Revised Date: 2/3/2022
In recent years, the majority of state price agreements have changed from “Mandatory” to
“Permissive”. The purpose of this document is to provide guidance on the use of mandatory
and non-mandatory state price agreements, the order of priority when multiple agreements
exist, and the use of the Statewide Amazon Business account to purchase items available under
a state price agreement.
General Guidance
In all instances, for a good or service that is required to be competitively solicited, agencies
or state institutions of higher education (IHE) may use an existing state price agreement in
lieu of issuing a solicitation. It is acceptable to negotiate with a price agreement vendor to
attempt to get better pricing or for additional benefits (such as an extended warranty). If an
agency or IHE does not use a price agreement or another approved cooperative purchasing
method, a solicitation must be issued if required.
Mandatory Price Agreements
Procurement Rule R-24-102-202-01 authorizes the Chief Procurement Officer to identify
state price agreements as mandatory or permissive. Under R-24-102-202-01(c), mandatory
price agreements must be used by all state agencies if and when the need arises for the
supplies or services available through a mandatory agreement. If an agency seeks to
purchase supplies or services of a similar nature from a source other than a mandatory
price agreement, the agency may request a waiver through the SPCO’s eSubmission system.
Permissive Price Agreements
Though the use of permissive price agreements is not required under procurement code or
rule, permissive state price agreements should still be the first source that agencies look to.
State price agreements provide a wide variety of goods and services with aggressive pricing
and negotiated terms and conditions, and help save time. However, agency procurement
officials may authorize purchases from other sources. A waiver from SPCO is not required.
When deciding whether to purchase from a permissive price agreement or through another
source, the agency should consider the following:
- Availability of the desired goods (or acceptable substitute)
- Cost
- Delivery time
- Warranty
Statewide Amazon Business Account
While the statewide Amazon Business Prime agreement is a statewide agreement available for use by all state agencies, it is not considered a state price agreement. If an agency seeks to purchase goods that are otherwise available under a permissive state price agreement, the agency should first look to the price agreement before purchasing from another vendor, including through the statewide Amazon Business Prime agreement.
Multiple Cooperative Agreements
When needed goods or services are available under multiple cooperative agreements, the Procurement Code provides an order of priority for the use of cooperative purchasing agreements. Under 24-110-201(4) C.R.S., agency procurement officials must comply with the following order of priority for the use of cooperative purchasing agreements:
- State-issued cooperative purchasing agreements (State Price Agreements)
- Other state public procurement unit cooperative purchasing agreements
- Public procurement unit or external public procurement unit cooperative purchasing agreements
For more information contact:
John Chapman
john.chapman@state.co.us