N.J. Admin. Code § 17:12-1.3
The following words and terms, when used in this chapter, shall have the following meanings unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
"Advertised procurement" refers to the formal process used by the Division to obtain sealed proposals in response to a Request for Proposal.
"Agreement" refers to documentation that establishes a mutually binding legal relationship and conveys contractual terms, conditions, and/or requirements between two, or among more than two, public entities applicable to intrastate or interstate actions.
"Best and final offer" or "BAFO" means a price timely submitted by a bidder upon invitation by the Division after proposal opening, with or without prior discussion or negotiation.
"Bid security" means a guarantee, in a form acceptable to the Division, that the bidder, if selected, will accept the contract as bid; otherwise, the bidder or, as applicable, its guarantor will be liable for the amount of the loss suffered by the State, which loss may be partially or completely recovered by the State in exercising its rights against the instrument of bid security.
"Bidder" means a vendor who has offered a proposal in response to the Division's solicitation of proposals.
"Business organization" means an individual, partnership, association, joint stock company, trust, corporation, or other legal business entity or successor thereto.
"Business registration" means the formal certification by the Department of the Treasury's Division of Revenue that a business entity, upon its application to the Division of Revenue, has attained and maintained status as a registered business in accordance with the provisions of 52:32-44.
"Bypass" means a contract award made to other than the lowest priced responsive proposal from a responsible bidder. A bypass occurs when the Director determines that the responsive proposal, which is most advantageous to the State, is not the lowest priced responsive proposal.
"Compatible" relates to instances when, in the Director's business judgment, it is advantageous to procure materials, supplies, or services that are, or equipment that is, capable of performing in conjunction with those previously procured, where the use of materials, supplies, services, or equipment at variance with those previously procured may degrade or impair the performance of those previously procured and/or negatively impact upon warranties or licenses of those previously procured.
"Competitive range" means the group of responsive proposals that are among the most highly rated proposals.
"Contract" means a mutually binding legal relationship obligating the contractor to furnish goods and/or services and the purchaser to pay for them, subject to appropriation where the using agency derives its annual budget by means of appropriation from the State Legislature. For publicly advertised contracts, the contract typically consists of the Division's standard terms and conditions, the RFP, the responsive proposal, the notice of intent to award, any subsequent written document memorializing the agreement, any amendments or modifications to any of these documents and any attachments, addenda or other supporting documents, or other writings agreed to by the State and the contractor describing the work to be performed.
"Contract Compliance and Audit Unit" (CCAU) refers to the unit within the Division of Purchase and Property having the responsibility and authority to audit State contract usage to promote compliance with contract provisions and applicable procurement mandates and guidelines. CCAU acts as the initial arbiter of complaints filed by using agencies pursuant to N.J.A.C. 17:12-4 and has oversight responsibility for contracts that are subject to waiver of advertising pursuant to 52:34-9 and 10. In addition, CCAU monitors using agencies and contracted vendors to ensure their conformance with State procurement statutes, rules, and contractual terms, conditions, and requirements.
"Contractor" refers to a business entity awarded a contract by the Division.
"Cooperative procurement agreement" refers to a contractual relationship in which the Division, pursuant to the provisions of 52:34-6.2, joins with, or is joined by, another state or states or political divisions thereof or of New Jersey, or with a nationally recognized and accepted cooperative procurement entity in which other states participate, for the acquisition of goods and/or services that have been, or are to be, procured through competitive bidding.
"Cooperative Purchasing Program" refers to the Division's intrastate program that provides procurement-related assistance to local New Jersey governmental entities and boards of education, State and county colleges and other public entities having statutory authority to utilize select State contracts issued by the Division, pursuant to the provisions of 52:25-16.1 et seq.
"Cooperative agreement" refers to a contractual relationship in which the Division, pursuant to the provisions of N.J.S.A. 52:34-6.2, joins with, or is joined by, another state or states or political divisions thereof or political subdivisions of New Jersey, or with a nationally recognized and accepted cooperative procurement entity in which other states participate, for the acquisition of goods and/or services that have been, or are to be, procured through competitive bidding.
"Cooperative purchasing participants" refers, collectively, to interstate cooperative purchasing participants and intrastate cooperative purchasing participants.
"Day" or "business day" means any weekday, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, State legal holidays, and State-mandated furlough days.
"Delegated Purchasing Authority" or "DPA" refers to the Director's assignment of authority to State using agencies to make purchases when the product or service being procured is not available under an existing Division-issued State contract and when the cost does not exceed the statutorily defined formal advertised bidding threshold pursuant to 52:34-7.
"Director" means the Director of the Division of Purchase and Property or the Director's designee.
"Distribution and Support Services" (DSS) refers to the unit within the Division that provides warehousing and distribution services to State and other governmental agencies to meet their product requirements and administers the State's surplus property programs, including the computer distribution program.
"Division" means the Division of Purchase and Property and its support and operational units, including the Procurement Bureau, CCAU, and DSS.
"Environmental" refers to those products or services adapted for use in, or required for long-term serviceability to, localized natural or man-made environmental conditions.
"Federal supply schedule contract" refers to a contract established and administered by contracting agencies of the Federal government, including and particularly the General Services Administration, which may, at the discretion of the Division, serve as an alternate price guide for the purchase of goods and services by State using agencies.
"Filed" means received by the Director or her or his Division representative.
"Hearing officer" means the Director's representative from within or outside the Division, but independent of the procurement process, appointed by the Director to review the written record of an advertised procurement, and/or, in the discretion of the Director, to preside over an in-person presentation or informal hearing in response to a vendor's challenge, in accordance with 52:34-10.1 0, and as set forth in 17:12-3.2 and 3.3.
"Homeland security" and "domestic preparedness" refer to circumstances that may be cause for immediate procurement action necessary to meet potential or existing life and safety or security concerns as deemed essential by the Governor or other authorized State official and sanctioned as such by the State Treasurer.
"Interstate cooperative purchasing participants" refers to another state or states, or political divisions thereof, that pursuant to its own laws and regulations are permitted to utilize contracts awarded by the Director.
"Intrastate cooperative purchasing participants" refers to political subdivisions, volunteer fire departments and first aid squads, and independent institutions of higher education and school districts pursuant to N.J.S.A. 52:25-16.1 et seq., State and county colleges pursuant to N.J.S.A. 18A:64-60 and 18A:64A-25.9, quasi-State agencies and independent authorities pursuant to N.J.S.A. 52:27B-56.1, and other New Jersey public entities having statutory authority to utilize select State contracts issued by the Division.
"Intrastate cooperative purchasing program" refers to the Division's program that provides procurement-related assistance to intrastate cooperative purchasing participants.
"Negotiation component" refers to an RFP provision that establishes the Division's intent to negotiate with bidders pursuant to the provisions of 52:34-12(f), the codified generic procedures set forth at 17:12-2.7, and the specified provisions for negotiation set forth in the RFP.
"Notice of intent to award" refers to the Director's notification to all bidders identifying the intended contract awardee(s) following an advertised procurement.
"Performance security" means a guarantee, executed subsequent to award, in a form acceptable to the Division, that the successful bidder will complete the contract as agreed and that the State will be protected from loss in the event the contractor fails to complete the contract as agreed.
"Procurement" refers to the processes used by the Division to establish formal contracts by which using agencies can purchase required goods and services.
"Procurement agreement" refers to a contractual relationship that is contemplated or created under the Division's prerogatives established by 52:34-6.2, concerning cooperative agreements, when the relationship is initiated prior to or during the competitive bidding process.
"Procurement Bureau" refers to the Divisional unit responsible for the preparation, advertisement, and issuance of RFPs, for the tabulation and evaluation of proposals and for recommending award(s) of contract(s) to the Director.
"Professional," relative to contract services and as differentiated from "technical" services, refers to services performed by a person authorized by law to practice a recognized profession and whose practice is regulated by law or 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 include those services rendered in the provision of goods or performance of services that are original and creative in character in a recognized field of artistic endeavor, as well as extraordinary, non-specifiable services if, after evaluation and assessment, such services are determined to be such that they cannot reasonably be described by written specifications.
"Protest" means a timely filed written challenge to a specification in an advertised RFP, to a rejection of a proposal declared non-responsive, to a notice of intent to award issued by the Director, or to the cancellation of an RFP after the opening of proposals.
"Publicly available," with respect to any procurement, either in printed or electronic format, means access to the record of any particular procurement or contract for review and/or copying, with the exception of any material deemed by the Director to be proprietary, confidential, or subject to any privilege, or exclusion under OPRA, the common law, and/or U.S. copyright law.
"Purchase" or "purchasing" refers to the acquisition of goods and/or services accomplished through the issuance of a purchase order.
"Purchasing agreement" refers to a contractual relationship that is contemplated or created under the Division's prerogatives established by 52:34-6.2, concerning cooperative agreements, when the relationship is initiated after the competitive bidding has been conducted.
"Quasi-State agency" refers to any agency commission, board, authority, or other such governmental entity, which is established and is allocated to a State department or any bi-state governmental entity of which the State of New Jersey is a member.
"Request for Proposal (RFP)" means all documents, whether attached or incorporated by reference, used for a publicly advertised procurement process that solicits proposals or offers to provide the goods and/or services specified therein.
"Responsible bidder" refers to a bidding entity deemed by the Division to have integrity and to be reliable and capable of performing all contract requirements.
"Responsive proposal" refers to a proposal that is deemed by the Division and/or evaluation committee to have adequately addressed all material provisions of an RFP's terms and conditions, specifications, and other requirements.
"Safety" refers to those products or services required to comply with mandated or accepted State or Federal codes and standards designed to insure against personal harm or injury.
"Sealed proposal" means that the contents of the proposal cannot be opened or viewed before the formal opening of proposals without leaving evidence that the document has been opened or viewed.
"Signed" means a physical or electronic signature evincing a bidder's intent to be bound.
"Standardization" relates to instances when, in the Director's business judgment, it is advantageous to procure materials, supplies, or equipment consistent and compatible in design, fit, style, composition, or manufacture with materials, supplies, or equipment currently in use or to procure services identical or approximate to those previously procured, notwithstanding that materials, supplies, equipment, or services at variance to those previously procured can be used without negatively impacting the performance of those previously procured. Standardization is appropriate in instances where cost savings relating to maintenance, technical support, training, and/or parts inventory can be reasonably anticipated by procuring materials, supplies, equipment, or services identical or approximate to those previously procured.
"Technical," relative to contract services and as differentiated from "professional" services, refers to services that require the application of a special skill or practical knowledge in such areas as information technology, telecommunications, electronics, or other applied sciences.
"Term contract" means a contract which establishes a source or sources of supply of goods and/or services for a specified period of time, usually characterized by an estimated or definite minimum quantity, with the possibility of additional requirements beyond the minimum, all at predetermined unit prices.
"Using agency" refers to a State department or agency, a quasi-State governmental entity, or an intrastate cooperative purchasing participant authorized to purchase products and/or services under a specific contract procured by the Division.
"Vendor performance database" refers to Division records pertaining to contract performance, including formal complaints, CCAU investigation reports, using agency records and/or satisfaction surveys or any other information assembled by CCAU which may be helpful in assessing the past performance of a vendor.
"Waiver of advertising contract" means a contract awarded without public advertisement pursuant to the provisions of 52:34-9 and 10.
N.J. Admin. Code § 17:12-1.3