Purchasing, Accounts Payable & Travel

Breadcrumb Home Table of Contents V. Administrative, Financial, and Facilities Policies Chapter 11 – Purchasing Chapter 11 – Purchasing Main navigation I. Governance II. Community Policies III. Human Resources IV. Students V. Administrative, Financial, and Facilities Policies VI. Services Appendix: Organizational Charts Office of the Senior Vice President for Finance and Operations -- Business Services/Purchasing and Accounts Payable (Amended 9/93; 10/94; 10/95; 9/97; 10/00; 7/01; 1/03; 5/03; 6/04; 12/04; 6/05; 12/05; 7/1/06; 12/13/06; 8/1/07; 10/1/07; 3/08; 11/09; 3/30/11; 10/11; 8/14; 4/16; 11/16; 7/1/17; 7/18; 1/19; 7/15/22; 2/14/24; 10/9/24; 6/20/25; 6/24/25 ) 11.1 General 11.2 Authority for Procurement 11.3 Responsibility and Objectives 11.4 Signatory Authority 11.5 Competitive Bidding 11.6 Bid Security 11.7 Release of Bid Information 11.8 Withdrawal of Bids 11.9 Waiver of Bid Requirements 11.10 Purchases Requiring Regent Approval or Special Handling 11.11 Purchase of Insurance 11.12 Delegation of Purchasing Authority 11.13 Master Lease 11.14 Conflict of Interest 11.15 Purchases from University Faculty or Staff 11.16 (Reserved for future use) 11.17 Requisitions 11.18 Requisitions for On-Campus Supplies and Services 11.19 Non-P.O. Vouchers and Procurement Cards 11.20 Procurement Card 11.21 Purchase Order Voucher and Invoice 11.22 Items That May Not Be Purchased 11.23 Technology Allowance Policy 11.24 Guidelines for Accounting for Equipment That Is On Trial, Loan, Demonstration, or Evaluation from a Vendor and Not Owned By the University 11.25 Food, Beverage, Flowers, Gifts, and Similar Incidental Expenses 11.1 General (Amended 5/02) The policies in this chapter apply to the purchase of goods and services from all sources of funds administered by the university. 11.2 Authority for Procurement The Purchasing Department administers the procurement of goods and services for all university departments by the authority delegated through the President by the Iowa Board of Regents. The Chief Procurement Officer is vested with authority to obligate the university, while ensuring adherence to the statutes and administrative rules of the State of Iowa and to the policies and procedures of the Iowa Board of Regents and the university. 11.3 Responsibility and Objectives The function of the Purchasing Office is the organization and administration of centralized purchasing services for all departments of the university. In providing these services and in accordance with sound business practices, the office seeks to realize for the university the maximum value for every dollar expended. To achieve this goal, the Purchasing Office has been charged by the President of the university and the Iowa Board of Regents with responsibility for the following: Securing competitive bids to obtain maximum value from the expenditures of university funds. Maintaining liaison with the vendors that provide goods and services to the university. Coordinating the procurement of goods and services for the academic, administrative, and research departments of the university. Developing sources of supply to assure that the university departments have an adequate number of vendors from which to obtain supplies, equipment, and services. The Purchasing Department follows the Code of Ethics of the National Association of Educational Procurement (NAEP) , the professional association serving the purchasing/materials management professionals who support higher education and not-for-profit health care organizations. 11.4 Signatory Authority (Amended 7/13/22) The President has delegated contracting authority to the Chief Procurement Officer for purchase orders and purchase contracts. Purchasing commitments made by employees who do not have contracting authority are voidable. (See V-6.1 Contracting Authority.) 11.5 Competitive Bidding (Amended 12/11; 7/18; 7/13/22) General. Competition within a free marketplace provides the best value for the consumer. By encouraging competition among viable vendors, the university strives to obtain goods and services at the best possible cost and quality. Negotiations for purchases, including requests for quotations of prices, must be accomplished through the Purchasing Department. Purchases less than or equal to $25,000 may be delegated to individual department purchasers. Purchase of goods and services between $25,001 and $50,000 may be purchased through an informal competitive bid with an adequate number of vendors. Federally funded purchases must follow the Uniform Guidance policy. The Iowa Board of Regents requires competitive bidding for the purchase of all university goods and services greater than $50,000 in value. Certain purchases involve terms or conditions that require legal or risk managerment review. Contracts involving such terms or conditions are forwarded by the Purchasing Department to the Director of Risk Management and/or to the General Counsel's Office for review, as appropriate. The three most effective formal methods of competitive bidding are the Request for Quotation (RFQ), the Request for Proposal (RFP), and the Request for Qualificatons (RQFL). These methods provide: Increased savings; Exact communication of wants and needs; Equal and fair access to all qualified vendors; Compliance with university, Regent, state, and federal acquisition regulations and laws; Improved information provided by vendors; Objective evaluation for awards; Services of an experienced purchasing professional; and An established contract under which the vendor is legally obligated to perform. Request for Quotation (RFQ). The Request for Quotation is used for acquisitions based on lowest cost that meets specifications. The university issues formal RFQs for all goods and services greater than $50,000 in value unless a sole-source justification is received and approved. (See V-11.9 Waiver of Bid Requirements.) The Purchasing Agent routinely obtains several quotes, seeking the best price available. Purchasing Agents, in concert with the end users, develop specifications and send the RFQs to potential vendors. Vendors may then reply with a bid showing exact price, shipping costs, delivery schedule, payment terms, and other particulars of the items sought. Purchasing makes the award to the vendor who submits the lowest priced offer whose goods meet the specifications stated in the RFQ. Request for Proposal (RFP). The Request for Proposal (RFP) is used for acquisitions based on other significant factors in addition to price. Examples include capabilities, past performance, support, service, warranty and maintenance. Request for Qualifications (RFQL). The Request for Qualifications process is used primarily for selecting professional services. This process enables the evaluation committee to select the awarded vendor based on the professional's unique skill set, experience, and expertise that are most critical to the success of the project or services requested. Negotiations. The use of negotiated, noncompetitive, and sole-source purchasing procedures must be approved by the Purchasing Department. With appropriate institutional review, both competitive negotiation and noncompetitive negotiation processes may replace written competitive bidding when the purchase is anticipated to exceed $50,000. 11.6 Bid Security Bid security shall be used in cases where the purchasing agent determines there is a need to protect the interest of the university. The need for bid security may, in part, be determined by the size of the proposed purchase, the item or items being bid, the competitive conditions surrounding the purchase, and the history of such purchases including general reliability of vendors being requested to bid a particular purchase. Bids requiring security shall be accompanied by and secured only by a cash deposit, cashier's check, certified check, or a bid bond in an amount of 5 percent of the bid. Bids accompanied and secured by any other form of bid security shall automatically be disqualified. Certified checks and cashier's checks shall be made payable to the University of Iowa. Bid security shall be agreed upon as the measure of liquidated damages which owner will sustain by failure, neglect, or refusal of bidder to honor their offer and accept an award in accord with the contract documents. Bid security, if in the form of a cash deposit, cashier's check, or certified check, will be returned within 48 hours after the contract has been executed. 11.7 Release of Bid Information (Amended 7/13/22) The names of the bidders and the amounts bid shall be supplied to any person upon request after the evaluation of the bids is completed and the award is made. Information will not be released in situations in which the release would provide a competitive advantage to any of the bidders. 11.8 Withdrawal of Bids Bids may be withdrawn prior to the time set for receipt of bids. Bids may not be withdrawn after that time, except as noted herein, without penalty. (For capital projects, see the Board of Regents Policy Manual 2.3 .) Only in the event of an obvious and documented error where it would be a manifest injustice to require the vendor to perform, can a vendor withdraw a bid after the time set for receipt of bids. Such withdrawal of bids can be done only upon the recommendation of the institution under procedures approved by the executive director ( BRPM 2.2.6v ). 11.9 Waiver of Bid Requirements (Amended 7/18; 7/13/22) The Purchasing Department has sole discretion to waive competitive bidding requirements in certain situations, including but not limited to: Immediate need. It can be demonstrated without question that the requiring department could not have foreseen the required purchase in sufficient time for normal purchasing procedures to be used. Emergency need. Life will be endangered, property will be destroyed, or considerable cost will be incurred because of events beyond the control of the department if the procurement is not completed without delay. An emergency includes but is not limited to one of these conditions: In which an immediate or emergency need exists for the item or service because of events and circumstances not reasonably foreseeable. Critical to sustaining patient care or human life, maintaining critical equipment or services, or similar. In which there is a need to protect the health, safety, or welfare of persons occupying or visiting a public property. In which the university must act to preserve critical services or programs. Purchases that are considered time sensitive and would result in increased costs due to delay or the inability to continue to provide necessary services to patients, students, public, etc. The university will submit a quarterly summary of emergency purchases over $50,000 to the Executive Director, Iowa Board of Regents. Sole source. There is only one person or vendor that can provide the requirement. No other known person or firm is available with an equivalent service or supply. Departments must complete a sole source justification form ( see https://uiowa.edu/eforms/ ) and receive approval from Purchasing prior to commencing the purchase process. In order to justify a sole-source purchase, one or more the following criteria must be substantiated in support of the justification: Compatibility with existing equipment. This justification may be used if the goods or services are being purchased to directly interface with or attach to equipment of the same manufacturer, and no other manufacturer's goods will correctly interface with existing equipment. Compatibility for instructional purposes. This justification may be used if the goods are being purchased to supplement existing equipment in a classroom. The goods must match the existing equipment and is being purchased to provide uniformity for instructional purposes. Compatibility for research. This justification may be used if the main purpose for acquiring equipment or supplies is to replicate