Chapter 41.88
TERMS AND DEFINITIONS

Sections:

41.88.010    Terms and definitions.

41.88.010 Terms and definitions.

Account payable means a debt owed that arises in the course of business transaction (e.g., invoices, claims and bills; for materials received but not yet paid).

Account receivable means a claim against a debtor usually arising from sales or services rendered.

Agent means one acting for another, called principal, in dealing with third parties.

Bid means a competitive price offer made by an intended seller, usually in reply to an invitation to bid; a price offer made at a public auction.

Bid bond means an insurance agreement in which a third party agrees to be liable to pay a certain amount of money in the event a specific awarded bidder fails to sign the contract as bid.

Bid deposit means a sum of money or check deposited with and at the request of the City to guarantee that the bidder (depositor) shall, if selected, sign the contract as bid. If the bidder does not sign the contract, the deposit is forfeited in the amount of the deposit.

Bid opening means the act of publicly opening the bid envelopes and making available, for public inspection, the bids received.

Blanket agreements means contracts that establish the commitment of a vendor to furnish the purchaser’s (City’s) requirements for items or services on an as-required, over-the-counter basis.

Blanket order generally specifies prices, terms, conditions and the period covered, but does not specify the quantity. Shipments/deliveries are made against the purchase order.

Brand name description means a description that identifies a single item or source for a product or service on a proprietary basis. Products are usually referenced by model or part number.

Centralized purchasing means a system of purchasing in which all purchasing authority, responsibility and control of purchasing activities is concentrated in one administrative unit.

Change order means purchaser’s written modification or addition to a purchase order.

City means City of Grand Junction, State of Colorado.

Collusion means a secret agreement or cooperation between two or more persons to accomplish a fraudulent, deceitful or unlawful purpose.

Commodity means a transportable article of trade or commerce that can be bartered or sold.

Competitive sealed bid means the offer of set bids by individuals or firms competing for a contract, privilege or right to supply specified services or merchandise. Bids are submitted in sealed envelopes to prevent dissemination of the contents before the deadline for the submission of all bids; required on major procurements expected to cost at least $25,000 to ensure fair competition among bidders.

Conflict of interest means the actual or potential conflict in which a person may gain from (or holds interest in) a company doing business with his employer.

Contract means an agreement, enforceable by law, between two or more competent parties, to do or not to do something not prohibited by law, for a consideration; any type of City agreement, regardless of what it may be called, for the procurement or disposal of supplies, services or construction.

Contract administration means the management of all actions, after the award of a contract, that must be taken to assure compliance with the contract; e.g., timely delivery, acceptance, payment, closing contract, etc.

Contractor means any person having a contract with the City.

Delivery means the formal handing over of property; the transfer of possession, as by carrier to purchaser.

Department Director shall include the following positions: City Attorney, Deputy City Manager, Public Works and Planning Director, Financial Operations Director, Human Resources Director, Parks and Recreation Director, Police Chief, Fire Chief, Utilities and Streets Systems Director and Economic, Convention and Visitor Services (ECVS) Director, or their designated representatives.

Division Managers may include exempt City employees with position titles including, but not limited to, Deputy Director, Information Technology Director, Manager, Superintendent and exempt officers of the Police and Fire Departments.

Emergency purchase is a purchase made in an exigency, made under special procedures, designed to meet the emergency. Bona fide emergency purchases are made to protect the public health of citizens or when immediate repair is necessary to prevent further damage to public property, machinery or equipment. In addition, a bona fide emergency purchase is when the functioning and operation of a City department would be seriously hampered or delayed through use of the normal requisitioning/purchasing process.

Evaluation of bids and proposals means the process of examining a bid or proposal after opening to determine the respondent’s responsibility, responsiveness to requirements and other characteristics of the solicitation relating to the selection of the award.

Formal advertising means the placement of a notice in a newspaper or other media according to legal requirements to inform and solicit the public that the City is requesting bids on specific purchases it intends to make.

Formal contract means an agreement, enforceable by law, between two or more competent parties, to do or not to do something not prohibited by law, for a consideration.

Formal solicitation means a solicitation response which must be submitted in a sealed envelope and in conformance with a prescribed format to be received and opened publicly at a specified time, place and date.

Immediate family means a spouse, children, parents, brothers and sisters and any other person living in the same household as the employee.

Informal solicitation means a request for price quotation for a commodity or service that does not require advertising, a sealed response, public opening or reading of responses. Appropriate method for purchases costing between $5,000 and $10,000. Competitive informal quotes are strongly recommended for all purchases.

Invitation for bids (IFB) means all documents, whether attached or incorporated by reference, utilized for soliciting bids.

Invoice means seller’s itemized document stating prices and quantities of goods and/or services delivered and sent to buyer for payment.

Lease purchase agreement means an acquisition contract in which the lease’s periodic payments or parts thereof are applied both to fulfill the lease obligation and as installments for equity and eventual ownership of the commodity upon completion of the agreement.

Net price means price after all discounts, rebates, etc., have been allowed.

Nonbudgeted purchase means purchase of materials or services of benefit to the City even though the particular performance has not been budgeted for within a department so long as the expenditure shall not cause the program or division of the budget to be overexpended.

Nonresponsive bid means a bid that does not conform to the mandatory or essential requirements of the invitation for bid.

Not low bidder means award of a bid to a supplier that did not submit the low responsive bid.

Obsolete means no longer in use, discarded, out of date.

Official responsibility means administrative or operating authority, whether intermediate or final, to initiate, approve, disapprove or otherwise affect a procurement transaction or any claim resulting therefrom.

Open market purchase means a purchase in an amount less than $5,000 which is made by buying from any available source, as opposed to buying from a vendor who has responded to an invitation to bid.

Payment bond means a bond which assures payments, as required by law, to all persons supplying labor or material for the completion of work under the contract.

Pecuniary interest in or arising from the procurement means a personal financial interest, generally a monetary gain.

Performance bond means a contract of guarantee executed subsequent to award by a successful bidder to protect the City from loss due to his inability to complete the contract as agreed.

Performance specification means a specification setting forth performance requirements that have been determined to be necessary for the item involved to perform and last as required.

Pre-bid conference means a meeting held with prospective bidders prior to solicitation of bids or proposals, to recognize state of the art limits, technical aspects, specifications and standards relative to the subject and elicit expertise and bidders’ interest in pursuing the task.

Prequalification of bidder means the screening of potential vendors in which a City considers such factors as finances, reputation, management, etc., in order to develop a list of vendors qualified to bid on City contracts.

Privatization. Privatization/outsourcing is a contractual relationship with an outside vendor to assume responsibility for one or more government processes, functions and/or services.

Procurement means buying, purchasing, renting, leasing or otherwise acquiring any supplies, services or construction. “Procurement” includes all the functions that pertain to the obtaining of any supply, service or construction, including description of requirements, selection and solicitation of sources, preparation and award of contract and all phases of contract administration.

Procurement transaction means all functions that pertain to the obtaining of any goods, services or construction, including description of requirements, selection and solicitation of sources, preparation and award of contract and all phases of contract administration.

Proprietary article means an item made and marketed by a person or persons having the exclusive right to manufacture and sell it.

Proprietary information is defined as any information which is not generally known to competitors and which provides a competitive advantage. Unrestricted disclosure of proprietary information places it in the public domain.

Protest means a complaint about a City administrative action or decision brought by a bidder or vendor to the appropriate administrative section with the intention of receiving a remedial result.

Public employee means any person employed by the City, including elected officials and appointed members of boards and commissions.

Purchase order means a purchaser’s written document to a supplier formally stating all terms and conditions of a proposed transaction.

Purchasing means the Purchasing Division, a division of the Financial Operations Division of the Administration Department.

Purchasing manual means documents which set forth the City’s rules and regulations for the Purchasing Division’s relations with suppliers and with other departments and prescribes the procedures to follow.

Quotation means generally a sales proposal including price, sales terms and conditions; a price statement as an offer; a bid.

Recycled paper means paper made from waste paper products.

Request for proposal (RFP) means a request for an offer by one party to another of terms and conditions with references to some work or undertaking. “RFP” means all documents, whether attached or incorporated by reference, utilized for soliciting proposals. Also known as competitive negotiation.

Request for quotation (RFQ) means a type of formal solicitation including written quotes from vendors. Used for purchases from $10,000 to $25,000. Formal RFQ responses are due at a specified date and time.

Requirements contracts means an indefinite-quantity agreement in which the purchaser is obligated to order and the vendor is obligated to supply all of the purchaser’s normal requirements for a specified price during a specified period.

Requisition means an internal document by which a functional department such as Stores, Maintenance, or Production sends to the Purchasing Division details of materials to meet their needs, replenish stocks or obtain materials for specific jobs or contracts.

Responsible bidder means a person who has the capability in all respects to perform fully the contract requirements and the tenacity, perseverance, experience, integrity, reliability, capacity, facilities, equipment and credit which shall assure good faith performance.

Responsive bidder means a bidder whose bid does not vary from the specifications and terms set out by the City in the bid documents.

Scrap means material that is damaged, defective or deteriorated to the extent that it has no value except for its basic material content.

Sealed bid means a bid submitted in a sealed envelope to prevent dissemination of its contents before the deadline for the submission of all bids; usually required by the purchasing authority on major procurements to ensure fair competition among bidders.

Service contract means a contract that calls for a contractor’s time and effort rather than for a concrete end product.

Services means the furnishing of labor, time or effort.

Software means a set of programs, procedures and possibly associated documentation concerned with the operation of a data processing system.

Sole source purchase means the purchase of a commodity which can only be purchased from one supplier, usually because of its technological, specialized or unique character.

Solicitation means the process of notifying prospective vendors that the City wishes to receive bids or proposals to provide goods or services. The process might consist of public advertising, the mailing of invitations for bid or requests for proposal, the posting of notices, telephone calls to prospective vendors, etc.

State means State of Colorado.

Statement of Qualifications (SOQ) means letters or statements of qualification from prospective providers.

Tabulation of bids means the recording of bids and bidding data that were submitted in response to a specific invitation for the purposes of comparison, analysis and recordkeeping.

Term contracts means contracts which establish a source of supply for a good or service for a specified period of time.

Transaction means any matter under consideration or considered by a public employee on which official action is taken or contemplated.

User agency means any department, commission, board or public agency requiring supplies, services or construction procured pursuant to the City’s purchasing rules and regulations.

Vendor means any firm, individual, corporation, agent or company who may desire to quote on the City’s requirements or who wants to purchase items offered for sale by the City; a supplier.

(Res. 04-12 (§ 22.1), 1-16-12)