Certified Texas Contract Developer Practice

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. P