Procurement & Contract Administration Flashcards

A vendor protests a solicitation on the grounds that the specifications were written to favor a specific brand. The municipality's FIRST step should be to:

Answer: Suspend the procurement and conduct a formal review of the protest allegations

Best practice and most procurement codes require suspending the process and formally reviewing protest allegations before proceeding to award.

Which of the following BEST describes a 'cooperative purchasing agreement' between municipalities?

Answer: A joint agreement where municipalities pool their purchasing volumes to obtain better pricing

Cooperative purchasing agreements allow multiple government entities to combine buying power, resulting in volume discounts and reduced administrative duplication.

A payment bond on a public construction project PRIMARILY protects:

Answer: Subcontractors and suppliers who may not have lien rights on public property

Because public property cannot be liened, a payment bond ensures that subcontractors and material suppliers get paid even if the prime contractor defaults.

In a Request for Proposals (RFP), the 'evaluation criteria' section MUST be included because it:

Answer: Informs proposers how their submissions will be scored so they can compete fairly

Publishing evaluation criteria gives proposers the information needed to craft competitive responses and ensures the government evaluates proposals consistently and transparently.

A municipality's procurement policy requires a written determination of non-responsibility before rejecting a low bidder. This requirement PRIMARILY serves to:

Answer: Ensure due process and document the factual basis for the rejection

A written non-responsibility determination protects due process rights, creates an auditable record, and gives the rejected bidder grounds for an appeal.

Which of the following actions MOST clearly constitutes bid rigging?

Answer: Competing vendors agreeing in advance on who will win a bid and at what price

Bid rigging — an antitrust violation — occurs when competitors collude to predetermine the winner and suppress genuine price competition.

When a contract is terminated for the convenience of the municipality, the contractor is generally entitled to:

Answer: Allowable costs incurred plus a reasonable profit on work performed

A termination for convenience settlement covers the contractor's allowable, allocable costs and a fair profit on work done, but not anticipated profits on unperformed work.