Procurement Guidelines

Mission

The goal of the Contract Services and Procurement Office (CS&P) is to acquire those commodities and services the Cal Maritime departments need at the lowest economical cost consistent with quality and time considerations while complying with all policies and legal requirements.

Contracts and Procurement

Cal Maritime Contracts and Procurement Office follows the CSU Contracts and Procurement Polices which are located on the CSU PolicyStat.  

This guideline provides Cal Maritime's community with an easy reference guide to the resources and services available to meet your contracting and purchasing requirements.

The Contracts and Procurement Office is available to assist you in:

  • processing routine purchase orders (PO)
  • preparation of bids and requests for proposals, quotes or information (RFP, RFQ, RFI)
  • development of all contracts including Memorandums of Understanding (MOU)
  • negotiation with vendors to obtain the best price and terms, and execution of orders/agreements
  • posting of GovQuote bids and GovSpend research
  • revenue generating contracts
  • vendor relations
  • disputes
  • general procurement policy
  • credit card procurement (ProCard)

Procuring Supplies and Services (excluding Public Works)

Contract Services and Procurement Office is available to assist Cal Maritime in obtaining the supplies and contractual services needed while remaining compliant with law and policies.

A "Requisition" form should be used to order supplies or services which cannot be obtained through use of the procurement card or the Direct Payment Request process. Departments may submit a completed and hard copy requisition to the Office of Procurement. A contract or purchase order needs to be issued before any services or commodities are provided.

Orders for supplies or services exceeding certain thresholds require competition by either formal or informal bidding procedures unless a sole source acquisition has been approved or a negotiated CSU master contract is being utilized.

Initial requisitions for procurements at $500,000 or more require approval by Cal Maritime's President.  Requisitions for contracts exceeding one year require division VP/Captain approval.

Additional approval may also be required on requisitions that meet certain thresholds. The following thresholds apply to Cal Maritime's purchasing procedures:

Less than $50,000

Reasonableness of price must be determined for requisitions for supplies and services at or exceeding this amount. This may be done by obtaining informal quotes from vendors, or performing market analysis based on internet or catalog pricing. Procurement may also assist with research through GovSpend.  Procurement may also find alternative vendors who better meet the requirements.

$50,000 to less than $100,000 (IT threshold: $50,000 to less than $500,000)

Requisitions for supplies and services at or exceeding this amount require informal solicitation.  The informal solicitation must be based on a written project scope documenting the requirements and characteristics the goods must possess in order for the proposal to be responsive. Written or verbal responses based on the project scope must be obtained from at least three vendors. If less than three responses are received, campuses must document that sufficient outreach and diligence was undertaken before waiving the requirement for three responses.   Information Technology Resources (ITR), or Electronic and Information Technology (E&IT) require additional requirements.

Contracts shall be awarded based on the proposal that provides the most value-effective solution to the CSU's requirements. Verbal quotes must be documented. If the award is other than to the lowest priced proposal, campuses shall document the value-based determination for making the award.

$100,000 plus (IT threshold: $500,000)

Requisitions for Information Technology (IT) commodities and services at or exceeding this threshold require formal advertised competitive solicitation.  Contact the CS&P Office for further direction.

CSU Procurement Card Program

This program provides users with procurement cards to be used as a means to place orders directly with the preferred vendor for a variety of goods and some limited services. You are encouraged to use this efficient streamlined purchase delegation program. Credit cards can also be used to register for seminars and outside training classes.

To obtain a procurement card, complete the "Procurement Credit Card Request Form" and send the completed form to the  CS&P Office.

For a Travel credit card, contact the Accounting Manager or Travel Department.

Ordering Supplies

Staples Advantage is the office supply vendor for all CSUs.  All office supply purchases should go through Staples Advantage with the exception of toner and standard copy paper.  Most toner is provided through the copier service vendor and paper is purchased through A&F.  Contact receiving for paper. 

Place orders with Staples Advantage through Cal Maritime's CSUBuy Marketplace website.  The Marketplace website includes further information and training.  Marketplace also hosts many approved CSU negotiated master agreements.  For further training, contact purchasing.  

Ordering Services

Requirements for acquiring services may be of a very complex (i.e., multi-year) or simple (i.e., one-time) nature.  All requests for services must be submitted via a requisition. Services of a more complex nature may require additional terms and conditions, performance requirements or unique payment terms. The Director of Contract Services and Procurement will determine whether the order can be processed with a simple purchase order or if a more detailed CSU standard contract format should be used. This decision will be based upon the nature, risk and complexity of the work to be performed.

Services often require an Independent Contractor review by Human Resources and require the review prior to contracting.  Refer to the Independent Contractor guidance on the Procurement Resources page.

At a minimum, a requisition for a service contract should include the scope of work, specific work products or services to be delivered, any included tangible goods to be delivered, any applicable performance indicators, payment provisions and the term of the contract. No work should commence nor should contractors be advised to start work until an authorized contract has been issued.

Acquisition Planning

Although processing times may vary based on the complexity, urgency and nature of the goods or services needed, typical processing time between receipt of a requisition with complete documentation for supplies, materials or equipment and issuance of a purchase order is five-to-ten working days.  Orders for contracted services not subject to competition typically take a minimum of three weeks from receipt of the requisition to execution and release of the agreement to the contractor for signature.  Software agreements vary widely in processing times.

For orders that exceed the threshold amounts, a formal solicitation may be required. In these situations, the procurement processing time can range up to 90 days depending on complexity. Formal solicitations may include any or all of the following steps:

  1. Requirements and scope definition
  2. Preparation of the solicitation document (RFP/RFQ/RFI)
  3. Advertising (if required)
  4. Procurement steps (may include vendor conference, vendor discussions and multi-step evaluation process, as needed)
  5. Protest period
  6. Finalizing and negotiation of the contract

Processing times can be improved if the CS&P Office is contacted early in the initial planning process to assist in bid development and procurement scheduling.  Campus community is encouraged to contact CS&P for general consultation on processing steps, sole source requirements, and additional documentation needs as early in the project identification phase as possible.

Sole Source/Brand Procurements

There are instances when a specific vendor is the only source able to provide a product or service, or a specific brand or trade name is the only item that will properly meet the needs of a department. If this is the case, a "Sole Source/Brand Approval" form (available on the intranet site) requesting that the competitive bid rules be waived and the contract be awarded directly to a designated supplier or that the specific brand be purchased, should be provided with the requisition.  All Sole Source/Sole Brand requests must be approved by the Director of Contract Services and Procurement.  If approved, those Sole Source/Brand requests at or exceeding $100,000 require the VP of A&F to approve; $250,000 require Executive Vice Chancellor approval.

Unauthorized Procurements

With the exception of credit card purchases (delegated purchasing authority), individuals who purchase personal property or procure goods and services without going through the CS&P Office may be in violation of the Public Contract Code and other State statutes, regulations, executive orders, policies and procedures (i.e.: competition requirements, utilization of Small and Disabled Veteran Business enterprise, Conflict of Interest, Independent Contractor review, Confidentiality, ADA requirements, etc.), and may be personally responsible for their purchases. Additionally, procurements for services made without obtaining certification of insurance at the mandatory limits and with the required endorsements, may result in unnecessary exposure to risk and liability to the CSU.  Refer to the Unauthorized Purchase Order Request Policy on the Cal Maritime Policies website page.  

Systemwide Contracts

CS&P support a variety of systemwide contracts that are administered on behalf of the CSU system. These contracts range from supporting CSU benefit contracts to acquiring software licenses for systemwide utilization. The office also supports the establishment of master enabling agreements that are multiple award contracts for required professional services such as information technology consulting. The CSU Contracts, which provides access to all current systemwide contract information and master contracts, is available on CSUBuy which is available via the Contract Services and Procurement Office.