Doing business with CAP

The purpose of this information is to guide vendors and contractors who desire to sell products or provide services to CAP with the purchasing procedures used by CAP.  CAP engages in varied activities while operating and maintaining the components of it's system. A great variety of equipment, supplies and services must be purchased in support of these operations. If you sell a product or provide a service needed, and you are competitive with those who are currently obtaining CAP's business, CAP is interested in providing you with a business opportunity.

This is intended as a general guide and as such, may not answer all of your questions you may have. If you have questions not answered here, e-mail, phone or visit us.

Who Purchases For CAP?

Engineering.  Procurement of all general construction as defined and prescribed by Arizona Revised Statute Title 34.

Purchasing.  The purchases of materials and services, other than described above, are the responsibility of the Purchasing Department. The remainder of this guide describes those procedures.

Procurement Policies

Because public money is involved, Purchasing is guided in its procurement procedures by several established policies.

To conduct all procurement according to the Arizona State Law and CAP Administrative Policy Purchasing,

To obtain the quantity and quality of materials at the right price and when needed,

To maximize competition, and provide interested and qualified vendors with the opportunity to offer their products or services to CAP

Buying Over $50,000

Formal Purchase Procedures: Formal purchases are those over $50,000. Buyers use Invitations for Bids and Requests for Proposals. The formal competitive process, from the issuance and advertising to the opening of the sealed offers, generally takes three (3) weeks. After the opening, the evaluation and approval process takes an additional four to six weeks before an award is authorized.  

Invitation for Bids are awarded to the bidder submitting the lowest priced, responsive, responsible offer meeting specifications. Requests for Proposals are awarded to the proposer determined to have submitted the most advantageous offer to CAP. With proposals, an evaluation committee evaluates and scores proposals based on factors such as cost, compliance to specifications, references, experience of staff and capabilities of the firm.

There may be bids or proposals issued for which you would consider submitting an offer to CAP. All formal bids and proposals are publicly advertised prior to their due date. It is important that you are aware of those opportunities.  CAP advertises in the newspapers for it's three service counties: Maricopa County (Arizona Business Gazette and, if deemed necessary, the Arizona Republic), Pinal County (Casa Grande Dispatch) and Pima County (Tucson Newspapers).

CAP also develops their bid list using the vendors who are registered with the Arizona State Procurement Office.  To register with the state click on the vendor registration link  It is the responsibility of all registered vendors to maintain their registration information on the site.

Buying up to $50,000

Informal Purchase Procedures: Informal purchases are those up to $50,000. A variety of methods are used to make these purchases, which are described below.

Quotations are used by buyers for purchases between $5,000 and $50,000. They may be solicited by telephone, mail, e-mail or fax. Generally, the quotation process takes from three days to two weeks to complete. This includes the evaluation and award process. Quotations represent the most frequent type of buying transaction done by the buyers. Whenever possible, these purchases will be based on competitive quotations. Award is made by purchase order to the vendor submitting the lowest responsive, responsible offer, meeting specifications.

Procurement Cards are used by CAP staff for purchases, which do not exceed $1,000.  They process like any credit card purchase.

Cooperative Purchase Supply Contracts

The State of Arizona, Maricopa County, General Services Administration, Western States Contracting Alliance institute and administer cooperative purchasing agreements. CAP actively participates in these agreements, as well as others, for many of its commonly used items.

Unauthorized Purchases: Any purchase should be made using one of the described methods. Any other type of transaction may be unauthorized. Questions may be directed to Purchasing for a determination if the purchase is appropriate.

Conflict of Interest: No employee or Board member of CAP shall supply to CAP any equipment, material, supplies or services, unless pursuant to an award of a contract after a public competitive offer.

Code of Ethics: Purchasing is a member of the National Institute of Governmental Purchasing (NIGP) [http://www.nigp.org/] and subscribes to its Code of Ethics.