State Contracts
Competitive Contracts
Negotiated Contracts
Agency Contracts
Express Product List (EPL)
State Contract Links
Exceptions to Competitive State Contract Rules
Competitive Contracts are established on the basis of written specifications and sealed competitive bids. A contract is awarded to the vendor that has submitted the lowest bid that meets the specifications. If an item exists on a competitive state contract, all state agencies are required to purchase the item from that contract.
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Negotiated Contracts are awarded to all vendors offering competitive terms. These contracts are provided for convenience purposes. If an item is on the negotiated contract, you should purchase from the contract or follow standard quote/bid regulations to obtain a lower than contract price for the item.
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Agency Contracts are established on the basis of competitive bids or negotiation by a specific state agency. The availability of agency contracts to other agencies is dependent upon the terms of the agreement and a determination by the Office of Purchasing and Travel. State agencies are not required to purchase items from this contract.
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Express Product List (EPL)
Express Products Lists (EPLs) are compilations of competitive proposals advertised for, evaluated then published by ITS for use by agencies and institutions in performing routine information system procurements. Agencies and institutions may make purchases up to the amount specified in the EPL.
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State Contract Links
Competetive and Negotiated State Contracts
Department of Finance and Administration (DFA)
Express Product Lists (EPLs)
Generic Rental Agreement
Index List of Commodities (identifies whether a given commodity is on a competitive or negotiated contract)
Information Technology Services (ITS)
Office of Purchasing and Travel
Procurement Manual
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Exceptions to Competitive State Contract Rules
If the item on competitive contract will not meet the needs of the agency, then you must perform the following steps to obtain approval for an exception from the contract.
If the purchase amount is less than $5,000, the following information must be submitted to Procurement and Contracts:
- Copy of the requisition
- One firm price quote from the vendor the department requests to buy from
- A letter justifying the reason for the exception from the contract. At a minimum, this letter must answer the following questions:
- What is the state contract price associated with item?
- What transportation costs are associated with the item?
- Is the quality level of the item equal to or better than the quality level associated with the same item offered on the state contract?
- Have all applicable costs been included in the evaluation?
- Copy of the requisition
- Two firm price quotes - one quote should be from the vendor the department requests to buy from
- A letter justifying the reason for the exception from the contract. At a minimum, this letter must answer the following questions:
- What is the state contract price associated with item?
- What transportation costs are associated with the item?
- Is the quality level of the item equal to or better than the quality level associated with the same item offered on the state contract?
- Have all applicable costs been included in the evaluation?
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