C Purchasing Policies & Procedures

C-1    Mission

The American University of Sharjah provides an equal opportunity to all qualified vendors.

Our mission is to provide efficient purchasing services that support the University goals of education, research and public service. We strive to continuously improve our service to meet or exceed the expectations of the community we serve.

C-2   Purchasing Code of Ethics

Any person employed by American University of Sharjah and engages in purchasing activities for the University, shall abide by this code and shall:

• Demonstrate loyalty to the University by diligently adhering to all University Policies & Procedures.
• Avoid engaging in acts or actions, which could be perceived illegal or unethical behavior in relationships, actions and communications.
• Any employee engaged in purchasing activities for the University must never exceed the authority granted by the University.
• Avoid any private or professional activities that would create a conflict between personal interests and the interests of the University.
• Never accept, directly or indirectly, any gifts or gratuities from present or potential suppliers.
• Afford suppliers equal opportunity to compete for University business at all times. Purchase without prejudice, striving to obtain the maximum value for each Dirham of expenditure.
• Adhere to and protect the supplier’s business and legal rights to confidentiality for trade secrets and other proprietary information.
• Enhance the proficiency and stature of purchasing profession by adhering to the highest standards of ethical behavior

C-3   Responsibility

The Operations Director has overall responsibility for the procurement of goods and services that are required by the University.

The Commercial Section is responsible for reviewing requisitions for completeness, clarity and for notifying the originating department if additional information or recommended changes in specifications are required.

The Commercial Section has full authority to question the quality, quantity and type of items requisitioned in order that the best interests of the University may be observed. No changes, however, will be made without notifying the ordering department and obtaining their consent.
The Operations Director reports to the Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration.

C-4   Objectives

• Obtain the required quality of goods and services from approved vendors.
• Maintain purchasing procedures across all departments and schools.
• Provide assistance in preparing specification for equipment, materials, supplies and services (other than catering and ticketing).
• Consolidate purchases of like or common items and services to obtain maximum economical advantage.
• Develop a professional relationship between University and its potential suppliers.
• Develop reliable alternate sources of supply to maintain a competitive environment and to meet University requirements.

C-5   Routine Acquisitions

A requisition for purchase must be submitted to the Commercial Section for all goods or services. The order must provide the following information:

• Place of delivery: Provide the address where the goods and/or services are to be delivered after receipt in the University Stores.
• Required Delivery date: Take into consideration time required for in-house processing and vendor production/shipping times.
• Recommended/Suggested source: The Commercial Section shall invite any vendor or contractor suggested by the ordering department, to bid along with other firms.
• “Noncompetitive Source” and “No Substitution” Requests: If a department requires a specific brand, model or specific vendor that department must include written justification with the requisition setting forth the reasons. The Operations Director must approve any “noncompetitive source/no substitution” request.
• Quantities: Unit of measurement must be mentioned i.e. each, dozen, box of 10, etc.
• Specifications: A complete and accurate description of goods or services required setting the minimum requirements and intended purpose as appropriate.
• Preparation of technical specifications for new equipment, supplies or services is the responsibility for the originating department in coordination with the  Commercial Section.
• Lengthy specifications composed or designed solely for the purpose of eliminating competition other than those able to supply a particular brand name should not be used except when no other type and specification can be drawn. If this is the case, then a full written explanation must be provided and the Operations Director must sign off on “sole source” orders.
• Specifications should be detailed to provide a basis for full and fair competitive bidding upon a common standard and should be free from any restrictions that would limit competition.
• The ordering department may use a “brand name or equal” description to define the desired level of quality, performance or other important requirements. The specific features of the named brand that must be met by the offers shall be clearly stated. Such reference will not be intended to be restrictive or a statement of preference. Bids will be considered for any brand name that meets or exceeds the quality of the specifications listed unless the “sole source” provision applies.
• Provide camera-ready artwork, drawings, exhibits, maps, samples and other relevant documents. Whenever samples are used as a specification, samples should be retained for checking and comparing the delivered product for compliance.
• Vendor Assistance: If the ordering department needs to obtain assistance in developing specifications, they may call a vendor through the Commercial Section. If assistance is received, discretion must be used to assure that vendors are not exploited and that no commitment to purchase is made. The requisition for Purchase must instruct that this vendor was invited to obtain specifications.
• During interviews with vendors, no one may make a commitment of preference for any product or service or give any information regarding performance or price that might in any way give a vendor an advantage over another vendor.
• Budget Account: Provide the account number to be charged. Attention must be given to accuracy. Incorrect account numbers will affect the integrity of process and may result in change orders.
• Trade-In: An elected official, school/college Dean or department head may request that equipment be used for trade-in purpose in bidding for a newer replaceable item or a similar item. The University barcode tag number, if applicable, must be identified on the requisition. The  Commercial Section and Finance Department must approve the use of property for trade-in purposes.
• Open Orders/Blanket Orders: Open orders or blanket orders may be used in accordance with the purchasing procedures at the discretion of the Operations Director when such an offer benefits the University.
• The ordering department may indicate the maximum amount it is willing to spend on an item or service, including the transportation, installation or other charges. If the bid is higher than this amount, the Commercial Section will return the requisition with the recommended vendor and price to the ordering department for review and approval. If the bid is lower than this amount, the Commercial Section will continue with order processing.
• A requesting department shall not request a bid price from a vendor or supplier or make any representation or commitment in regard to a contract or purchase. A request for such information must be through the Commercial Section.
• Correct and approved requests are mandatory before the Commercial Section will process the requisition and issue a purchase order.

C-6   Special Review & Approval Items
Prior to submission of a request to Purchasing, requisitions for items listed below require additional review as noted:

• Computer equipment and software other than education-specific software - Director of IT.
• Equipment, purchases, maintenance, alterations and building fixtures - Director of Facilities.
• Requirements and coordination for F& A for academic computing for schools and colleges’ requirements.

C-7   Additional Roles

• Bidders List: The Commercial Section shall maintain a list of vendors interested in fulfilling the University requirements.
• Commercial Section will buy only from suppliers with high ethical standards and a record of adhering to specifications, maintaining shipping commitments and providing a full measure of service.
• The Commercial Section shall determine the vendors, from whom bids shall be solicited, in addition to any recommended by the requesting department.
• Departments may request in writing that a vendor be restricted from supplying their requirements. Such a request must be accompanied with sufficient justification. The Commercial Section shall eliminate vendors found to be not qualified.
• For requests with values up to AED 3,000, only one quote is necessary to process the Purchase Order, provided the buyer is satisfied with the quote.
• Quotation from a supplier typically has a validity period within which a Purchase Order is to be raised and sent to the supplier. Hence immediate approvals from the end users are required to ensure that the validity period of the quote does not expire.
• The supplier is to acknowledge receipt of purchase order sent to him and confirm the delivery date as mentioned in the purchase order.

C-8   Airline Tickets

Airline Tickets for Annual Leaves

• The staff/faculty must fill and sign the Annual Leave Travel form (Form #: FA-OPD-017) with his/her basic entitlement details according to his/her contract, including destination, ticket class (economy/business class), whether it’s one way or two ways, and signs it.
• The staff/faculty should get this Form approved and signed from the Human Resources Department.
• The Staff/faculty should contact the Travel Office to make the necessary reservations.
• The AUS Travel Officer will check and sign the travel form and hand it over to the Travel Office in order to proceed and issue the ticket.

Business Trips

• The staff/faculty must fill up the form, have it signed from his/her Director/Dean/VC/or Chancellor, and enter the relevant requisition in the Banner system with the First Approval.
• The staff/faculty should make the necessary reservations with the travel office and give the filled Business-trip Form (Form #: FA-OPD-061) to the travel officer who makes the routing  along with the related cost, then sends these details back to the requestor for the final confirmation. A copy of all business travel forms is also sent to the Operations  Director.
• After receiving the confirmation, the LPO is assigned and the LPO number is sent to the requestor for the second approval.
• Once the second approval is received, the ticket will be released.

C-9   Competitive Sealed Bidding & Tender Offers

University compliance to these procedures is mandatory.

• Inquiries to be sent to various approved suppliers of the University. The bids  must be submitted in sealed envelopes marked to the attention of the Operations Director.
• The date and time of submission must be clearly stated in the invitation to bid.
• The Operations Director based on approximate value of tender shall approve processing charges for collection of tender documents. The amount of processing fee to participate in a tender is as: AED 200 for value of tender between AED 30,000 to AED 50,000 and AED 500 for value of tender above AED 50,000. The duration of the tender shall be determined by the Commercial Section in consultation with the requesting department and Internal Auditor. If the tender is cancelled for whatsoever reason by the requestor, the bidders will be refunded the processing fee paid for participating in the tender.
• The submitted bids must have the name of the supplier and tender number.
• After receipt of the sealed bids, it shall be opened in the presence of the  Director of Operations, the Internal Auditor, the concerned buyer, representative of the requesting department and another neutral party.
• The amount of each bid with the name of each bidder shall be recorded and the record shall be available once the bid review is complete.
• Bids shall be evaluated based on the requirements set forth in the bid. Criteria which are not set forth in the bid may not be used in the evaluation.
• The bid shall be awarded to the lowest bidder provided all specifications are met. If the lowest bidder is not awarded the bid, justification in writing is to be given for selecting a higher bidder.
• Discussion may be conducted with responsible offers for the purpose of clarification to ensure understanding of the requirements. In conducting discussion, there shall be no disclosure of any information from proposals submitted by competing offers. All discussions are the responsibility of the concerned buyer.

C-10  Contracts

• Negotiation of contracts shall be on the basis of demonstrated competence, qualifications and reasonable fees.
• The Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration is the designated signatory for contracts.
• A contract shall be negotiated with the highest rated firm/person. If unable to negotiate a satisfactory contract, negotiations may be entered into with next most qualified firm.

C-11  Negotiations

The Commercial Section may be required to negotiate price and other terms with the low bidder because of budget constraints. The end of such negotiations shall not represent any deviation from the specification bid. Negotiations must be conducted in such a manner as to assure that no bidder is given an unfair advantage over their competitors.

C-12  Emergency Purchases

The definition of Emergency Purchase or Contract is a purchase or contract necessitated by a sudden unexpected event where the delay required to issue competitive bidding would seriously threaten the functioning of the University, the preservation or protection of property or create an immediate danger to the public health or safety of any person.

Emergency purchases shall not be substituted for lack of proper planning by the ordering department.
A statement detailing the nature of the emergency must accompany the requisition for purchase.
Authorization shall be awarded by the Vice Chancellor for Finance & Administration and designee.

C-13  Expediting & Follow-up

To ascertain the status of a request before a purchase order is issued, all contacts must be made with the Commercial Section only. After the purchase order is issued, the department may also contact the Commercial Section to obtain delivery information.
Inquiries related to charges to budget classifications and payment to suppliers for a given transaction should normally be directed to the Finance Department.
Delivery expediting is the attempt to improve or change the existing delivery lead-time of a given order. Delivery follow-up is the routine process of notifying the supplier that the previously estimated lead-time is due. The Commercial Section routinely makes inquiries on delinquent orders. The Commercial Section is interested in knowing that a supplier is chronically deficient in meeting estimated delivery time, so as to consider this factor in requesting bids for future purchases.

C-14  Change/Cancellation of Offer

Written justification from the requestor and acceptance in writing from supplier is to be obtained before a purchase order is changed or cancelled.

C-15  Return of Items

The items will not be returned to the supplier if the end user rejects any items due to wrong specifications given by the requestor. (Refer to N: Change/Cancellation of Order).

C - Apx 1C:  Appendix 1C: Purchasing Policies & Procedures (for open Purchase Orders)

• Requisition to be put in the system by end user (SAD, PPD etc.) e.g. Art Materials required from Supplier AAAAA.
• Fill the item line as... “Art Supplies”, put quantity as 1 and complete/approve requisition as usual.
• On receipt of request, Purchase Order will be generated (not completed) by Purchasing.
• Amount of order (to be decided by Department/Purchasing) will be entered in the order by The Commercial Section.
• Supplier will be informed of Purchase Order number and list of authorized personnel by fax.
• Authorized personnel from the departments requiring the items will receive the material from the supplier as and when required and sign the delivery note/invoice of the supplier. They must clearly write down their names and ID numbers on the Invoice/Delivery Note.
• Supplier will submit the Original Invoice to Finance Department with a copy to Purchasing on a monthly basis.
• Purchase Order for each supplier will be completed and approved before the 5th working day of the next month.
• Payment will be made immediately on completion of the purchase order.
  

C - Apx 2C:  Appendix 2C:  Preparation of Purchase Order:

• Receipt of completed request from the system by the  Commercial Section.
• Minimum three quotes to be obtained for items above AED 3,000. If necessary, sealed bids/tenders must be engaged.
• Bid preparation and end-user’s manual approval on bid summary, if necessary.
• Complete the Purchase Order electronically by the Buyer after approval of bid summary.
• System approval by the Operations Director.
• System approval by the end-user.
• For value above AED 10,000 electronic approval from Vice Chancellor for Finance & Administration or Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs to be obtained.
• The Purchase Order runs through the Banner purchasing process.
• If approved, Purchase Order is generated, signed by the Operations Director and faxed to the supplier.
• The Commercial Section will follow up with the supplier and the end-user to ensure timely delivery.