Ala. Admin. Code r. 355-4-3-.05
Current through Register Vol. 43, No. 1, October 31, 2024
Section 355-4-3-.05 - Small Purchases(1) Application. In accordance with Code of Ala. 1975, § 41-4-134 (Small Purchases), this Rule establishes $25,000 as the amount for supplies or services below which small purchase procedures may be used for procurements, except as otherwise provided in this Rule.(2) Authority to Make Small Purchases. (a) Amount. The Office of the Chief Procurement Officer or a Purchasing Agency may use this Rule if the procurement is to be less than $25,000 for supplies or services. If these methods are not used, the other methods of source selection provided in Code of Ala. 1975, § 41-4-131 (Methods of Source Selection) shall apply except as otherwise provided in this Rule.(b) Existing State Contract for Item. Supplies or services which may be obtained under current State contracts shall be procured under such agreements in accordance with the terms of such contracts. Further, supplies or services available from State stocks shall not be procured under this Rule. Operational procedures and contract terms may provide for waivers or exceptions to this Subsection.(c) Available from One Business Only. If the supply or service is available from only one business, the sole source procurement method set forth in Rule 355-4-3-.06 (Sole Source Procurement) of these Rules shall be used even if the procurement is a small purchase as specified in Subsection (2) (a) of this Rule. (3) Competition for Small Purchases of Supplies or Services Between $5,000 and $25,000. (a) Procedure. For small purchases of supplies or services between $5,000 and $25,000, no less than three businesses shall be solicited to submit written quotations that are recorded, including the date and amount of each quotation, and placed in the procurement file. Award shall be made to the business offering the lowest acceptable quotation.(5) Small Purchases of $5,000 or Less. The Chief Procurement Officer or the head of a Purchasing Agency shall adopt operational procedures for making small purchases of less than $5,000. Such operational procedures shall provide for obtaining adequate and reasonable competition such as obtaining quotations and for making records to properly account for funds and to facilitate auditing of the Purchasing Agency.(6) Procurement of Experts and Non-biddable Items. Procurement of the following supplies or services shall be considered Small Purchases under the dollar amount set forth below, shall not be aggregated for purposes of this Rule, and shall not be subject to the competition requirements in this Rule:(a) Experts retained for the purposes of litigation, or avoidance of litigation, below $200,000 per expert.(b) Physicians retained to provide medical services, below $100,000 per physician. Such physicians shall be selected by the Purchasing Agency from a list of qualified physicians maintained by the Alabama Medical Licensure Commission. All physicians interested in providing medical services to the State of Alabama may apply and shall be included on the listing.(c) Physicians, pharmacists, dentists, optometrists, opticians, nurses, and other health professionals retained by the Alabama Medicaid Agency which involve only service on agency task forces, boards, or committees, below $25,000 per professional.(d) Supplies or services which by their very nature are impossible of award by competitive procurements, as determined in writing by the Chief Procurement Officer or head of a Purchasing Agency. This subsection shall only apply to supplies or services at or below $50,000 per supply or service, unless determined otherwise in writing by the Chief Procurement Officer or head of a Purchasing Agency.(e) Veterinary services below $150,000 per provider.(7) Amendments to Small Purchases. For reasons not forseeable at the time of the original procurement, contracts entered into under these Small Purchase procedures may be amended during the period of performance provided that the amendment is within the scope of the original contract and the overall cost of the original procurement plus the amendment does not exceed the original procurement's small purchase threshold by more than 20 percent. Any amendments resulting in a cost exceeding 120 percent of the original small purchase threshold must be approved in writing by the Chief Procurement Officer.Ala. Admin. Code r. 355-4-3-.05
Adopted by Alabama Administrative Monthly Volume XL, Issue No. 09, June 30, 2022, eff. 8/14/2022; operative 10/1/2022.Amended by Alabama Administrative Monthly Volume XLI, Issue No. 06, March 31, 2023, eff. 5/15/2023.Renumbered from 355-4-3-.04
Author: Department of Finance, Legal Division
Statutory Authority:Code of Ala. 1975, § 41-4-134.