Any purchases and supply and service contracts executed by the Administration shall be made through a bidding process; Provided, That when the estimated cost for acquiring or rendering the service does not exceed forty thousand dollars ($40,000), the same may be conducted without the bidding process. Neither shall competitive bidding be necessary when:
(1) An emergency requires the immediate delivery of materials, effects or equipment or the performance of services, or
(2) spare parts, accessories, equipment or supplementary services are needed for equipment or services previously rendered or contracted, or
(3) the service or work of experts is required and the Secretary deems that in the interest of a sound management it is better that the contracts for such purposes be made without the need of competitive bidding, or
(4) the prices are not subject to competition because there is only one source of supply available or they are regulated by law. In such cases, such materials, effects or equipment shall be purchased or such services shall be obtained in the open market in the usual and ordinary way of doing business. The Administration or its representative shall reserve the right to award at a public call for bidding on the basis of considerations other than price.
In every case in which a purchase is made or the performance of a service is contracted without resorting to a call for bids, a detailed record of the reason for dispensing with the call for bids shall be kept. Whenever the Administration or its representative awards a purchase or the performance of a service for considerations other than price, such considerations shall have to be clearly in the public interest and a detailed record thereof and of the way public interest is best served with such an action shall be kept. The documents explaining the reasons why the competitive bidding is dispensed with or is awarded for considerations other than price shall be deemed public documents subject to examination by any citizen, especially by persons or entities interested in rendering services or in selling any goods or supplies.
History —June 22, 1978, No. 66, p. 203, § 11; July 9, 1985, No. 99, p. 321, § 9; July 21, 2006, No. 132, § 3.