2021 South Carolina Code of Laws
Title 11 - Public Finance
Chapter 35 - South Carolina Consolidated Procurement Code

Editor's Note

2019 Act No. 41, preamble, provides as follows:

"Whereas, the General Assembly finds that it adopted a modified version of the 1979 ABA Model Procurement Code for State and Local Governments, when it enacted 1981 Act No. 148. Since then, the ABA has revised its recommended model by adopting the 2000 ABA Model Procurement Code for State and Local Governments, a primary goal of which was to encourage the competitive use of new forms of project delivery in public construction procurement. With the enactment of Act 174 in 2008, the General Assembly adopted a modified version of the changes made by the 2000 ABA Model Code. In recognition of the state's long history of reliance on the model code, the applicable official comments to the model code, and the relevant and applicable construction given to the model code, should be examined as persuasive authority for interpreting and construing the South Carolina Consolidated Procurement Code; and

"Whereas, it is the intent of the General Assembly that agencies and institutions comply with Section 11-35-1530, which limits use of this source selection method to circumstances in which the use of competitive sealed bidding is either not practicable or not advantageous to the State; accordingly, the basis for such determinations must be specified with particularity and must be documented in sufficient detail to satisfy the requirements of audit. The Materials Management Officer is responsible for controlling the use of RFPs by the respective offices of the Division of Procurement Services and for monitoring the adequacy of such determinations statewide; and

"Whereas, the General Assembly finds that thorough and considered acquisition planning, including appropriate market research, industry-government communications, requirements definitions, risk analysis, and contract administration plans, is necessary to provide increased economy in state procurement activities, to maximize to the fullest extent practicable the purchasing values of funds, and to foster effective broad-based competition for public procurement, all of which are key purposes of the procurement laws; accordingly, the head of each using agency, as defined in Section 11-35-310, is expected to have in place an effective system to implement such planning, and the State Fiscal Accountability Authority is expected to promulgate regulations, establishing guidelines for and requiring such planning, and to audit for compliance with such regulations; and

"Whereas, the General Assembly finds that acquisition policies that more closely resemble those of the commercial marketplace, encourage the acquisition of commercial items, and, where possible, allow use of terms and conditions accepted in the marketplace, will promote efficiency and economy in contracting and avoid unnecessary burdens for agencies and contractors. Accordingly, it adopts simplified procedures for the acquisition of commercially available off-the-shelf products, including higher dollar thresholds for agency purchases of those products. Now, therefore, [text of Act]."