Certified Texas Contract Developer Practice Exam All Possible Questions and Answers with complete solution

Vendor Communication - Answer Communication between vendors and public procurement professionals is vital and encouraged. All communication must cease once the solicitation drafting process commences to ensure integrity of procurement. There are allowable and unallowable vendor-procurement interactions. Surplus Programs - Answer Purchasing Goods, go here first. Federal surplus: comes from US govt, no public sales, usually lower fees than state. State surplus: Property from state agencies, available for direct transfer to agency, eventually available for sale to public. Set Aside programs - Answer step 2 of purchasing goods Must be determined to be unsuitable before beginning a procurement from another source. Texas Correctional Industries Texas Workforce Commission (WorkQuest and TPPD) Must file a vendor performing report Texas Correctional Industries (TCI) - Answer a division of TDCJ that manufactures goods and services using primarily offender labor for purchase by TX govt entities. Competitive bidding not required, Available through TX Smart Buy, Complete VPTS TCI Waiver Process - Answer Process used to request not using TCI. TCI evaluates and approves or denies waiver. Keep waiver in procurement file. Texas Purchasing from People with Disabilities Exception Reporting - Answer must report through CPA TPPD reporting tool the reason commodities or services that could have been purchased through WorkQuest but were instead purchased from another vendor.Exceptions include: quality, quantity, life-cycle costs, delivery time. Statewide Term Contracts and Managed Contracts - Answer Established by SPD as a source for procurement of goods and services. Go here first before going to open market. See contracts already created to use. Purchase Order Change Notice - Answer Used when a change to an order is required. Needed for any change regardless of if initial purchase was through a managed contract or from TX Smart Buy. DO PROMPTLY! (within 30 days) Texas Multiple Award Schedule (TXMAS) - Answer contracts to supplement the term contracts issued and negotiated by SPD. Awarded with SPD terms and conditions overlaying existing federal govt or other govt entity base contract. Agencies may use without obtaining delegated authority from SPD. Texas Multiple Award Schedule (TXMAS) thresholds - Answer $0- 50,000: go directly to TXMAS vendor $50,000- 1M: obtain a price quote from 3 vendors $1M or greater: Minimum of 6 vendors If not enough vendors available, then document the limited number. Department of Information Resources (DIR) - Answer A state agency created in 1989 that serves as the chief information office for the State of Texas. Agencies are required to purchase through DIR unless otherwise exempted. Request for Offer (RFO) - Answer Must be used for IT Procurements, if cannot use DIR contracts. Waiver is needed - Answer In order to not use DIR a DIRLess than $50K - Answer Bidding requirements for DIR Cooperative Contracts: Can purchase without submitting a price request to multiple vendors. DIR $50k- $1M - Answer Must submit a price request to at least 3 vendors on DIRs list in the category to which the contract relates. DIR $1M-$5M - Answer Must submit a price request to at least 6 vendors on DIRs list in the category to which the contract relates. If 6 vendors are unavailable, Price Request must be sent to all applicable vendors. DIR Over $5M - Answer A state agency is required to submit its own solicitation via an RFO. Vendor Performance Tracking System - Answer Use this statutorily required method of reporting vendors once the contracts are completed or closed out and /or throughout the life cycle of the contract. Texas Smart Buy - Answer Statewide contracts procured and managed by SPD must use a purchase order through this system. Policy and Outreach (SPD) - Answer Conducts policy research, training, and certification and customer support services