West Virginia Purchasing DivisionWEST VIRGINIA PURCHASING DIVISION

PROCEDURES HANDBOOK

SECTION 5:  VENDOR RESPONSIBILITIES


5.0 VENDOR REGISTRATION:

This section will address the requirements established for vendors who wish to do business with the state of West Virginia.

5.1 Requirements: Vendors doing business with the state of West Virginia must be registered by having a Vendor Registration and Disclosure Statement and Small, Women-, and Minority-owned Business Certification Application (WV-1 or WV-1A form) on file with the Purchasing Division in accordance with West Virginia Code §5A-3-12. The Legislative Rule and Regulation, CSR148, states that, except for purchasing card vendors providing travel-related services or receiving an aggregate total yearly payment less than $25,000 from a spending unit, all vendors are required to register with the Purchasing Division. It is the agency's responsibility to make sure vendors are properly registered with the Purchasing Division prior to issuing a purchase order either verbally or in writing. Agencies must retain proof of verification of registration with each Purchase Order file.  This is usually accomplished by taking a screen print from TEAM prior to issuance of the purchase order.

5.1.1 WV-1: This form is to be completed by vendors who wish to participate in the competitive bid process and receive purchase orders exceeding an aggregate amount of $1,000. The WV-1 form requires payment of the $125 annual fee. The vendor's check and the WV-1 form are to be mailed directly to the Purchasing Division. Upon payment of this fee, the vendor will receive access to the West Virginia Purchasing Bulletin, which contains upcoming bid opportunities and downloadable bid documents.

5.1.2 WV-1A: This form is to be completed by vendors supplying sole source commodities and services to West Virginia state agencies or aggregate competitive purchases of $1,000 or less in any one (1) fiscal year.

It is imperative that agencies include their agency name and mailing address on the front page of the WV-1A form prior to sending it to the vendor. The vendor is to complete Part I of the form and return to the requesting agency.

The agency procurement officer should review the form for completeness and legibility, complete Part II, sign the form and forward to the Purchasing Division for processing. All incomplete or illegible WV-1A forms will be returned to the agency procurement officer for disposition. Incomplete WV-1A forms received in the Purchasing Division without the requesting agency name on the front page of the form and with Part II not completed will not be processed but retained temporarily in a pending file. Part II of the WV-1A form must be completed by the agency and signed by the agency procurement officer.

Agencies should make certain that vendors are not already registered with the Purchasing Division prior to requesting a vendor to become registered. Agency personnel not having access to the TEAM vendor file should contact their agency procurement officer, rather than the Purchasing Division, for vendor registration verification.

Agencies are responsible to furnish the appropriate Vendor Registration and Disclosure Statement and Small, Women-, and Minority-owned Business Certification Application to vendors with which it wishes to do business, whether the business is registering as a new vendor or updating its vendor registration information with the Purchasing Division. Agencies should always furnish the vendor the name and telephone number of an agency contact person in the event the vendor has questions for the agency.

Vendor Registration and Disclosure Statement and Small, Women-, and Minority-owned Business Certification Application (WV-1 and WV-1A forms) can be downloaded from the Purchasing Division web site (http://www.state.wv.us/admin/purchase/forms.html). 

5.2 Vendor Fee:  According to the Legislative Rule, CSR148, except for purchasing card vendors providing travel-related services or receiving an aggregate total yearly payment less than $25,000 from a spending unit, vendors receiving orders for goods or services exceeding $1,000, regardless of payment method, shall pay an annual fee of $125 to the Purchasing Division.

Companies, corporations or persons having multiple outlets for their commodities or services and are all operating under the same FEIN (Federal Employer Identification Number) must pay one $125 annual fee.

Government Entities-Registration

All state agencies, cities, counties, municipalities and political subdivisions doing business with the state must register using their FEIN. Only applicable information on the WV-1A form needs to be provided. No fee is required.

5.3 Vendor Hold: Vendors not exempt from paying the $125 annual fee or vendors who have not responded to the two (2) renewal notifications will be placed on 'hold status' until payment of the fee is received.

In order for agencies to know which vendors are eligible to receive purchase orders, the "Vendor Hold Feature" of TEAM is used. The "H" in the Order Hold field on the TEAM VOS screen indicates ineligibility. Vendors placed on hold cannot receive purchase orders in excess of $1,000.

Vendors who are considered by the Purchasing Division as sole source suppliers and do not participate in the competitive bid process may be exempt from paying the annual fee.

Agencies wishing to purchase competitive items from vendors placed on hold should inform such vendors that the fee is required and refer them to the Purchasing Division for payment and registration procedures.

Vendors will be removed from hold when the vendor has paid the fee; or temporarily when an agency must process an individual purchase order in the TEAM automated purchasing system under $1,000. An agency's request to temporarily remove a vendor from hold must be made in writing to the Purchasing Division indicating the reason for this action.

5.4 Small, Women-, and Minority-owned Business Certification: As required by West Virginia Code §5A-3-59, the West Virginia Purchasing Division incorporated the Small, Women-, and Minority-Owned Businesses (SWAM) Certification Application as part of the Vendor Registration & Disclosure Statement and Small, Women, & Minority-Owned Business Certification (WV-1 and WV-1A forms).  As a result, vendors may apply to become certified if they fall within the business categories defining a small, women-, and minority-owned business.

State agencies may view the list of currently approved SWAM vendors at the Purchasing Division’s website at http://www.state.wv.us/admin/purchase/VendorReg.html.

West Virginia Code of State Rules §148-2-1 et seq. requires vendors to re-certify every two years in order to continue compliance. The recognized designations for SWAM include:

5.4.1. Minority-owned Business, which means a business that is at least fifty-one percent owned by one or more minority individuals or in the case of a corporation, partnership, or limited liability company or other entity, at least fifty-one percent of the equity ownership interest in the corporation, partnership, or limited liability company or other entity is owned by one or more minority individuals and both the management and daily business operations are controlled by one or more minority individuals.

A “minority individual” means an individual who is a citizen of the United States or a noncitizen who is in full compliance with United States immigration law and who satisfies one or more of the following definitions:

African American means a person having origins in any of the original peoples of Africa and who is regarded as such by the community of which this person claims to be a part.

Asian American means a person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, the Indian subcontinent or the Pacific Islands, including, but not limited to, Japan, China, Vietnam, Samoa, Laos, Cambodia, Taiwan, Northern Mariana, the Philippines, a U.S. territory of the Pacific, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, or Sri Lanka and who is regarded as such by the community of which this person claims to be a part.

Hispanic American means a person having origins in any of the Spanish-speaking peoples of Mexico, South or Central America, or the Caribbean Islands or other Spanish or Portuguese cultures and who is regarded as such by the community of which this person claims to be a part.

Native American means a person having origins in any of the original peoples of North America and who is regarded as such by the community of which this person claims to be a part or who is recognized by a tribal organization.

5.4.2. Small Business means a business, independently owned or operated by one or more persons who are citizens of the United States or non-citizens who are in full compliance with United States immigration law, which, together with affiliates, has two hundred fifty or fewer employees, or average annual gross receipts of $10 million or less averaged over the previous three years.

5.4.3. Women-owned Business means a business concern that is at least fifty-one percent owned by one or more women who are citizens of the United States or non-citizens who are in full compliance with United States immigration law, or in the case of a corporation, partnership or limited liability company or other entity, at least fifty-one percent of the equity ownership interest is owned by one or more women who are citizens of the United States or noncitizens who are in full compliance with United States immigration law, and both the management and daily business operations are controlled by one or more women who are citizens of the United States or non-citizens who are in full compliance with United States immigration law.

Frequently-asked questions about the SWAM Certification Program may be found at:

http://www.state.wv.us/admin/purchase/VendorRegFAQ.html#SWAM_faq

As an agency requirement of the SWAM procurement certification, West Virginia Code §5A-3-59 (b) requires state agencies to submit annual progress reports on small, women- and minority-owned business procurements to the Purchasing Division of the Department of Administration.

To assist agencies in collecting and maintaining this data, the Purchasing Division created a SWAM Reporting Tool, which is available on the Purchasing Division’s intranet under Processes and Procedures. This intranet page may be accessible at the following link:

 http://intranet.state.wv.us/admin/purchase/procedures.html

At the end of each fiscal year, this Excel spreadsheet must be completed noting all contracts or purchase orders issued to SWAM vendors. The information to be noted includes the fiscal year, vendor name, TEAM number, contract/purchase order number, description, total amount, and date of award.  This report may be submitted electronically to the Purchasing Division through the purchasing.requisitions@wv.gov email account.

Should an agency purchaser receive any questions relating to the vendor registration procedures or the SWAM certification, the vendor should be directed to the Purchasing Division’s Vendor Registration webpage which focuses on these programs. This webpage may be accessed directly at:

http://www.state.wv.us/admin/purchase/VendorReg.html

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