PROCUREMENT POLICY. 1 P age

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1 PROCUREMENT POLICY PURPOSE: Procurement Standards: 20 CFR requires non-profits to establish procedures for: I. The procurement of supplies and other expendable property, equipment, and real property. II. Local Boards in the use of competitive procurement of services in selecting providers of Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) Adult, Youth, and Dislocated Worker services, as well as for the operation of a local certified NCWorks Career Center. The standards must ensure that such materials and services are obtained in an effective manner and in compliance with the provisions of applicable federal statutes and executive orders. BACKGROUND: The Local Area will abide by the United States Office of Management and budget (OMB) Circular Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principals, Audit Requirements for Federal Awards (Procurement Procedures) which establishes principles and standards for determining costs for all Federal awards carried out by state and local governments; and WIOA Sections 121(2)(A) and NPRM (a) and (a)-(d). The Procurement Procedures for supplies, expendable property, equipment, real property is defined in the Procurement Section of the Financial Manual. DWS Policy Statement PS : Adult, Youth and Dislocated Worker Training Services: The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) in Section 107(g)(1)(A) mandates that local Workforce Development Boards shall not provide training services to customers. This requirement is also reiterated in the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) at (b) which states, A Local board acting as a direct provider of services is not optimal, as the Local Board is designed to oversee the one-stop system and its services, not provide them. Boards must competitively procure these training services in compliance with all state and federal regulations. WIOA Section 107(g)(1)(B) allows that a waiver of these procurement requirements may be granted under certain conditions as outlined in Waiver of Training Prohibition. One-Stop Operators: Requirements for the competitive procurement of one-stop operators are addressed in the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) Section (a)-(e). That section requires the one-stop operator to be selected through a competitive process. While the NPRM 1 P age

2 allows for the possibility of a local Board to be the one-stop operator, the Division s position is to reject that possibility, as the board s role is to provide strategic direction and oversight to service delivery. The NPRM also allows a one-stop operator to also be a service provider. However, the section clarifies that there must be firewalls in place to ensure that the operator is not conducting oversight of itself as a service provider. There must also be proper internal controls and firewalls in place to ensure that the entity, in its role as operator, does not conflict with its role of service provider. ACTION: Responsibilities: The Local Area is the responsible authority, without recourse to DWS, DOL regarding the settlement and satisfaction of all contractual and administrative issues arising out of procurements entered into in support of an award or other agreement. This includes dispute claims, protests of award, source evaluation or other matters of a contractual nature. Matters concerning violation of statute are to be referred to federal, state, or local authority with proper jurisdiction. Competition: All procurement transactions shall be conducted in a manner to provide, to the extent practical, open and free competition. Awards shall be made to the bidder or offeror whose bid or offer is responsive to the solicitation and is most advantageous to the Local Area with price, quality and other factors considered. Solicitations shall clearly set forth all requirements that the bidder or offeror shall fulfill in order for the bid or offer to be evaluated by the Local Area. Any and all bids or offers may be rejected when it is in the best interest of the Local Area to do so. Procurement Procedures: Solicitation for services shall provide for all of the following: 1. A clear and accurate description of the technical requirements for the service to be procured. 2. In competitive procurement, such a description shall not contain features which unduly restrict competition. 3. The requirements which the bidder/offeror must fulfill and all other factors stated which will be used in evaluating bids or proposals. 4. A description, whenever practical, of technical requirements in terms of functions to be performed or performance required, including the range of acceptable characteristics or minimum acceptable standards. 5. The type of procuring instruments used (e.g., fixed price contracts, cost reimbursement contracts, purchase orders, and incentive contracts) shall be determined by the Local Area, but shall be appropriate for the particular procurement and for promoting the best interest of the program involved. The cost plus a percentage of cost or percentage of construction cost methods of contracting shall not be used. 6. Contracts shall be made only with responsible contractors who possess the potential ability to perform successfully under the terms and conditions of the proposed procurement. 7. Consideration shall be given to such matters as contractor integrity, record of past performance, financial and technical resources or accessibility to other necessary resources. 8. In certain circumstances, contracts with certain parties are restricted by agencies implementation of E.O. s and 12689, Debarment and Suspension. 2 P age

3 9. The Local Area shall, on request, make available to DOL, pre-award and procurement documents, such as requests for proposals or invitations for bids, independent cost estimates, etc. 10. The Local Area may, by authorization from the Workforce Development Board, extend a current contract one additional year, if performance has not been a questionable issue. 11. The Local Area may, by authorization from the Workforce Development Board, sole source the youth activities for a limited time when not doing so would prove detrimental to a particular area. Additional Procurement Procedures: 1. The Local Area will maintain a bidders list of all interested parties. 2. Bidders on the bidder s list shall be notified via electronic correspondence and Legal Ads will be published in local newspapers requesting solicitations. 3. All bidders and/or offerors shall have thirty (30) days to respond to the solicitation request. Procurement may be either competitive or non-competitive. a) Must contain a statement of work; b) Must contain performance expected, with delivery as critical factors; c) Must contain evaluation factors; d) Requires a cost and price analysis; e) Procurement decision will be based on best value, not cost factor; and f) Will contain a cost factor for delivery of services. The Local Area will not utilize sealed bids for Procurement of Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act Services. Contracting for Personnel Services: 1. Procurement for personnel services shall follow the procedures as set forth by the Division of Workforce Solutions.. a) Shall solicit Requests for Proposals via notifying bidders and/or offerors with the ability to provide the service needed, if more than $5,000 for such service. b) May use Sole Source if adequate documentation is provided as to the decision to do so. This documentation must include the rational for selecting a Sole Source versus procuring the service through the procurement process. Cost and Price Analysis: Some form of cost or price analysis shall be made and documented in the procurement files in connection with every procurement action. Price analysis may be accomplished in various ways, including the comparison of price quotations submitted, market prices, and similar indicia, together with discounts. Cost analysis is the review and evaluation of each element of cost to determine reasonableness, allocability and allowability. Procurement Records: Procurement records and files for purchases in excess of the small purchase threshold shall include the following at a minimum: a) Basis for contractor selection; b) Justification for lack of competition when competitive bids or offers are not obtained; and 3 P age

4 c) Basis for award cost or price Contract Administration: A system for contract administration shall be maintained to ensure contractor conformance with the terms, conditions, and specifications of the contract and to ensure adequate and timely follow up of all purchases. The Local Area will evaluate contractor performance and document, as appropriate, whether contractors have met the terms, conditions, and specifications of the contract. Contract Provisions: The Local Area shall include, in addition to provisions to define a sound and complete agreement, the following provisions in all contracts. The following provisions shall also be applied to subcontracts: a) Contracts in excess of the small purchase threshold shall contain contractual provisions or conditions that allow for administrative, contractual, or legal remedies in instances in which a contactor violates or breaches the contract terms, and provide for such remedial actions as may be appropriate; b) All contracts in excess of the small purchase threshold shall contain suitable provisions for termination by the Local Area, including the manner by which termination shall be effected and the basis for settlement. In addition, such contracts shall describe conditions under which the contract may be terminated for default as well as conditions where the contract may be terminated because of circumstances beyond the control of the contractor; c) All negotiated contracts (except those for less than the small purchase threshold) awarded by the Local Area shall include a provision to the effect that the Local Area, DES, DOL, the comptroller General of the United States, or any of their duly authorized representatives, shall have access to any books, documents, papers and records of the contractor which are directly pertinent to a specific program for the purpose of making audits, examinations, excerpts and transactions. Appeals Process: A bidder who wishes to protest the decision will be required to notify the Director of Workforce Development in writing within 5 working days from the date of the notification letter. The complainant s letter must specify the nature of the protest and any direct remedies of action. The Workforce Development Board reserves the right to determine whether the protest is valid and merits further consideration. See below for policy specifics: If an entity has submitted a proposal and is not recommended for funding during the review process, the entity may appeal the recommendation to the Administrative Entity. Protests and appeals may not dispute the particular score received by the petitioning entity, or the scores assigned to a competing entity. The scores given by the rating panel are final and not subject to question by an appealing entity. An appealing entity may protest or appeal the recommendation of the evaluators if it can show that any substantial portion of the approved RFP/RFA process has not been followed. Any protest or appeal must be submitted in writing to the Workforce Development Board within five (5) working days of the notification of refusal. All protests or appeals are to be addressed to the Workforce Development Director. Only protests or appeals which cite the specific section(s) 4 P age

5 of the RFP/RFA that have been violated will be considered. Once reviewed by the Workforce Development Director for merit, the protest or appeal will be elevated to the appropriate Workforce Development Board Committee/ or Council and then the Workforce Development Board of Directors. Protests and appeals received after the established time frame will not be accepted. The decision made by the full WDB Board of Directors as to which proposal(s) is/are funded will be final. Effective Date: July 1, 2015 Revised: June 1, 2016 Expiration Date: Indefinite Contact: Accountability Systems Manager Approved By: Director 5 P age