available from a single source;
						  or
Only one source can provide good/service in the time
						  frame required; or
After solicitation of a number of sources, competition
						  is determined inadequate.
Written pre-approval from the Federal awarding agency
						  is required
(6)
									Conflict of
			 interest
No employee, trustee, officer or agent
				of BGSU may participate in the selection, award or administration of a contract
				if he or she has a real or apparent conflict of interest. Such a conflict of
				interest would arise when the employee, trustee, officer or agent; any member
				of their immediate family; their partner; or any organization that employs or
				is about to employ any of the parties indicated herein, has a financial or
				other interest in or a tangible personal benefit from a firm considered for a
				contract, except as allowed by Ohio ethics law. The employees, trustees,
				officers or agents of BGSU may neither solicit nor accept gratuities, favors,
				or anything of monetary value from contractors or parties to
				subcontracts.
(7)
			 Vendors and related ethical/legal issues
(a)
										Bowling Green state university recognizes the
			 importance of having strong, mutually rewarding relationships with the vendors
			 with whom it does business. The university seeks to maintain and improve these
			 relationships by treating vendors in a fair and equitable manner. Individuals
			 authorized to place purchase orders with vendors on behalf of the university
			 shall do so in accordance with the BGSU code of ethics and conduct policy and
			 shall not allow relationships with these vendors and/or their employees to
			 influence the award.
(b)
										Ohio Ethics Law (Chapter 102. of the Revised Code) and
			 related statutes (sections
			 2921.42
			 and
			 2921.43
			 of the Revised Code ) also apply to all employees, trustees, officers or agents
			 of BGSU and no employee, trustee, officer or agent of BGSU shall use their
			 position to secure a contract for themselves, their family member or their
			 business associates.
(8) Buy Ohio
The university shall give preference in its purchasing
				activities to products that are produced or mined in Ohio and to bidders that
				qualify as having a significant Ohio economic presence in accordance with
				division (B) of sections
				125.04
				and
				125.11 of the
				Revised Code. This requirement may be waived when compliance would result in
				the university paying an excessive price for the product or acquiring a
				disproportionately inferior product.
(9) Buy America
Division (B) of sections
				125.04
				and
				125.11 of the
				Revised Code stipulate that state agencies and public colleges or universities
				shall give preference in their purchasing activities to products produced,
				mined, or manufactured in the United States.
(10) Equal employment opportunity requirement
Bowling Green state university requires that a supplier in
				bidding and/or filling a purchase order agrees not to discriminate against any
				employee or applicant for employment with respect to tenure, terms, conditions,
				or privileges of employment, or any matter directly related to employment,
				because of ethnicity/race, religion, color, gender, sexual orientation, age,
				veterans and persons with disabilities, or national origin. The supplier also
				must agree that every subcontract shall contain a provision requiring
				nondiscrimination in employment.
(11) Minority business
The university shall seek to set aside a specified percentage
				of its estimated value of all purchases per year for competition by certified
				minority business enterprises in accordance with section
				125.081
				of the Revised Code.
(12)
			 Purchases from employees
(a) A university
			 employee would provide the goods or services;
(b) A university employee has, or could be
			 perceived as having, an interest in the vendor's profits or benefits from the
			 contract;
(c) A university employee
			 has, or could be perceived as having, a position of profit in the vendor's
			 performance of the contract;
(d) A
			 university employee has, or could be perceived as having, authority or
			 influence to secure authorization of a contract in which the employee, the
			 employee's family member, or the employee's business associate has an interest;
			 or
(e) A university employee would
			 have a definite and direct pecuniary interest in the contract.
No contract involving any of the foregoing factors may be
				signed or otherwise authorized on behalf of the university unless it has first
				been approved in writing as to legal form by the office of general
				counsel.
(13)
			 Asset control and the sale or disposal of university equipment
(a) Equipment purchased with university
			 funds or held and identified as an asset
			 of the university shall be subject to
			 university inventory control procedures. All equipment purchased with university
			 funds and having a value more than ten thousand
			  dollars (or
			 grant funds with a value more than five thousand dollars) with a life
			 expectancy of more than one year, will be capitalized
			 and must be tagged and assigned an inventory control number.
Each year the controller's office will issue an asset summary
				report to all department asset custodians. All university fixed assets are
				subject to internal audit review.
(b) The business operations department,
			 working with the controller's office, has responsibility for the sale or
			 disposal of property by one of the following methods:
(i) Redistribution within the university
			 community;
(ii) An advertised
			 public auction with the property being sold to the highest bidder;
(iii) Pursuant to competitive bidding
			 procedures with the award being made to the highest bidder;
(iv) An advertised public sale with the
			 property having a price assigned to each item and sold to the public at a
			 stipulated time and place; or
(v)
			 Property may be disposed of in ways determined to be the most economical for
			 the university.
(c) No
			 employee of the university who has participated in the following:
(i) Determination to dispose of property,
			 preparation of property for sale, determination of the method of sale, or who
			 has acquired information not otherwise available to the general public
			 regarding usage, condition, quality or value of property may then bid on or
			 purchase any property offered for sale by the university.
(ii) To qualify as a purchaser of such
			 property, an employee of the university may be asked to certify in writing that
			 he/she has not participated in any of the activities or acquired information as
			 specified herein above.
(14) Personal purchases
No personal purchases are permitted to be made, either via the
				purchase order system, a payment request, the university's purchasing card or
				other institutional purchasing methodology. In addition, no employee may use
				the university's name or present him/herself as an agent of the university when
				making personal purchases.