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MD.120.9.3, ADS – Guidance for Procurement of Goods and Services

Maryland Bulletin: 120-9-3
Subject: ADS – Guidance for Procurement of Goods and Services
Date: May 7, 2009

Purpose. To inform Maryland NRCS employees of guidance to procure goods and services.

Expiration Date. September 30, 2009

Explanation.

Following you will find guidance for making purchases. Purchases of $3,000 or less can be made without competition if the price is considered reasonable. Written explanations for not obtaining competitive quotations for these purchases are not necessary. You must distribute these purchases equitably among qualified suppliers. If practicable, solicit a quotation from other than the previous supplier before placing a repeat order. Do not split purchases to avoid the dollar limitation. Purchases over the Micro-Purchase Threshold limit of $3,000 are to be performed by a warranted contract officer. Any procurement above $3,000 must be placed into the Integrated Acquisition System (IAS) for services including any contractual services, maintenance agreements, recurring monthly payments, leases, Information Technology goods, and Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP) surveys, etc. Follow the procedures below to legally procure goods or services. Funding codes for the various programs will be found in Maryland Bulletin Number 250-9-6.

Purchases $3,000 or less

  1. Complete a Procurement Request Form AD-700 in its entirety. A sample completed form is attached for you reference. Ensure that the fund code is cited on the document along with a supervisory signature.

    Field Office Employees
    • Field employees will submit an AD-700 to reflect the cost of general/routine supplies (paper, toner) for a specified time period. More detailed instruction will be forthcoming from your respective state office manager. (Ex. General supplies, June-Sept, $1,000
    • Field employees will also submit an AD-700 to their supervisor for non supply/routine items on an individual basis. (Ex. An example of the would be a request for a camera or a scanner)

    State Office Employees

State employees will submit an AD-700 to their supervisors for approval.

  1. Upon supervisory approval, the AD-700 request will be forwarded to Financial Management for funding approval.
  2. When funding approval is granted or denied, Financial Management will return the AD-700 to the requesting office or staff. Once you have this document you may make the purchase and file the AD-700 away along with any other supporting documentation such as a receipt or packing slip.

Purchases $3,000 or greater

  1. Send an email to Samone Scanlon at Samone.Scanlon@md.usda.gov requesting that a requisition be made in the (IAS). Include the following items in your email message:
  • Fund code
  • Amount available for purchase
  • Suggested Vendor – (the vendor that you suggest may or may not be awarded the contract due to competitive requirements; please ensure that the vendor is set up in our vendor system. You may facilitate this, or we will verify this at the state office and send vendor forms as needed. The vendor form is located at Service_Center/NRCS/Form/Vendor Code Form.doc)
  • Statement of Work (if applicable) – statements of work included will capture the scope of the service or good you are procuring.

Be sure to include all of the above information as the lack of this information will delay processing. Also, please submit requests in a timely manner as the dollar amount will dictate the amount of time a request needs to be solicited. You may reference Maryland Bulletin number 120-9-4 for the applicable dates.

  1. Once the requisition is entered it will progress through the necessary approval chains and on to the contracting officer. The solicitation period will begin and you will be notified of the proposals that are submitted upon the closing of the solicitation.
  2. A selection based on the winning bid will be made, a purchase order will be sent, and the service will be rendered.
  3. You are responsible to ensure the services requested are received according to agreed upon specifications. When the invoice is submitted you as the requestor will sign and date the document witnessing that the goods or services were received.

Information Technology Goods

There is a blanket purchase order in place for the procurement of information technology goods. All designated items will be purchased from the catalog. Following are steps that you will follow to procure IT equipment:

  1. Complete a Form AD-700 in its entirety that includes funds codes and supervisory approval.
  2. Supervisors will forward the completed AD-700 to the Budget Officer for funding approval.

If needed, consultation on the type of equipment needed can be provided by the Information Technology group. A copy of the ITS catalog can be found at S:\Office_To_Office\NRCS\IT Access\ITS Hardware BPA Catalog.

Contact.

All procurements will be made in accordance to a balanced, planned and managed budget.

If you have any questions related to contracting and procurement you may contact Steve Latimer, Contracting Officer, at 443-482-2921 or Steve.Latimer@md.usda.gov, and Megan Corey, Contract Specialist, at 443-482-2917 or Megan.Corey@md.usda.gov.

Any financial related questions can be directed to Marie Monn, Budget Officer, at 443-482-2924 or Marie.Monn@md.usda.gov, and Laurie Blasky, Budget Analyst, at 443-482-2918 or Laurie.Blasky@md.usda.gov

/s/

JON F. HALL
State Conservationist

Attachment: see email dated 5/8/2009

DIST: AE

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