Assembly Bill No. 147–Assemblymen Oceguera, Claborn, Brown, Christensen, Conklin, Giunchigliani, Horne, McClain, McCleary and Pierce

 

CHAPTER..........

 

AN ACT relating to local governmental purchasing; providing for the consideration of the performance or delivery date in awarding contracts; exempting certain purchases of certain safety equipment for use by a local fire department or law enforcement agency from the requirements of competitive bidding; and providing other matters properly relating thereto.

 

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEVADA, REPRESENTED IN

SENATE AND ASSEMBLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

 

    Section 1. NRS 332.065 is hereby amended to read as follows:

    332.065  1.  If a governing body or its authorized

 representative has advertised for or requested bids in letting a

 contract, the governing body or its authorized representative must,

 except as otherwise provided in subsection 2, award the contract to

 the lowest responsive and responsible bidder. The lowest

 responsive and responsible bidder [must] may be judged on the

 basis of [price, conformance] :

    (a) Price;

    (b) Conformance to specifications[, qualifications, including,

 without limitation, past performance, quality] ;

    (c) Qualifications;

    (d) Past performance;

    (e) Performance or delivery date;

    (f) Quality and utility of services, supplies, materials or

 equipment offered and the adaptability of those services, supplies,

 materials or equipment to the required purpose of the contract;

 and [the]

    (g) The best interests of the public.

    2.  The governing body or its authorized representative:

    (a) Shall give preference to recycled products if:

        (1) The product meets the applicable standards;

        (2) The product can be substituted for a comparable

 nonrecycled product; and

        (3) The product costs no more than a comparable

 nonrecycled product.

    (b) May give preference to recycled products if:

        (1) The product meets the applicable standards;

        (2) The product can be substituted for a comparable

 nonrecycled product; and

        (3) The product costs no more than 5 percent more than a

comparable nonrecycled product.

    (c) May purchase recycled paper products if the specific

 recycled paper product is:

        (1) Available at a price which is not more than 10 percent

 higher than that of paper products made from virgin material;

        (2) Of adequate quality; and

        (3) Available to the purchaser within a reasonable period.

    3.  If , after the lowest responsive and responsible bidder has

 been awarded the contract, during the term of the contract he does

 not supply goods or services in accordance with the bid

 specifications, or if he repudiates the contract, the governing body

 or its authorized representative may reaward the contract to the next

 lowest responsive and responsible bidder without requiring that

 new bids be submitted. Reawarding the contract to the next lowest

 responsive and responsible bidder is not a waiver of any liability of

 the initial bidder awarded the contract.

    4.  As used in this section:

    (a) “Postconsumer waste” means a finished material which

 would normally be disposed of as a solid waste having completed

 its life cycle as a consumer item.

    (b) “Recycled paper product” means all paper and wood-pulp

 products containing in some combination at least 50 percent of its

 total weight:

        (1) Postconsumer waste; and

        (2) Secondary waste,

but does not include fibrous waste generated during the

 manufacturing process such as fibers recovered from wastewater or

 trimmings of paper machine rolls, wood slabs, chips, sawdust or

 other wood residue from a manufacturing process.

    (c) “Secondary waste” means fragments of products or finished

 products of a manufacturing process[,] which has converted a

 virgin resource into a commodity of real economic value.

    Sec. 2.  NRS 332.085 is hereby amended to read as follows:

    332.085  In determining the responsibility of any bidder, the

 governing body or its authorized representative [shall] :

    1.  Shall consider the possession of and limit on any required

 license of the bidder; and [may]

    2.  May consider the [financial responsibility, experience,

 adequacy] :

    (a) Financial responsibility of the bidder;

    (b) Experience of the bidder;

    (c) Adequacy of the equipment[, past performance and ability]

 of the bidder ;

    (d) Past performance of the bidder;

    (e) Performance or delivery date; and

    (f) Ability of the bidder to perform the contract.

    Sec. 3.  NRS 332.115 is hereby amended to read as follows:

    332.115  1.  Contracts which by their nature are not adapted to

 award by competitive bidding, including contracts for:

    (a) Items which may only be contracted from a sole source;

    (b) Professional services;

    (c) Additions to and repairs and maintenance of equipment

 which may be more efficiently added to, repaired or maintained by

 a certain person;

    (d) Equipment which, by reason of the training of the personnel

 or of an inventory of replacement parts maintained by the local

 government , is compatible with existing equipment;

    (e) Perishable goods;

    (f) Insurance;

    (g) Hardware and associated peripheral equipment and devices

 for computers;

    (h) Software for computers;

    (i) Books, library materials and subscriptions;

    (j) Motor vehicle fuel purchased by a local law enforcement

 agency for use in an undercover investigation;

    (k) Motor vehicle fuel for use in a vehicle operated by a local

 law enforcement agency or local fire department if such fuel is not

 available within the vehicle’s assigned service area from a fueling

 station owned by the State of Nevada or a local government;

    (l) Purchases made with money in a store fund for prisoners in a

 jail or local detention facility for the provision and maintenance of

 a canteen for the prisoners;

    (m) Supplies, materials or equipment that are available from

 contracts with the General Services Administration or another

 governmental agency in the regular course of its business;

    (n) Items for resale through a retail outlet operated in this state

 by a local government or the State of Nevada; and

    (o) Goods or services purchased from organizations or agencies

 whose primary purpose is the training and employment of

 handicapped persons,

are not subject to the requirements of this chapter for competitive

 bidding , as determined by the governing body or its authorized

 representative.

    2.  The purchase of equipment for use by a local law

 enforcement agency in the course of an undercover investigation is

 not subject to the requirements of this chapter for competitive

 bidding , as determined by the governing body or its authorized

 representative, if:

    (a) The equipment is an electronic or mechanical device which

 by design is intended to monitor and document in a clandestine

 manner suspected criminal activity; or

    (b) Purchasing the equipment pursuant to such requirements

would limit or compromise the use of such equipment by an agency

 authorized to conduct such investigations.

    3.  The purchase of personal safety equipment for use by a

 local fire department or local law enforcement agency is not

 subject to the requirements of this chapter for competitive

 bidding, as determined by the governing body or its authorized

 representative, if:

    (a) The personal safety equipment will be used by personnel of

 the fire department or law enforcement agency in responding to

 emergencies in which the health, safety or welfare of those

 personnel may be compromised, impaired or otherwise

 threatened; and

    (b) The cost of the personal safety equipment is comparable to

 the cost of similar personal safety equipment that is available for

 purchase by the public.

    4.  The governing body of a hospital required to comply with

 the provisions of this chapter, or its authorized representative, may

 purchase goods commonly used by the hospital, under a contract

 awarded pursuant to NRS 332.065, without additional competitive

 bidding even if at the time the contract was awarded:

    (a) The vendor supplying such goods to the person awarded the

 contract was not identified as a supplier to be used by the person

 awarded the contract; or

    (b) The vendor was identified as a supplier but was not

 identified as the supplier of such goods.

The governing body of the hospital shall make available for public

 inspection each such contract and records related to those

 purchases.

    [4.] 5. This section does not prohibit a governing body or its

 authorized representative from advertising for or requesting bids.

    6.  As used in this section, “personal safety equipment” means

 safety equipment that is worn or otherwise carried on a regular

 basis by personnel of a fire department or law enforcement

 agency. The term includes, but is not limited to, firearms, boots,

 bulletproof vests or other types of body armor, protective

 garments, gloves and helmets.

    Sec. 4.  This act becomes effective on July 1, 2003.

 

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