Page 85 - CONTRACT POLICY MANUAL

SECTION 4.5

SOLE SOURCE AND PROPRIETARY REQUESTS

§4.5-101 Policy

(1) It is the policy of the County of Orange to solicit competitive bids and proposals for its
procurement requirements. A Sole Source procurement may only be used when there is
clear and convincing evidence that only one source exists to fulfill the County’s
requirements.

§4.5-102 Sole Source Justification

(1) Formal justification for Sole Source procurements is required when competitive bid
guidelines require pricing from competing firms. A Sole Source justification will be
prepared by the user department and approved by the department head or designee. The
County Procurement Officer or Deputy Purchasing Agent shall retain a copy of this
justification as part of the contract file. As part of the Sole Source justification, the
requestor shall clearly explain:
a) A detailed description of the type of contract to be established;
b) A detailed description of services/commodities to be provided by the vendor;

c) Why the recommended vendor is the only one capable of providing the required
services/commodities and includes back-up information to support the
justification;
d) Identify other sources that have been contacted and explain in detail why they
cannot fulfill the County’s requirements;
e) How the recommended vendor’s prices or fees compare to the general market and
attach quotes for comparable services and supplies, if available; and,
f) How the County would accomplish this particular task if the recommended vendor
could not provide the product or service.
(2) Valid Sole Source justifications require strong technological or strong programmatic
justifications. Sole Source justifications are not required for purchases where no
competitive solicitation is required.
(3) If a contractor develops a particular expertise through demonstrated past performance
which has been investigated and determined to be satisfactory in this area of expertise, then
such contractor may be awarded a subsequent contract for related work, provided that the
Sole Source justification requirements outlined in this Section are satisfied. Such
contractor may be designated as an exclusive contractor if the County would be adversely
affected by bringing in another vendor who would be required to meet the expert
contractor’s level of expertise and existing knowledge and involvement in a specific
project.

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