Vendor Procurement Guide

Section 1: General Information

The West Virginia Purchasing Division encourages vendors to consider the state of West Virginia as a potential customer. This guide is dedicated to providing helpful information regarding our purchasing process.

The State of West Virginia acquires a variety of commodities and services to efficiently operate our agencies and their respective programs. Purchasing laws, regulations and procedures have been implemented to protect the interest of all parties (i.e. tax­payers, state agencies and businesses participating in the procurement process.)

Each year, our state agencies purchases millions of dollars in commodities and services from thousands of vendors. The Purchasing Division has the responsibility to ensure that taxpayers' dollars are being spent according to statutory and regulatory requirements in an ethical and cost-efficient manner. The state budget is approved and based on a fiscal year. The fiscal year for the State of West Virginia is July 1 through June 30.

The mission of the Purchasing Division is simple, yet direct in what it hopes to accomplish:

To provide prudent and fair spending practices in procuring quality goods and services at the lowest cost to state taxpayers by maximizing efficiencies and offering guidance to our customers.

The Purchasing Division is bound by West Virginia Code §5A-3, the Code of State Rules 148 CSR 1 and detailed guidelines in the Purchasing Division Procedures Handbook. Information on this site is supplemental to these statutory and regulatory requirements as it pertains to business partners of the Purchasing Division.

Some agencies are exempt, in part or in whole, from the Purchasing Division’s authority. These exemptions are listed in Appendix E and on the Purchasing Division’s website at:

http://www.state.wv.us/admin/purchase/PurchasingExemptions/

The Purchasing Division’s Vendor Procurement Guide will outline procedures in place for vendors interested in conducting business with the State of West Virginia. Additional information which may assist vendors in the state’s procurement process may be found at the Vendor Resource Center on the Purchasing Division’s website at:

http://www.state.wv.us/admin/purchase/vrc

The Vendor Resource Center provides information, such as accessing the West Virginia Purchasing Bulletin, a weekly list of solicitations expected to exceed $25,000; the state procurement officer listing; the terms and conditions for requests for quotations and purchase orders; bids received for solicitations; forms; as well as links to helpful web resources.

Additionally, the Purchasing Director has the authority to establish a list of non-competitive / exempt commodities and services that are not required to be competitively bid, which are noted in Section 9 of the Purchasing Division Procedures Handbook for state agency use. These commodities include utilities, postage, attorneys and law firms, etc.

For a direct link to this list, please visit:

http://www.state.wv.us/admin/purchase/handbook

The Purchasing Division is pleased with your interest in becoming a business partner with the State of West Virginia and looks forward to your company’s participation in the competitive bid process.

Return to Table of Contents