Rhode Island Code of Regulations › Title 120 - Treasury Department › Chapter 00 - N/A › Subchapter 00 - N/A › Part 1 - Employees' Retirement System of Rhode Island and Municipal Employees' Retirement System Regulations › Section 120-RICR-00-00-1.2 - Rules Concerning the Procurement of Supplies

Current through June 14, 2024
1.2.1
General Provisions
A.
				  Introduction
The Employees' Retirement System of the State of Rhode
					 Island and the Municipal Employees' Retirement System of the State of Rhode
					 Island (the "System") is authorized to enter into contracts for the procurement
					 of supplies and services. The purpose of these Rules is to create an equitable
					 and efficient procurement system.
B. Definitions
1. The words defined in this subsection shall
				  have the following meanings wherever they appear in these Rules, unless the
				  context in which they are used clearly requires a different meaning.
a. "Business" means any corporation,
				  partnership, individual, sole proprietorship, joint stock company, joint
				  venture, or any other legal entity through which business is
				  conducted.
b. "Change order" means
				  a written order of the System or a vendor directing or allowing the vendor to
				  make changes authorized by the contract without the consent of the vendor or
				  the System.
c. "Contract" means all
				  types of agreements, including orders, for the purchase or disposal of
				  supplies, services, construction or any other items. It shall include awards;
				  contracts of a fixed-price, cost, cost-plus-a-fixed fee, or incentive type but
				  shall not mean a cost plus a percentage of cost, contracts providing for the
				  issuance of job or task orders, leases; letter contracts and purchase orders.
				  "Contract" shall include supplemental agreements with respect to any of the
				  foregoing. "Contract" does not include any labor contract with employees of the
				  System or employees of any State agency.
d. "Contract modification" means any written
				  alteration in the specifications, delivery point, rate of delivery, contract
				  period, price, quantity, or other contract provisions of any existing contract,
				  whether accomplished by unilateral action in accordance with a contract
				  provision, or by mutual action of the parties to the contract. It shall include
				  bilateral actions such as change orders, such as supplemental agreements, and
				  unilateral actions, administrative changes, notices of termination, and notices
				  of the exercise of a contract option.
e. "Established catalog price" means the
				  price included in the most current catalog, price list, schedule, or other form
				  that is regularly maintained by the manufacturer or vendor of an item, is
				  either published or otherwise available for inspection by customers, states
				  prices at which sales are currently or were last made to a significant number
				  of buyers constituting the general buying public for that item and states
				  prices which are obtained from the most recent industry wide publications and
				  informational journals if any.
f.
				  "Executive Director" means the person appointed by the Retirement Board as
				  executive director pursuant to R.I. Gen. Laws §
													36-8-9.
g. "Evaluated bid price" means the dollar
				  amount of a bid after bid price adjustments are made pursuant to objective
				  measurable criteria, set forth in the invitation for bids, which affect the
				  economy and effectiveness in the operation or use of the product, such as
				  reliability, maintainability, useful life and residual value.
h. "Invitation for bids" means all documents,
				  whether attached or incorporated by reference, utilized for soliciting bids in
				  accordance with the procedures set forth in §1.2.2(A)(2) of this
				  Part.
i. "Negotiation" means
				  contracting by either the method set forth in §§1.2.2(A)(3), (4), or (5) of
				  this Part.
j. "Person" means any
				  business, individual, organization or group of individuals.
k. "Procurement" means the purchasing,
				  buying, renting, leasing or otherwise obtaining of any supplies or services,
				  and all functions that pertain to the obtaining of any supply or service item,
				  including all phases of contract administration.
l. "Procurement committee" means a committee
				  composed of five (5) members of the Retirement Board who shall be appointed by
				  the Chair of the Retirement Board for terms of one (1) year in January of each
				  year, provided, however, that the members of such committee first appointed
				  after the adoption of these Regulations shall serve until December
				  31st of the year next following the year of their
				  appointment. Any vacancies in the committee shall be filled by the Chair. The
				  committee shall act by majority vote and a majority shall constitute a
				  quorum.
m. "Request for proposals"
				  means all documents, whether attached or incorporated by reference, utilized
				  for soliciting proposals in accordance with the procedures set forth in
				  §§1.2.2(A)(3), (4), or (5) of this Part.
n. "Responsible bidder or offeror" means a
				  qualified bidder who has the capability in all respects including financial
				  responsibility to perform fully the contract requirements, and the integrity
				  and reliability which will assure good faith performance.
o. "Responsive bidder" means a person who has
				  submitted a bid or proposal which conforms in all material respects to the
				  invitation for bids, so that all bidders may stand on equal footing with
				  respect to the method and timeliness of submission and as the substance of any
				  resulting contract. A bidder who submits a bid based on alternative
				  specifications to those contained in the invitation to bid will be responsive
				  only if, in the judgment of the System, the alternative specifications meet the
				  performance objectives of the System with respect to the item or service to be
				  purchased and the invitation to bid states that alternative specifications will
				  be considered.
p. "Retirement
				  Board" or "Board" means the board established pursuant to R.I. Gen. Laws §
													36-8-3 to administer the
				  System.
q. "Services" means the
				  rendering, by a vendor, of its time and effort rather than the furnishing of a
				  specific-end product, other than reports which are merely incidental to the
				  required performance of services. "Services" does not include labor contracts
				  with employees of State agencies.
r. "Small business" means a person,
				  partnership, corporation, or other form of business entity independently owned
				  and operated, not dominant in its field and which employs five hundred (500) or
				  fewer employees and has its principal place of business in the State.
s. "State" means the State of Rhode Island
				  and any of its departments or agencies and public agencies.
t. "Supplemental agreement" means any
				  contract modification which is accomplished by the mutual action of the
				  parties.
u. "Supplies" means all
				  property, excluding real property or leases thereof.
v. "Vendor" means any person who provides
				  supplies, services, or construction under a contract.
C. Application of Rules
1. These Rules shall apply to all
				  expenditures of funds by the System under a contract, except labor contracts
				  between the System and employees of the System or employees of the State, or
				  other contracts between the System and the State or other governments. The
				  provisions of these Rules shall be considered to be incorporated in all
				  contracts of the System to which they apply.
2. Notwithstanding anything contained in this
				  §1.2.1(C) of this Part, the "Rules of the Employees' Retirement System of the
				  State of Rhode Island and the Municipal Employees' Retirement System of the
				  State of Rhode Island for the Selection of Consultants" shall govern the
				  selection of consultants by the System.
D. Procurement Responsibilities of the System
1. For purchases equal to or in excess of
				  fifty thousand dollars ($50,000.00), the Retirement Board shall have all of the
				  authority of the "Chief Purchasing Officer" of the System under R.I. Gen. Laws
				  Chapter 37-2 and shall retain ultimate decision-making authority over
				  procurements. For purchases equal to or in excess of twenty thousand dollars
				  ($20,000.00), but not more than fifty thousand dollars ($50,000.00), a majority
				  of the Procurement Committee shall have all of the authority of the "Chief
				  Purchasing Officer" of the System under R.I. Gen. Laws Chapter 37-2 and shall
				  retain ultimate decision-making authority over procurements. For purchases of
				  twenty thousand dollars ($20,000.00) or less, the Executive Director shall have
				  all of the authority of the Chief Purchasing Officer. Accordingly, the term
				  "System" shall be used in these Rules to designate:
a. The Executive Director for purchases of
				  twenty thousand dollars ($20,000.00) or less, or
b. The Procurement Committee or the
				  Retirement Board acting in the capacity of Chief Purchasing Officer of the
				  System.
E.
				  Public Access to Procurement Records
Except as otherwise provided for herein, all procurement
					 information of the System shall be a public record to the extent provided in
					 R.I. Gen. Laws Chapter 38-2 (Access to Public Records) and shall be available
					 to the public as provided in such Act.
F. Procurement Decisions of the System
Every determination required by these Rules shall be in
					 writing and based upon written findings of fact by the System. These
					 determinations and written findings shall be retained in an official contract
					 file in the offices of the System.