Contracts 101

Definitions

• Purchase Requisition (“REQ”): request by Department for goods or services
• Purchase Order (“PO”): A commercial document issued on a University Purchase Order form or an electronic document created by a University e-procurement system (“Premier ERP”) authorizing a supplier to furnish goods and/or services to the University according to the stated terms with payment to be made later. A Purchase Order or electronic document forms a contract when issued by the University and performed by the supplier
• Agreement/Contract: A legally binding document for the present or future procurement of goods and/or services by the University.

Rules

1. Department personnel Do NOT sign contracts (contracting authority for procurement of services and goods flow through and are signed by Procurement Services, see Contract Authority Memo)
2. Procurement is required to use UC/UCI Health contract templates, which contain applicable local, state, and federal regulatory requirements (UC Policy BUS-43, Part I(C)(7)(b))
3. Contracts > 10 years must be re-negotiated and re-executed (UC Policy BUS-43, Part I(A)(6))
4. Contracts > $100k annually must be competitively bid unless exception applies (CA Public Contract Code, Section 10507 et seq, UC Policy BUS-43, Part I(C)(1))
5. Onsite services (i.e on UC Premises) trigger “Fair Wage/Fair Work” whereby UC will contractually require Suppliers to pay such workers performing the Services no less than the Fair Wage (currently $15/hour) (UC Policy BUS-43, Part I(E)(1)(d))
6. Within contract agreements, there is a statement of work (SOW) document to be completed, where when key business stakeholders are advised to review, departmental signature is required to validate SOW.

Process

1. Department sends REQ via Docusign REQ gets routed through for appropriate signature authority per Finance rules
2. REQ is received by Procurement and Purchasing Manager assigns to appropriate Contract Administrator
3. Contract Administrator* begins the contracting process
   • Review and Confirm REQ
   • Engage with Department and Vendor
   • Negotiate and Benchmark to ensure (i) compliance with UC Terms and conditions and (ii) ensure best pricing/value of goods/services
   • Prepare and Finalize *May involve negotiation/drafting/review by Procurement’s Contract Counsel, as needed
4. Chief Procurement Officer and/or Procurement Contracts Manager signs contract on behalf of UCI Health