Purchasing Authority Standards - 100.3

(Revised: 03/2024)

General Standards

The standards noted herein are requirements in order to be granted and maintain purchasing authority from DGS/PD.

Departments granted purchasing authority are responsible and accountable for all procurement activities conducted under their approved purchasing authority, regardless of where the procurement activity occurs.

Each department accepts responsibility for its purchasing program which includes but is not limited to:

• Ensuring the necessity of products and services acquired.
• Securing appropriate funding.
• Complying with all applicable laws, regulations, executive orders, policies, procedures, and best business practices.
• Executing purchase documents that are in the state's best interests.

Responsibility for a department's purchasing program resides primarily, but not solely, with the department's executive and management staff.  Responsibility also resides with all departmental staff involved in the procurement.

Designated Agency Officer and Purchasing Authority Contact

The department’s responsibilities:

Public Contract Code (PCC), Section 10333(a)(1) “Designates an agency officer as responsible and directly accountable for the agency’s purchasing program.”

The department director will designate a Procurement and Contracting Officer (PCO).

1. Must be a member of the Executive Team (CEA and above):

• Agency Secretary
• Agency Undersecretary
• Department Director
• Department Deputy Director
• Chief Executive Officer (Boards, Commissions)
• Assistant Chief Executive Officer
• Deputy Director, Administrative Services

A department may designate a different position; however, it must have the equivalent level of authority of the positions stated above.

2. PCO must sign and return the PCO Statement of Commitment.
3. The PAU must be notified immediately, via a Purchasing Authority Change Request (PACR), of any change to the department’s designation of the PCO.  Click here to access the PACR.

The PCO will designate a Purchasing Authority Contact (PAC), within their organizational structure/chain of command, one for non-IT and one for IT.

The designated non-IT PAC must have oversight and review of all non-IT procurements and the IT PAC must have oversight and review of all IT procurements.

One individual can be designated as both the non-IT PAC and IT PAC if this individual has oversight of both non-IT and IT procurements.

1. Must be at the level of:

• Chief Procurement Officer
• Chief of Business Services
• Chief of Administration
• Branch Chief
• Staff Services Manager

2. PAC must sign and return the PAC Statement of Commitment.
3. PAU must be notified immediately, via a PACR, of any change to the department’s designation of the PAC.
4. Mandatory training for PACs include:

a) CalPCA Basic Acquisition Certification Course.

b) Target Area Contract Preference Act (TACPA) training.

c) Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) Procurement Training

Newly approved PACs must complete the above training within thirty (30) days of designation and send proof of completion to the DGS Procurement Division at: pams@dgs.ca.gov.

If a newly approved PAC has already taken the above training, and if the training is the most recent version, the PAC is not required to repeat the same training and can submit the appropriate certificate(s).

PCO and PAC Information

When a purchasing authority document requires the signature of the PCO and/or PAC, the signature must match the PCO or PAC "Name."

If the PCO and/or PAC is unavailable to sign, the next highest-ranking official must sign on their behalf.  If there is a change in PCO/PAC, there is a 30-day window to update the department's information.

Written Departmental Procurement Policies and Procedures

The department’s responsibilities:

PCC 10333(a)(2) “Establishes written policies and procedures…”

Establish and maintain written departmental procurement policies and procedures.

The requirements include:

Required policies and procedures are prescribed in the checklist please contact the PAU for a copy.

• Policies and procedures must be relevant to the dollar thresholds and type(s) of purchasing authority that is granted and/or being requested.
• Policies and procedures must be kept current.

Small Business Procurement and Contract Act

The Department's Responsibilities:	The Requirements Include:
Established procedures for complying with provisions of the Small Business Procurement and Contract Act (Government Code (GC), Section 14835 et seq.) and DVBE participation.	Direction for meeting the SB and DVBE business participation goals in state procurement as established by the DGS/PD in accordance with GC, Section 14838.
PCC, Section 10333(a)(3) “Establishes procedures for complying with the provisions of the Small Business Procurement and Contract Act”	Designating a department SB advocate when the department's contracting activities exceed $100,000.00 annually. Developing procedures for meeting the goals.

Procurement Training

The department's responsibilities:

PCC, Section 10333(a)(4) “Establishes policies for training personnel in purchasing law and procedures…” e.g. Departmental and California Procurement and Contracting Academy [Cal-PCA] training when available.

The requirements include:

• Identify WHAT training is required for individuals involved in various roles in the acquisition process; HOW individuals sign up to receive the training; and WHEN these individuals should take the training (i.e. within the first 30 days of employment and how often afterwards).
• Log/track procurement training provided.
• Purchasing law, regulations, policies, procedures, and best practices.
• Controlling and reviewing purchasing practices.
• Auditing purchasing activities.
• Purchasing authority within the department.
• Cal-Cal-PCA training: 
  • Only personnel that attend these required training classes can be authorized to execute contracts/purchase orders under purchasing authority from DGS/PD/PAU.
  • Training must match the acquisition methods and dollar thresholds of purchasing authority granted coupled with each personnel’s authorization to conduct acquisitions under the various methods and at various dollar thresholds.  For instance, an incidental buyer that is authorized to conduct acquisitions under $5,000 utilizing the Fair and Reasonable acquisition method would need to take Cal-PCA Basic Acquisition and the Fair and Reasonable workshop.

Controlling and Reviewing Purchasing Practices

The department's responsibilities:

PCC, Section 10333(4) “Establishes policies for … controlling and reviewing purchasing practices…”

The requirements include:

Management oversight; review and approval of requisitions, solicitations, awards, and purchase documents/contracts; internal audits; training; procurement log; documentation checklists; database tracking (SCPRS); and ethics training.

Auditing Purchasing Activities

The department's responsibilities:

PCC, Section 10333(4) “Establishes policies for … auditing purchasing activities…”

The requirements include:

Ensure all procurement/contracting activities conducted by the department fully comply with State law, appropriations, regulations, executive orders, SCM, and other State and department policies and procedures for any and all non-IT and IT goods and services.

• Procurement documents are made available for review and inspection by DGS.
• Provide timely response to any inquiries, deficiencies, and/or findings.
• Submitting any audit reports, documents and/or findings upon request.

Sub-Delegating within the Agency

The department's responsibilities:

PCC, Section 10333(4) “Establishes policies for…delegating purchasing authority within the agency.”

The requirements include:

Policy on how staff assignments are determined in the procurement unit and in other offices/units outside of the procurement unit that have sub-delegated purchasing authority. Identify staff positions/classifications, relevant training and experience their assigned purchasing categories (LPA, competitive, IT, non-IT, etc.), and their dollar limits, etc.

Ethics and Conflicts

The department's responsibilities:

Department personnel involved in procurement activities are either directly or indirectly spending public funds and are subject to public scrutiny.

The requirements include:

• Act responsibly.
• Conduct business honestly.
• Avoid wasteful and impractical purchasing practices.
• Avoid real or perceived conflicts when conducting business on the State's behalf.
• Advise departmental personnel of expected standards of ethical and moral behavior during any procurement activities involving their participation.

Click here to access the Fair Political Practices Commission's webpage for more information.

Separation of Duties

The department's responsibilities:

Departments with any type of purchasing authority must maintain sufficient separation of duties in order to reduce the risk of error or fraud in the department's purchasing program.

The requirements include:

Segregated duties to separate the responsibilities for:

• A buyer that conducts an acquisition shall not approve the purchase document.
• Staff approving the purchase document shall not acknowledge or receive the goods or services.
• Approving invoices.
• Staff that approve invoices shall not prepare payments.

No one person should control more than one of the key aspects of a procurement activity.

The FI$Cal system enforces separation of duties based on user roles.

Reporting Requirements

The department's responsibilities:

Submit procurement reports as required and on a timely basis.

The requirements include:

• Documents during the annual purchasing authority review.
• Purchasing authority deficiencies.
• Responses/resolutions to a purchasing program compliance review.
• Other reports as required by statute or by the DGS/PD.

Audits

The department's responsibilities:

Ensure all procurement/contracting activities conducted by the department fully comply with State law, appropriations, regulations, executive orders, SCM, and other State and department policies and procedures for any and all non-IT and IT goods and services.

The requirements include:

• Procurement documents are made available for review and inspection by DGS.
• Provide timely response to any inquiries, deficiencies, and/or findings.
• Submitting any audit reports, documents and/or findings upon request.

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

The department's responsibilities:

Comply with the non-discrimination requirements of Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

The requirements include:

• Ensuring that all departmental programs, activities, and services are available to all persons, including persons with disabilities.
• Ensure the department’s ADA Coordinator will be available to assist and respond to persons with disabilities needing a reasonable accommodation to participate in the procurement process.

Conflict of Interest (COI)

The department's responsibilities:

Ensure that contracting personnel are free from conflict of interest.

The requirements include:

• Maintaining signed Conflict of Interest (COI) statements for every staff person involved in the procurement process.
  • Staff involved in:
    • Soliciting bids.
    • Preparing procurement documents.
    • Approving procurement documents.
    • Receiving goods/services.
    • Approving payment.
    • Making the payment.
• Ensuring the employee signs a COI at least once during his/her tenure with the department.
• A reference to or inclusion of GC, Section 19990
• Click here for a sample COI Statement.

Obtaining Other Required Approvals

The department's responsibilities:

Whenever an acquisition warrants, secure and document any approval required by:

• California Prison Industry Authority (CALPIA)
• DGS/PD
• California Department of Technology/ Statewide Technology Procurement Division (STPD)
• DGS/Office of Fleet Administration (OFAM)
• DGS/Office of Legal Services (OLS)
• DGS/Office of Records & Information Management (ORIM) as applicable to GC, Section 14755
• Any other required approvals.

The requirements include:

Maintaining evidence in the procurement files of appropriate approvals being obtained prior to conducting a procurement activity or contract execution, as applicable.

Procurement Personnel

All personnel involved in the procurement process must have the appropriate training, experience, level of responsibility, and accountability as necessary to ensure compliance with all State laws, regulations, executive orders, and with all DGS/PD policies, procedures, and best practices.

Personnel conducting state procurement must maintain professional and ethical standards.

Availability of Procurement Files and Related Information

Departments are required to provide purchasing authority documentation (complete contract/procurement files) and related information to DGS/PD upon request and shall not withhold such documentation and/or information.