4000-2-1 Purchasing

Policy

1. Purchasing processes shall be consistent with the Broader Public Sector (BPS) Procurement Directive issued by the Management Board of Cabinet (Appendix 3) and the Centralized Procurement Initiative and Interim Measures announced by the Ontario Government on March 18, 2019.
2. To ensure compliance with government requirements and demonstrate accountability for public funds, the Purchasing department is the only department authorized to issue, amend or cancel a purchase order.
3. All purchases shall normally follow the approval authority schedule as set out in Appendix 1, which identifies approval limits, authorities and the procurement process.
4. Notwithstanding the above statements, exceptions to this policy (such as sole sourcing) may be permitted through the approval of the Senior Vice-President, Strategy & Corporate Services.
5. Managers shall adhere to purchasing process requirements and consult with the appropriate College department as described in Appendix 2.
6. Lambton College acquires goods and services that benefit College operations. The College will not purchase goods or services for the personal use of employees.

Roles and Responsibilities

1. The Procurement Specialist - Finance is responsible for the integrity and transparency of the purchasing process.
2. The Manager is responsible and accountable for the purchasing decisions made in her/his area of responsibility, observation of authorization limits, the assessment of a supplier's performance and the management of the contract associated with the purchase.
3. A scanned copy of the final contract supporting a purchase must be sent by the Manager to the Purchasing department.
4. The Manager may delegate purchasing authority within the limits defined in Delegation of Signing Authority for Expenditure- policy 4000-2-3.
5. The Requisitioner is responsible for complying with this policy and following the purchasing procedures communicated by the Purchasing department.

Fairness and Transparency

1. All College purchases shall follow fair practices, free of any conflicts of interest.
2. Purchases shall not be artificially partitioned to avoid appropriate purchasing procedures.
3. All purchase decisions exceeding a transaction value of $100,000 shall be vetted by a selection committee using written selection criteria. 
4. It is the responsibility of the Manager to obtain and document the verbal or written quotes they require. Appropriate documentation to support verbal quotes is especially important. The quotes must be current. 
5. When an attempt to solicit a minimum number of quotes has not been successful, the Requisitioner should record the attempt and the reason for failing to achieve the required number of quotations.
6. Prices obtained from suppliers or potential suppliers are intended for College use only. Pricing information shall be kept confidential. 
7. College employees shall avoid any conflict of interest or the appearance of a conflict of interest in any purchasing solicitation or decision. 

Blanket Purchase Orders

1. Blanket Purchase Orders may be used for high volume purchases of similar types of goods or services from a single supplier during the course of a fiscal year.
2. Blanket Purchase Orders may not exceed one fiscal year and must follow the standards set out in Appendix 1.

Specific Goods or Services

1. All purchases involving lease arrangements must be approved by the Senior Vice-President, Strategy & Corporate Services, who will assess the appropriateness of the lease.
2. All electrical devices shall have evidence of approval by the Canadian Standards Association (CSA) or equivalent.

Consulting Services

1. All consulting service contracts must follow and fulfill the standards set out in Appendix 1B before the commencement of services.
2. A Consulting service contract shall contain clear terms of reference, and reimbursement of expenses shall be limited to those specified in the contract.

Centralized Procurement Initiative and Interim Measures

1. All new in-scope purchases must comply and with the Centralized Procurement Initiative and Interim Measures. The College should utilize available Vendor of Record (VOR) arrangement, where one exists. The College can use Shared Services Organizations (SSO), Group Purchasing Organizations (FPO), Ontario Public Service (OPS) VORs and Ontario Education Collaborative Marketplace (OECM) all of which have been established using fair, open, transparent and trade compliant procurement process. A new in-scope procurement requiring a Procurement Rationale Report Form(PRRF) is as follows:
   1. $100,000.00 and greater AND/OR
   2. Exceed two years in length including extensions
   3. Not leveraging a bulk buying agreement or VOR arrangement
2. NOTE: This requirement does not apply to our of scope/excluded procurements, which are as follows:
   1. Where procurement is related to construction - meaning construction, reconstruction, demolition, repair of a building, structure or other civil engineering or architectural work and includes site preparation, excavation, drilling, seismic investigation, the supply of products and materials, the supply of equipment and machinery if they are included in and incidental to the construction, and the installation and repair of fixtures of a building, structure or other civil engineering or architectural work, but does not include professional consulting services related to the construction contract unless they are included in the procurement.
   2. Where procurement is related to goods acquired solely for resale. The College must submit a PRRF to the Ministry at least 45 days before the procurement is released to the vendor community. As a result, the Requestor must provide the Procurement Specialist with purchase specifications at least 60 days in advance of the date the purchase is required to be tendered.

Request for Proposals (RFP) and Request for Quotes (RFQ)

1. If open procurement is required, all RFPs and RFQs must be consistent with the requirements of the Broader Public Sector Procurement Directive with specific attention to the following:

Posting Competitive Procurement Documents

1. Calls for open competitive procurements must be made through an electronic tendering system that is readily accessible by all Canadian suppliers.
2. All RFP and RFQ must be posted in such a way that they are accessible to everyone and must comply with the AODA regulations.

Timelines for Posting Competitive Procurements

1. Procurement opportunities for good or services valued at $100,000 must be posted for a minimum of forty (40) calendar days. However, in accordance with the Canada-European Union (EU) Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), posting times may be reduced by a total of fifteen (15) days as bids are posted electronically (5 days), all documents are available electronically from the date of notice of publication (5 days) and received electronically (5 days).
2. Consulting services must be competitively procured irrespective of value.  Exemptions must be in accordance with the applicable trade agreements, Broader Public Sector Procurement Directive and the Centralized Procurement Initiative.

Procurement/Purchasing Card (PCard)

1. A College PCard may be used to purchase low-value goods and services from vendors on behalf of Lambton College by employees authorized to do so.
2. Each procurement card will have a unique number, and will be issued in the name of Lambton College and the employee who has been authorized to use that card.
3. All PCards remain the property of Lambton College and all employees receiving a PCard must sign and abide by the agreement provided by the Procurement Specialist.

ProCard request forms can be found on the myLambton Accounting & Finance section under Finance.

Accessibility of Ontarians with Disabilities Act 2005 (AODA)

When considering a good or service for purchase, Lambton College will include in the consideration the effectiveness of the item in addressing the accessibility needs of Ontarians with disabilities.