Glossary

APPEALS BOARD - The Maryland State Board of Contract Appeals.

AWARD - The transmission by the procurement agency, after all required approvals have been obtained, of the executed contract or written notice of award to the selected vendor.

BID - A statement of price, terms of sale, and description of the supplies, services, construction, or construction-related services offered by a bidder in response to an invitation for bids under procurement by competitive sealed bidding or comparable simplified procurement procedures.

BID BOARD - A bulletin board in a public place displaying solicitations or announcements of the availability of solicitations.

BIDDER - One who submits an offer or bid in response to a solicitation.

BLANKET PURCHASE AGREEMENT (BPA) - An arrangement under which a purchaser contracts with a vendor to provide the purchaser's requirements for an item(s) or a service, on an as-required and over-the-counter basis. Properly prepared, such an arrangement sets a limit on the period of time it is valid and the maximum amount of money which may be spent at one time or within a specified period and specifically identifies these persons authorized to accept goods.

BOARD - The Board of Public Works.

CHANGE ORDER - A written order signed by the responsible Procurement Officer, directing a contractor to make changes which the changes clause of a contract authorizes the Procurement Officer to order with or without the consent of the contractor.

COLLABORATIVE AGREEMENT - Is a business agreement between the University and another party or parties, the primary purpose of which is other than the acquisition on the part of the University of goods and/or services.

COMMODITY - An item of purchase which may include office goods and materials, food, printing, building materials, and other items needed to support normal operations.

COMPETITIVE BIDDING - Bids or offers by individuals or vendors competing for a contract, privilege, or right to supply specified services or goods.

COMPETITIVE SEALED BID - A bid submitted in a sealed envelope to prevent disclosure of its contents before the deadline set for the receipt of all bids.

COMPETITIVE SEALED PROPOSALS - The procurement method to be used in those situations when competitive sealed bidding cannot be used because of the inability to prepare specifications that would permit an award based solely on price; or when it is impracticable or disadvantageous to the University.

COMPTROLLER - The Comptroller of the Treasury of the State.

CONSTRUCTION

1. Construction means the process of building, altering, improving, or demolishing any structure, building, or other improvement to real property.
2. Construction DOES NOT include the maintenance
   or routine operation of an existing improvement to real property, or activities related to an energy performance contract.

CONTRACT - An agreement entered into by a procurement agency for the for the acquisition of supplies, services, construction, architectural services, or engineering services.

COST ANALYSIS - An evaluation of the various cost elements (ie. overhead, labor, materials, profit, transportation, etc) which make-up the total price.

DETERMINATION - A written procurement decision made by a public official or employee which is based upon written findings.

EMERGENCY - A sudden and unexpected occurrence or condition which agency management reasonably could not foresee that requires an action to avoid or to mitigate serious damage to public health, safety, or welfare.

EQUIVALENT ITEM - An item of equipment, material or supply, the quality, the design, or performance characteristics of which are functionally equal or superior to an item specified in a solicitation.

EVALUATED BID PRICE - The dollar amount of a bid after bid price adjustments are made under objectively measurable criteria.

EVALUATION OF BIDS - The process of examining a bid after opening to determine the bidder's responsiveness to requirements, responsibility, and other characteristics of the bid relating to selection for award.

FIXED PRICE CONTRACT - A contract which provides for a vendor price under which a vendor bears the full risk for profit or loss.

INVITATION FOR BIDS - Any documents, whether attached or incorporated by reference, used for soliciting bids under procurement by competitive sealed bidding and simplified procurement procedures.

INVOICE - A contractor's written request for payment for supplies, commodities, services, maintenance, construction, construction-related services, architectural services, or engineering services performed or provided.

LATE BID OR PROPOSAL - A bid or proposal which is received at the place designated in the invitation for bids or request for proposals after the deadline established by the solicitation.

LATENT DEFECT - A deficiency or imperfection that impairs worth or utility that cannot be readily detected from visual examination of a product. Examples would be the use of non-specified materials in manufacture, or missing internal parts such as a gasket, gear, or electrical circuit, etc.

LEASE - A contract under which the University System of Maryland uses personal property to which it does not have title. Lease does not include lease-purchase or similar financing transactions.

LIQUIDATED DAMAGES - A monetary amount provided for in a solicitation or a contract to be paid by the contractor as damages for failure to perform in accordance with the contract. The damage figure stipulated must be a reasonable estimate of the probable loss to the agency and not calculated simply to impose a penalty on the vendor.

MAINTENANCE - Any work necessary for the continued operation or upkeep of a facility, structure, building, grounds, or building system, including built-in equipment or an in-ground system, that is not included within the definition of construction.

MINOR IRREGULARITY - A minor defect or variation of a bid or proposal from the exact requirements of the invitation for bids, or the request for proposals, which does not materially affect the price, quality, quantity, or delivery schedule for the goods, services or construction being procured.

MINORITY BUSINESS ENTERPRISE - Any legal entity, other than a joint venture, organized to engage in commercial transactions which is at least 51 percent owned and controlled by one or more minority persons, or a nonprofit entity organized to promote the interests of the physically or mentally disabled.

MINORITY PERSON - A member of a socially or economically disadvantaged minority group, which for purposes of this title includes African Americans (not of Hispanic origin), Hispanics, American Indians, Asians, women, and the physically or mentally disabled.

MULTI-YEAR CONTRACT - A contract that requires appropriations for more than 1 fiscal year.

NOTICE OF AWARD - A notification that a contract has been awarded.

OBJECTIVELY MEASURABLE CRITERIA - Standards, absent matters of opinion or subjective judgment, to compare the economy, effectiveness, or value of the subject of the solicitation and includes reliability, operational costs, maintainability, useful life, and residual value.

OPTION - The unilateral right of the University under a contract to extend the contract for an additional period of time, or to purchase delineated additional goods or labor, or to purchase materials or facilities that have been leased.

PERFORMANCE SPECIFICATION - Sets forth performance requirements that have been determined essential for the item or service being procured.

PERSONAL SERVICE CONTRACT - A consulting or other service contract between the University and 1) an individual or 2) a business entity or partnership where the individual performing the work under the contract is the sole or a majority owner.

PREBID OR PREPROPOSAL CONFERENCE - A meeting held with prospective bidders or offerors prior to submission of bids or proposals, to review, discuss, and clarify technical requirements, specifications, and standards relative to the proposed procurement.

PRE-QUALIFICATION - A procedure to pre-qualify products or vendors and limit consideration of bids or proposals to only those products or vendors which have been pre-qualified.

1. Qualified Products List (QPL): A list of products that have been tested and approved based on written
pre-qualification procedures.

2. Qualified Contractors List (QCL): A list of contractors whose capability to provide a service has been evaluated and approved based on written pre-qualification procedures.

PRICE ANALYSIS - An examination of a vendor's price by comparison to other prices for like goods or services or comparison to other price benchmarks.

PROCUREMENT - All functions that pertain to the process of buying, leasing as lessee, purchasing, or otherwise obtaining any supplies, services, construction, architectural services, engineering services, or services provided under an energy performance contract, including description of requirements, selection, and solicitation of sources, preparation and award of contract, and all phases of contract administration.

PROCUREMENT CONTRACT - An agreement in any form entered into by a unit for procurement.

PROCUREMENT OFFICER - Any person authorized by a procurement agency in accordance with law or regulations to formulate, enter into, or administer contracts or make written determinations and findings with respect to them. The term also includes an authorized representative acting within the limits of authority.

PROPOSAL - The response to a request for proposals issued by a procurement agency to obtain goods or services.

PROTEST - A complaint relating to the solicitation or award of a procurement contract.

PUBLIC BID OPENING - The process of publicly opening and reading bids.

PURCHASE ORDER - A document issued by an Institution authorizing a procurement from a vendor. If issued in acceptance of a bid or proposal, the document is an “acceptance” and forms a contract upon issuance. If issued not in acceptance of a bid or proposal, a contract is formed upon acceptance by the vendor. Acceptance is evidenced by any reasonable manner in light of the circumstances including prompt shipment or prompt promise to ship or a definite expression or written confirmation sent by the vendor within a reasonable time.

QUOTATION - A bid.

REQUEST FOR BIDS - Invitation for bids.

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS - Any document, whether attached or incorporated by reference, used for soliciting proposals from offerors under any method allowed under this title excluding competitive sealed
bidding and comparable small procurement methods.

REQUEST FOR QUOTATION - Invitation for bids.

REQUIREMENTS CONTRACT - A form of contract covering long-term requirements used when the total quantity required cannot be definitely fixed, but can be stated as an estimate or within maximum and minimum limits, with deliveries on demand. Such contracts are usually for one year or more in duration.

RESEARCH GRANT - Funding from an external entity, either governmental or non-governmental, for a specific scope of work to be conducted in accordance within an approved budget and defined period of performance. Funding is made partially (if not entirely) on the qualifications of key personnel, including prospective sub-awardees. The award document is legally binding. A grant as defined here is not a contract for purposes of this document.

RESPONSIBLE - A person who has the capability in all respects to perform fully the contract requirements, and the integrity and reliability that shall assure good faith performance.

RESPONSIVE - A bid submitted in response to an invitation for bids that conforms in all material respects to the requirements contained in the invitation for bids.

SERVICE CONTRACT - The rendering of time, effort, or work, rather than the furnishing of a specific physical product other than reports incidental to the required performance.

SERVICES - The rendering of time, effort, or work, rather than the furnishing of a specific physical product other than reports incidental to the required performance. It includes, but is not limited to, the professional, personal, and/or contractual services provided by architects, engineers, attorneys, accountants, physicians, consultants, appraisers, land surveyors, and where the service is associated with the provision of expertise or labor, or both.

SMALL BUSINESS - A business, other than a broker, which meets the following criteria:

1. an independently owned and operated;

2. not a subsidiary of another firm;

3. not dominant in its field of operation;

4. its wholesale operations did not employ more than 50 persons, and its gross sales did not exceed $2,000,000 in its most recently completed fiscal year;

5. its retail operations did not employ more than 25 persons, and its gross sales did not exceed $1,000,000 in its most recently completed fiscal year;

6. its manufacturing operations did not employ more than 100 persons, and its gross sales did not exceed $1,000,000 in its most recently completed fiscal year;

7. its service operations did not employ more than 100 persons, and its gross sales did not exceed $1,000,000 in its most recently completed fiscal year;

and

8. its construction operations did not employ more than 50 persons, and its gross sales did not exceed $4,000,000 in its most recently completed fiscal year.

SOLE SOURCE - When a competitive source selection method cannot be used because a product or service is practicably available only from one source.

SOLICITATION - Invitation for bids, request for proposals, or any other method or instrument used to communicate to potential bidders or offerors a procurement agency's procurement needs.

STATE AGENCY

1. any administration, agency, association, authority, board, bureau, college, commission, committee, council, foundation, fund, department, institute, institution, public corporation, service, trust, university, or other unit of the Executive Branch ofthe State government and includes any sub-unit within any of these units
   
   and
   
2. does not include bi-county, or multi-county, government agencies or political subdivisions of the State, including counties, municipalities, special tax districts, sanitary districts, drainage districts, soil conservation districts, water supply districts, and any entity organized under the general corporation laws of the State.

SUPPLIES - All tangible personal property, including equipment, leases of equipment, insurance, including necessarily associated services, and printing.

SYSTEM - The University System of Maryland.

TECHNICAL PROPOSAL - A proposal, not including price, which sets forth in detail that which a vendor proposes to furnish in response to a request for proposals.

TERMINATION FOR CONVENIENCE - The termination by a Procurement Officer, at his/her discretion, of the performance of work in whole or in part and makes settlement of the vendor's claims in accordance with appropriate policy and procedures.

TERMINATION FOR DEFAULT - Action taken by the Procurement Officer to order a vendor to cease work under the contract, in whole or in part, because of the vendor's failure to perform in accordance with the contract's terms and conditions.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS - Standard clauses and requirements incorporated into all solicitations and resulting contracts which are derived from laws or administrative procedures.

VENDOR - A person or business who desires to enter into a contract with the State.

VOUCHER - A claim for reimbursement of funds resulting from an expenditure related to official State business.