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Title: Permissible Contacts
Effective
Date: January 1, 2006
I. &n=
bsp;
REASON FOR POLICY
·
Provide
general University expectations regarding appropriate communications during=
the
restricted period of a procurement
·
Avoid
violation of state and federal laws associated with State Finance Law
§§139-j and 139-k
II. &=
nbsp;
POLICY STATEMENT
It is the policy=
of
SUNY Fredonia to ensure that only permissible contacts occur during the
restricted period of a governmental procurement that involves an estimated
annualized expenditure in excess of $15,000 for commodities, services,
technology, public work, construction, revenue contracts as defined in State
Finance Law §§139-j(l)(i), the purchas=
e,
sale or lease of real property, and/or the acquisition or granting of other
interest in real property. Im=
permissible
contacts shall be reported in accordance with applicable State and Federal =
laws.
SUNY Fredonia shall
accomplish this through the following:
· Designate a person or persons=
who
may be contacted by offerers relative to the procurement and make this information known wi=
thin
the solicitation documents
· Provide a copy of this policy=
and
associated laws to all vendors interested in a covered solicitation
· Require disclosure by Offerer=
s about
any findings of non-responsibility made within the previous four years by a=
ny
Governmental Entity and if the finding of non-responsibility was due to (1)
engaging in impermissible contacts with a Governmental Entity or (2) the
intentional provision of false or incomplete information to a Governmental
Entity
· Require from all Offerers a w=
ritten
affirmation of understanding and agreement to comply with SUNY FredoniaR=
17;s
policies and procedures relating to permissible contacts · Require from the winning vend=
or a
certification of compliance to the completeness, truth and accuracy of all
information · Include in the covered procur=
ement
documents a provision authorizing termination if the certification referenc=
ed
above is found to be intentionally false or intentionally incomplete · Review the New York State Off=
ice of
General Services published list of
non-responsible and debarred vendors for violations of SFL
§§139-j and 139-k and consider such information in its’
determination of responsibility of the proposed vendor · Collect, record, report (if
applicable) and maintain certain information pertaining to those who contact
SUNY Fredonia in an attempt to influence a covered procurement during the
restricted period · Notify the University Ethics
Officer of impermissible contacts who will then review and/or investigate a=
ny
such alleged violations of the law and determine whether the Offerer has
knowingly and willingly violated State Finance Law §139-j and 139-k · If such determination is that a violation has occurred,
Offerer will be found non-responsible and required notifications will be ma=
deIII. DEFINITIONS
For the purpos=
e of this section, the following terms will have the following meanings unl=
ess specified otherwise.
a. =
"Governmental entity" shall mean: =
span>(1)any department, board, bureau, commission, division, office, council, committee or officer of th=
e state, whether permanent or temporary; (2) each house of the =
span>state legislature; (3)the unified court system; (4) any public authori=
ty, public benefit corporation or commission created by or existing pursuan=
t to the public authorities law; (5)any public authority or public benefit corporation, at least one of =
whose members is appointed by the g=
overnor or who serves as a member by virtue of holding a civil office of th=
e state; (6) a municipal agency, as that term is defined in paragraph (ii) =
of subdivision (s) of section one-c of the legislative law; or (7) a subsid=
iary or affiliate of such a public authority.
b. =
"Article of procurement" shall mean a commodity, service, technology, pu=
blic work, construction, revenue contract, the purchase, sale or lease of r=
eal property or an acquisition or granting of other interest in real property, that is the subject of a governmental procur=
ement.
c. =
"Contacts" shall mean any oral, written or electronic communicat=
ion with a governmental entity under circumstances where a reasonable perso=
n would infer that the communication was intended to influence the governme=
ntal procurement.
d. =
"Proposal" shall mean any bid, quotation, offer or response to a=
governmental entity's solicitation of submissions relating to a procurement.
e. =
"Governmental procurement" shall mean: (i) the preparation or terms of the=
specifications, bid documents, request for proposals, or evaluation criteria for a procurement contract=
, (ii) solicitation for a procurement contract, (iii) evaluation of a procu=
rement contract, (iv) award, approval, denial or disappr=
oval of a procurement contract, or (v) approval or denial of an assignment,=
amendment (other than amendments that are authorized and payable under the=
terms of the procurement contract as it was finally awarded or approved by=
the comptroller, as applicable), renewal or extension of a procurement
f. = "Restricted period" shall mean the period of time commencing with the ear= liest written notice, advertisement or solicitation of a request for propos= al, invitation for bids, or solicitation of proposals, or any other method = for soliciting a response from offerers intending to result in a procuremen= t contract with a governmental entity and ending with the final contract aw= ard and approval by the governmental entity and, where applicable, the stat= e comptroller.
g. = "Procurement contract" shall mean any contract or other agreement for = an article of procurement involving an estimated annualized expenditure in = excess of fifteen thousand dollars. = Grants, article eleven-B state = ; finance law contracts, intergovernmental agreements, railroad and = utility force accounts, utili= ty relocation project agreements or orders and eminent domain transactions = shall not be deemed procurement contracts.=
h. = "Offerer" shall mean the individual or entity, or any employee, agent or co= nsultant or person acting on behalf of such individual or entity, that cont= acts a governmental entity about a governmental procurement during the rest= ricted period of such governmental &= nbsp; procurement.
i. = "Revenue contract" shall mean any written agreement between a government= al entity, as that term is defined in subparagraphs one, four, five, six or= seven of paragraph a of this subdivision, and an offerer whereby the governmental entity gives or grants a concession or a franch= ise.
j. = "Unified court system" shall, for the purposes of this section only, m= ean the unified court system of the state of New York, or the office of court administration, where appr= opriate, other than town and village justice courts in jurisdictions with a= population under fifty thous= and, when it acts solely in an administrative capacity to engage in governm= ental procurements and shall not include the unified &= nbsp; court system or any court of the state judiciary when it acts to hear and= decide cases of original or appellate jurisdiction or otherwise acts in it= s judicial, as opposed to administrative, capacity.=
III. PERMISSIBLE CONTACTS
In general, contacts must be made to the designated person or person=
s at SUNY Fredonia, but the following constitute exceptions to this require=
ment;
· Su=
bmission of a bid, proposal or response for a procurement contract
· Su=
bmission of written questions when written responses are to be provided to =
all offerers
· Pa=
rticipation in a pre-bid conference
· Co=
mplaints by an offerer to Office of General Counsel where the designated pe=
rson for the procurement contract of SUNY Fredonia fails to respond in a ti=
mely manner
· Ne=
gotiations with SUNY Fredonia after a tentative award· De=
briefings about a procurement contract award
· Fi=
ling of written disputes in administrative hearings, judicial proceedings a=
nd to the Attorney General, Inspector General, District Attorney, or State =
Comptroller
<=
/span>
IV. IMPERMISSIBLE CONTACTS
Impermissible contacts occur when the offerer c=
ontacts a person who is not the designated contact person for the applicabl=
e procurement in an attempt to influence the governmental procurement. When an offerer contacts a person=
, other than the designated person(s), and engages in communication which a=
reasonable person would infer was intended to influence the governmental p=
rocurement, this contact is not permitted under the law and is required to =
be recorded by the person(s) contacted, reported, and made a part of the pr=
ocurement record. The obligat=
ions under the law are activated when an Offerer or anyone working on behal=
f of the Offerer has any oral, written, or electronic communication with SU=
NY Fredonia employees which a reasonable person would believe is intended t=
o influence the procurement. =
There does not have to be financial interest present for there to be an att=
empt to influence the procurement.
V.
RELATED INFORMATION
Additional information regarding applicability and requirements of St=
ate
Finance Law §§139-j and 139-k, may be found in the Office of
Facilities Planning located at 140 Hendrix Hall, SUNY Fredonia, Fredonia, N=
Y, 14063
and also by clicking on the link for State Finance Law Sections 139-j and 1=
39-k
at the Facilities Planning web site at:
= · &n= bsp; www.fredonia.edu/admin/cfm <= o:p>
V.
AUTHORITY FOR POLICY
State Finance Law §§139-j
and 139-k