Competitive Solicitation Process: A formal process providing an equal and open opportunity to qualified parties and culminating in a selection based on submitted documentation and established criteria. At GW, the Competitive Solicitation Process may be achieved through the issuance of an invitation to bid or a request for proposals.
Formal Solicitation: A formal invitation to receive quotes, in the form of a request for proposal or an invitation to bid.
Invitation to Bid: A formal bid solicitation document that is used when (1) the estimated value of the requirement exceeds the threshold for formal bidding (See Table 2 above); (2) two or more sources are considered able of supplying the requirement; (3) the requirement is adequately defined in all respects to permit the evaluation of bid against clearly stated criteria; and (4) bids can be submitted on a common pricing basis. An Invitation to Bid is intended to accept the lowest-priced responsive bid without negotiations.
Justification and Approval (J&A): A form required to justify the selection of a contractor where the responsible university office does not utilize an informal or formal solicitation process (i.e., obtaining quotes or sending out an invitation for bid or request for proposals) or when the selected contractor is not the lowest bidder. In such cases, it is required when purchases are: (1) part of federal contracts and in an amount greater than $3,000; or (2) made with university funds, federal grants, or non-federal sponsored funds in an amount of $3,000 or more. The form requires a rationale for omitting the solicitation process. It is submitted to the Procurement Department through the online requisition for approval.
Purchase Order (PO): A document issued by GW (the buyer) to a contractor, authorizing a purchase. It includes the terms and conditions that will govern the purchase and describes the purchase quantity and price. After a Requisition is approved by Procurement, Procurement issues a PO to the contractor.
Quote: An offer by a contractor for the sale of a good or service. An informal quote can be verbal (received by phone and documented in the requisition) or written. A formal quote must be received in writing from the contractor. Quotes are requested so that the university can get the best price and quality.
Request for Proposal: A request for proposal (sometimes known as a “RFP”) is used to solicit proposals from potential contractors for goods and services. Unlike the invitation to bid, price is usually not a primary evaluation factor when a RFP is used. A RFP provides for the negotiation of all terms, including price, prior to contract award. It may include a provision for the negotiation of best and final offers. Use of RFPs can be a single-step or multi-step process.
Requisition: A written request for an authorized purchase. GW requires submission of a Requisition for the purchase of most goods and services. If not generated automatically (i.e., through iBuy Goods and Services), Requisitions are created using Enterprise Accounting Services (EAS). Procurement reviews the choice of contractor to ensure it is not in conflict with an existing contract with a preferred contractor. Instructions on how to create a Requisition using EAS can be found on the Systems, Analytics & Insights Group (SAIG) website.
Requirements Document: Documentation relating to a procurement – such as a specification or scope of work – that describes the good or service to be procured. The requirements document is used to solicit responses (bids or proposals) from contractors.
Scope of Work (SOW): This is a written description of the contractual requirements for the materials and services contained within a Request for Proposal. The SOW can be compared to the specifications required for an invitation to bid. A scope of work should not be confused with a “statement of work” (defined in Section IX of this Guide under Common Types of Contract Documents on page 39), which is a formal document that details the work, deliverables, locations, timelines, pricing, and other requirements of a contractor in performing specific work.
Specifications: A precise description of the physical or functional characteristics of a product, good or construction item. A description of goods as opposed to a description of services. A description of what the purchaser seeks to buy and what a bidder must be responsive to in order to be considered for an award of a contract.
Task Order: An order for services (also called a “statement of work” as defined in Section IX of this Guide under Common Types of Contract Documents on page 39) placed against an established contract (sometimes known as a Master Services Agreement). An example of a task order is the hiring of temporary staff against a contract that is already in place at GW. The task order would be for a set number of hours at the contracted rate for a specified type of position.
