34 Tex. Admin. Code § 20.25 - Definitions
(a) As used throughout this chapter, words
and terms defined in the State Purchasing and General Services Act, Government
Code, Title 10, Subtitle D, and the Code Construction Act, Government Code,
Chapter 311 shall have the same meaning as defined therein, and each word or
term listed in this chapter shall have the meaning set forth herein, unless:
(1) its use clearly requires a different
meaning; or
(2) a different
definition is prescribed for a particular chapter or portion thereof.
(b) The following words and terms,
when used in this chapter, shall have the following meaning unless the context
clearly indicates otherwise.
(1) Act--The
State Purchasing and General Services Act, Government Code, Title 10, Subtitle
D, Chapter 2151, et seq, including any amendments thereto that may be made from
time to time.
(2) Advisory
groups--A group that advises and assists the standards and specification
program in establishing specifications. The advisory group may include
representatives from federal, state and local governments, user groups,
manufacturers, vendors and distributors, bidders, associations, colleges,
universities, testing laboratories, and others with expertise and
specialization in particular product area.
(3) Agent of record--An employee or official
designated by a qualified cooperative entity as the individual responsible to
represent the qualified entity in all matters relating to the
program.
(4) Approved products
list--The list is also referred to as the approved brands list or qualified
products list. It is a specification developed by evaluation of brands and
models of various manufacturers and listing those determined to be acceptable
to meet the minimum level of quality. Testing is completed in advance of
procurement to determine which products comply with the specifications and
standards requirements.
(5)
Award--The act of accepting a bid, thereby forming a contract between the state
and a bidder.
(6) Bid--An offer to
contract with the state, submitted in response to a bid invitation issued by
the comptroller.
(7) Bid deposit--A
deposit required of bidders to protect the state in the event a low bidder
attempts to withdraw its bid or otherwise fails to enter into a contract with
the state. Acceptable forms of bid deposits are limited to: cashier's check,
certified check, or irrevocable letter of credit issued by a financial
institution subject to the laws of Texas and entered on the United States
Department of the Treasury's listing of approved sureties; a surety or blanket
bond from a company chartered or authorized to do business in Texas.
(8) Bidder--An individual or entity that
submits a bid. The term includes anyone acting on behalf of the individual or
other entity that submits a bid, such as agents, employees, and
representatives.
(9) Blanket
bond--A surety bond which provides assurance of a bidder's performance on two
or more contracts in lieu of separate bonds for each contract. The amount for a
blanket bond shall be established by the comptroller based on the bidder's
annual level of participation in the state purchasing program.
(10) Brand name--A trade name or product name
which identifies a product as having been made by a particular
manufacturer.
(11) Centralized
master bidders list (CMBL)--A list maintained by the comptroller containing the
names and addresses of prospective bidders and catalog information systems
vendors.
(12) Comptroller--The
Comptroller of Public Accounts of the State of Texas or the designated and
authorized representative of the Comptroller of Public Accounts of the State of
Texas.
(13) Contract value or the
value of a contract--The estimated dollar amount that a state agency may be
obligated to pay pursuant to the contract and all executed and proposed
amendments, extensions and renewals of the contract.
(14) Contractor--A vendor that contracts to
provide goods or services to the state under the Act and all
successors-in-interest to that contractor.
(15) Cooperative purchasing program--A
program to provide purchasing services to qualified cooperative entities, as
defined herein.
(16) Customer
choice--Customer choice as the term is defined under Utilities Code, §
31.002(4).
(17) Debarment--An exclusion from contracting
or subcontracting with state agencies on the basis of any cause set forth in
the Act or these rules, commensurate with the seriousness of the offense,
performance failure, or inadequacy to perform.
(18) Director--The director of the
division.
(19) Distributor
purchase--Purchase of repair parts for a unit of major equipment that are
needed immediately or as maintenance contracts for laboratory/medical
equipment.
(20) Division--The
organizational division within the office of the Comptroller of Public Accounts
for the State of Texas performing the responsibilities identified in the Act
for and under the direction of the comptroller.
(21) Emergency procurement--A situation
requiring the state agency to make the procurement more quickly to prevent a
hazard to life, health, safety, welfare, or property or to avoid undue
additional cost to the state.
(22)
Environmentally sensitive products--Products that protect or enhance the
environment, or provide less risk to the environment than traditionally
available products.
(23) Equivalent
product--A product that is comparable in performance and quality to the
specified product.
(24) Electronic
State Business Daily (ESBD)--A business daily made available on the Internet at
an electronic procurement marketplace to which state agencies post contract
opportunities that will exceed $25,000 in value.
(25) Formal bid--A written bid submitted in a
sealed envelope in accordance with a prescribed format, or an electronic data
interchange transmitted to the comptroller in accordance with procedures
established by the comptroller.
(26) Group purchasing program--A purchasing
program that offers discount prices to two or more state agencies, which is
formed as a result of interagency or interlocal cooperation and follows all
applicable statutory standards for purchases.
(27) Historically Underutilized Business or
HUB--A historically underutilized business as defined by Government Code,
Chapter 2161 and Subchapter D, Division 1 of these rules.
(28) Informal bid--An unsealed, competitive
bid submitted by letter, telephone, or other means.
(29) Invitation for bids (IFB)--A written
request for submission of a bid; also referred to as a bid
invitation.
(30) Invoice--A
document presented by a contractor for payment, which includes information
necessary for payment processing, and is received by mail, hand delivery,
electronically, or by facsimile transmission.
(31) Late bid--A bid that is received at the
place designated in the bid invitation after the time set for bid
opening.
(32) Level of quality--The
ranking of an item, article, or product in regard to its properties,
performance, and purity.
(33) Local
government--A county, municipality, special district, school district, junior
college district, regional planning commission, or other political subdivision
of the state pursuant to Local Government Code, §
271.101.
(34) Manufacturer's price list--A price list
published in some form by the manufacturer and available to and recognized by
the trade. The term does not include a price list prepared especially for a
given bid.
(35) Multiple award
contract (as it applies to Multiple Award Schedule Contracts)--An award of a
contract for an indefinite amount of one or more similar goods or services from
a vendor.
(36) Multiple award
contract procedure--A purchasing procedure by which the comptroller establishes
one or more levels of quality and performance and makes more than one award at
each level.
(37) Non-competitive
purchase--A purchase of goods or services (also referred to as "spot purchase")
that does not exceed the amount stated in §
20.82 of this title (relating to
Delegated Purchases).
(38) Notice
of award--A letter signed by the comptroller or the designee which awards and
creates a term contract.
(39) Open
market purchase--A purchase of goods, usually of a specified quantity, made by
buying from any available source in response to an open market
requisition.
(40) Performance
bond--A surety bond which provides assurance of a bidder's performance of a
certain contract. The amount for the performance bond shall be based on the
bidder's annual level of potential monetary volume in the state purchasing
program. Acceptable forms of bonds are those described in the definition for
"bid deposit."
(41) Perishable
goods--Goods that are subject to spoilage within a relatively short time and
that may be purchased by agencies under delegated authority.
(42) Post-consumer materials--Finished
products, packages, or materials generated by a business entity or consumer
that have served their intended end uses, and that have been recovered or
otherwise diverted from the waste stream for the purpose of
recycling.
(43) Pre-consumer
materials--Materials or by-products that have not reached a business entity or
consumer for an intended end use, including industrial scrap material, and
overstock or obsolete inventories from distributors, wholesalers, and other
companies. The term does not include materials and by-products generated from,
and commonly reused within, an original manufacturing process or separate
operation within the same or a parent company.
(44) Prescribed form--The entry screens
available in the ESBD.
(45)
Proprietary--Products or services manufactured or offered under exclusive
rights of ownership, including rights under patent, copyright, or trade secret
law. A product or service is proprietary if it has a distinctive feature or
characteristic which is not shared or provided by competing or similar products
or services.
(46) Public utility or
utility--A public utility or utility as the term is defined under Utilities
Code, §
11.004.
(47) Purchase orders--A document issued by a
qualified ordering entity to make a purchase under a term contract issued by
the comptroller by these rules.
(48) Purchasing functions--The development of
specifications, receipt and processing of requisitions, review of
specifications, advertising for bids, bid evaluation, award of contracts, and
inspection of merchandise received. The term does not include invoice, audit,
or contract administration functions.
(49) Qualified cooperative entity--An entity
that qualifies for participation in the cooperative purchasing program and
includes:
(A) a local government;
(B) a mental health and mental retardation
community center identified in Government Code, §
2155.202, that
receive grants-in-aid under the provisions of Health and Safety Code, Chapter
534, Subchapter B;
(C) an
assistance organization as defined in Government Code, §
2175.001, that
receive any state funds; and
(D) a
political subdivision, as defined by Government Code, Chapter 791.
(50) Qualified Ordering Entity--An
entity that is either:
(A) a state agency;
or
(B) a qualified cooperative
entity that has registered with the comptroller to participate in the
cooperative purchasing program as defined in Local Government Code, Subchapter
D, §271.081.
(51)
Recycled material content--The portion of a product made with recycled
materials consisting of pre-consumer materials (waste), post-consumer materials
(waste), or both.
(52) Recycled
materials--Materials, goods, or products that contain recyclable material,
industrial waste, or hazardous waste that may be used in place of raw or virgin
materials in manufacturing a new product.
(53) Recycled product--A product, including
recycled steel that meets the requirements for recycled material content as
prescribed by the rules established by the Texas Commission on Environmental
Quality in consultation with the comptroller.
(54) Registered agent--A representative
designated by each state agency responsible for posting eligible procurement
opportunities in the ESB.
(55)
Remanufactured product--A product that has been repaired, rebuilt, or otherwise
restored to meet or exceed the original equipment manufacturer's (OEM)
performance specifications; provided, however, the warranty period for a
remanufactured product may differ from the OEM warranty period.
(56) Request for proposal--A written request
for offers concerning goods or services the state intends to acquire by means
of the competitive sealed proposal procedure.
(57) Requisition--
(A) Open market purchase requisition. An
initiating request from an agency describing needs and requesting the
comptroller to purchase goods or services to satisfy those needs.
(B) Term contract purchase requisition. A
request from a qualified ordering entity for delivery of goods under an
existing term contract.
(58) Resolution--Document of legal intent
adopted by the governing body of a qualified cooperative entity that evidences
the qualified cooperative entity's participation in the cooperative purchasing
program.
(59) Respondent--A person
that submits a response to a solicitation.
(60) Retail electric provider--A retail
electric provider as the term is defined under Utilities Code, §
31.002(17).
(61) Reverse auction--A real time bidding
procedure that is Internet dependent and which is conducted at a pre-scheduled
time and Internet location in which multiple suppliers, anonymous to each
other, submit bids for designated goods or services.
(62) Schedule--A list of multiple award
contracts from which agencies may purchase goods and services.
(63) Sealed bid--A formal written
bid.
(64) Solicitation--An
invitation for bids or a request for proposals or any other document issued by
a state agency for the purpose of soliciting offers in any form from a vendor
to sell goods or services to the state and that includes at a minimum the
information identified in Government Code, §
2155.083(g).
(65) Specification--A concise statement of a
set of requirements to be satisfied by a product, material or service,
indicating whenever appropriate the procedures to determine whether the
requirements are satisfied.
(66)
Standard specification--A description of what the purchaser requires and what a
bidder or proposer must offer.
(67)
State agency--A state agency as the term is defined under Government Code,
Title 10, §
2151.002.
(68) Successor-in-interest--Any business
entity that acquires or otherwise obtains the controlling ownership of a
business entity.
(69) Tabulation of
bids--The recording of bids and bidding data for purposes of bid evaluation and
recordkeeping.
(70) Term contract
purchase--A purchase by a qualified ordering entity under a term contract,
which established a source of supply for particular goods at a given price for
a specified period of time.
(71)
Testing--An element of inspection involving the determination, by technical
means, of the properties or elements of item(s) or component(s), including
function operation.
(72) Texas
uniform standards and specifications--Standards and specifications prepared and
published by the standards and specifications program of the
comptroller.
(73) Unit price--The
price of a selected unit of a good or service, e.g., price per ton, per labor
hour, or per foot.
(74) Using
agency--An agency of government that requisitions goods or services through the
comptroller.
(75) Vendor--A person
that offers goods and services in the state.
Notes
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