Research Purchasing and Contracting

1. Research Purchasing and Contracting March 03, 2013

2. VA Fiscal Year (FY)October - September • Quarter 1: October – December • Quarter 2: January – March • Quarter 3: April – June • Quarter 4: July – August • You cannot carry money into the next FY. Spend money throughout the current FY. Do not wait until the end of the FY as you may lose the money.

3. Budget Reports • We try to send project budget reports quarterly. However, you may request them at anytime from Steve. • Review budget reports carefully. Steve can assist with any questions or corrections.

4. Supply Orders $3,000 and Below, maybe purchased with a VA purchase card Steve Kesterson

5. General Information • Before submitting a purchase request form, be sure the company has the items in stock. If they are not in stock, you need to find out how long it will be before the company has them in stock. • We cannot order back-ordered items. If the company cannot complete the order within 30 days, you need to hold your order and submit it later. • Credit card purchases cannot exceed 30 days.

6. Shipping Costs • The $3,000 limit for purchase card orders, includes shipping cost and other fees involved in the transaction. • On purchase order request forms, include the shipping costs. Please make a separate line item for these charges.

7. Metro • VA office supplies are ordered through Metro. • The VA prohibits purchase of many office type items. These items are noted with a *snowflake by the stock number. You most likely will not be able to order that item. • Approved items are generally listed in the front of the metro catalog. • Steve maybe able to order prohibited items from another vendor. Submit the purchase order request form and include the page # of the Metro catalog where the item is listed. Steve will try to go through Independence or Staples.

8. Returns • Please make sure to write the correct stock numbers on your purchase request forms. • When you place the incorrect stock number, you in turn are slowing down the order process; other orders are held back due to the time required to research the correct stock number. • When you need to make a correction to a submitted order, you need to resubmit your order form. For record keeping purposes we must have a complete and accurate request.

9. Gases: • Request for purchase and/or refill of gas must be submitted on a purchase request form. • If you are ordering 2 tanks, you should have 2 empty tanks. This information must be included on the purchase request form i.e. “2 empty tanks” • Label/identify which tanks are empty. The tank will not be picked up if it is not labeled. Will slow down the process, could get mixed-up in the warehouse. • Labels for tanks can be ordered through Lab Safety Supplies. No exchange need purchased

10. Liquid Nitrogen: • If you are the last one to use liquid nitrogen and notice it is empty, it is your responsibility to place a new order. Complete and place a purchase request form in the order box in the research mail room. Regardless of who orders the tank, the cost is shared among all users. • Without an action nothing gets done 

11. Chemicals: • Chemicals and supplies cannot be combined on one purchase request form. They must be separate purchase requests. • John Schaffer, Research Safety Officer must review and approve all chemical purchase order requests. • In the near future, this will be done by the medical center Safety Office. This will likely add time to the process. • Hence why they should be placed on two separate order forms  • Check correct box for chemical on order form

12. Animals • Submit requests at least one week in advance to allow for scheduling transportation. • In order to purchase animals with the purchase card, the total cost including shipping must be less than $3,000.

13. Emergency Order • Keep track of your chemical inventory. Do not wait until you use the last drop. Once the medical center Safety Office becomes involved, we do not know how long it will take to complete orders. • If it is an emergency, note it on your completed purchase request form. Keep in mind, the shipping cost maybe higher than the normal shipping cost. • Make sure you plan ahead  Be careful what you call an “emergency”.

14. Common Mistakes: • Pay Pal: We are prohibited from using Pay Pal. Responsibility of the company to find another way for us to pay i.e. credit card or check. Or you should use a different vendor. This is a government regulation. • Vendor Spot on Purchase Request Form: Make sure you write all of the vendor contact information in this box. If you leave it blank, the request form will be returned to you. This slows down the ordering process.

17. Vendor: If you have never used a certain vendor before, see Steve to make sure the company is an approved vendor in VISTA. • Equipment: Cannot be purchased using a the VA purchase card. These orders must be submitted to Jessica Hounshell. • Make sure you are asking the vendor for General Services Association (GSA) pricing. • DO NOT send items in for service without letting Steve know. If you do this you may have to pay for the service out of your own pocket.

18. Equipment Orders are purchased by VA Contracting Staff Jessica Hounshell

19. Make sure you ask vendors for GSA pricing. • All equipment requests must be accompanied by a quote. Be sure the quote is addressed to the VA, not the university. • Look at the date of the quote. Make sure you are submitting with a substantial amount of time before the quote expires. • If you want to order from a specific company, you will need to submit a Sole Source Justification Form.

20. All VA purchased equipment must have an EE tag on it. • If your equipment arrives without an EE tag, please let Jessica know. • All equipment purchased with VA funds is the property of the VA.

21. Software and IT Purchases Jessica Hounshell

22. Medical instrumentation, embedded computers and software, and special purpose computing equipment and software may generally be procured using research funding. • IRM will supply basic desktop computers to on-site research labs. Jessica can facilitate these requests • All other IT type items must be purchased with IT money. IT money is limited.

23. IT purchase requests must be placed on SEWP for bidding. Once a SEWP quote is identified the request must be submitted through ITARS for approval prior to making the purchase. Jessica will with work with Arden Bartlett on getting SEWP quotes and ITARS approval. • IT items must be FIPS Compliant. Jessica can verify this for you.

24. Contracting

25. Most Commonly Used Forms • Contract Request Package (CRP) Be detailed in completing the CRP, focus on Who, What, Where, When and How  • Sole Source Justification (J&A) • Appendix A Form • IGCE (Independent Government Cost Estimate) • Email Jessica Hounshell for all contract related forms.

29. If the money being spent is related to a research grant, please send a copy of the grant or pertinent pages of the grant with the Contract request package, no matter how large the document is. • Notify the Research Office in writing, if you would like to stop a contract or place it on hold. Without notification, we could continue to pay invoices.

30. eCMS Website • This is a newer website Logistics and the Contracting Department uses. • Jessica and Merien Washington are able to upload all documents related to purchase orders and contracts. • This is a good way for Contracting to assign orders and organize paperwork.

31. Contact Information: • Stephen Kesterson Stephen.Kesterson@va.gov x4655 • Jessica Hounshell Jessica.Hounshell@va.gov x5663 • Shelly Leshe Shelly.Leshe@va.gov 216-447-8300 x3786

32. Last But Not Least: • Never spend your own personal money and expect to be reimbursed. • All purchase requests must be placed through the research office. We have no mechanism to pay invoices for items or services we did not purchase or authorize.