New Jersey § 40a:11-2

§ 40a:11-2.

As used herein the following words have the following definitions, unless the context

otherwise indicates: (1) “ Contracting unit ” means: (a) Any county; or (b) Any municipality; or (c) Any board, commission, committee, authority or agency, which is not a State board,

commission, committee, authority, except as provided pursuant to P.L.2013, c. 4 , 1 or agency, and which has administrative jurisdiction over any district other than

a school district, project, or facility, included or operating in whole or in part,

within the territorial boundaries of any county or municipality which exercises functions

which are appropriate for the exercise by one or more units of local government, including

functions exercised in relation to the administration and oversight of a tourism district

located in a municipality in which authorized casino gaming occurs, and which has

statutory power to make purchases and enter into contracts awarded by a contracting

agent for the provision or performance of goods or services. The term shall not include a private firm that has entered into a contract with a

public entity for the provision of water supply services pursuant to P.L.1995, c. 101 ( C.58:26-19 et al.). “Contracting unit” shall not include a private firm or public authority that has entered

into a contract with a public entity for the provision of wastewater treatment services

pursuant to P.L.1995, c. 216 ( C.58:27-19 et al.). “Contracting unit” shall not include a duly incorporated nonprofit association that

has entered into a contract with the governing body of a city of the first class for

the provision of water supply services or wastewater treatment services pursuant to

section 2 of P.L.2002, c. 47 ( C.40A:11-5.1 ). “Contracting unit” shall not include an entity that has entered into a contract for management and operation services with

a local hospital authority established pursuant to P.L.2006, c. 46 ( C.30:9-23.15 et al.). (2) “ Governing body ” means: (a) The governing body of the county, when the purchase is to be made or the contract

or agreement is to be entered into by, or on behalf of, a county; or (b) The governing body of the municipality, when the purchase is to be made or the

contract or agreement is to be entered into by, or on behalf of, a municipality;

or (c) Any board, commission, committee, authority or agency of the character described

in subsection (1)(c) of this section. (3) “ Contracting agent ” means the governing body of a contracting unit, or appointed membership of a State

authority authorized to enter into a cooperative purchasing agreement pursuant to P.L.2013, c. 4 , or its authorized designee, which has the power to prepare the advertisements, to

advertise for and receive bids and, as permitted by this act, to make awards for the

contracting unit in connection with purchases, contracts or agreements. (4) “ Purchase ” means a transaction, for a valuable consideration, creating or acquiring an interest

in goods, services and property, except real property or any interest therein. (5) (Deleted by amendment, P.L.1999, c. 440 .) (6) “ Professional services ” means services rendered or performed by a person authorized by law to practice a

recognized profession, whose practice is regulated by law, and the performance of

which services requires knowledge of an advanced type in a field of learning acquired

by a prolonged formal course of specialized instruction and study as distinguished

from general academic instruction or apprenticeship and training. Professional services may also mean services rendered in the provision or performance of goods or services

that are original and creative in character in a recognized field of artistic endeavor. (7) “ Extraordinary unspecifiable services ” means services which are specialized and qualitative in nature requiring expertise,

extensive training and proven reputation in the field of endeavor. (8) (Deleted by amendment, P.L.1999, c. 440 .) (9) “ Work ” includes services and any other activity of a tangible or intangible nature performed

or assumed pursuant to a contract or agreement with a contracting unit. (10) “ Homemaker--home health services ” means at home personal care and home management provided to an individual or members

of the individual's family who reside with the individual, or both, necessitated by

the individual's illness or incapacity. “ Homemaker--home health services ” includes, but is not limited to, the services of a trained homemaker. (11) “ Recyclable material ” means those materials which would otherwise become municipal solid waste, and which

may be collected, separated or processed and returned to the economic mainstream in

the form of raw materials or products. (12) “ Recycling ” means any process by which materials which would otherwise become solid waste are

collected, separated or processed and returned to the economic mainstream in the form

of raw materials or products. (13) “ Marketing ” means the sale, disposition, assignment, or placement of designated recyclable materials

with, or the granting of a concession to, a reseller, processor, materials recovery

facility, or end-user of recyclable material, in accordance with a district solid

waste management plan adopted pursuant to P.L.1970, c. 39 ( C.13:1E-1 et seq. ) and shall not include the collection of such recyclable material when collected

through a system of routes by local government unit employees or under a contract

administered by a local government unit. (14) “ Municipal solid waste ” means, as appropriate to the circumstances, all residential, commercial and institutional

solid waste generated within the boundaries of a municipality; or the formal collection

of such solid wastes or recyclable material in any combination thereof when collected

through a system of routes by local government unit employees or under a contract

administered by a local government unit. (15) “ Distribution ” (when used in relation to electricity) means the process of conveying electricity

from a contracting unit that is a generator of electricity or a wholesale purchaser

of electricity to retail customers or other end users of electricity. (16) “ Transmission ” (when used in relation to electricity) means the conveyance of electricity from

its point of generation to a contracting unit that purchases it on a wholesale basis

for resale. (17) “ Disposition ” means the transportation, placement, reuse, sale, donation, transfer or temporary

storage of recyclable materials for all possible uses except for disposal as municipal

solid waste. (18) “ Cooperative marketing ” means the joint marketing by two or more contracting units of the source separated

recyclable materials designated in a district recycling plan required pursuant to

section 3 of P.L.1987, c. 102 ( C.13:1E-99.13 ) pursuant to a written cooperative agreement entered into by the participating contracting

units thereof. (19) “ Aggregate ” means the sums expended or to be expended for the provision or performance of any

goods or services in connection with the same immediate purpose or task, or the furnishing

of similar goods or services, during the same contract year through a contract awarded

by a contracting agent. (20) “ Bid threshold ” means the dollar amount set in section 3 of P.L.1971, c. 198 ( C.40A:11-3 ), above which a contracting unit shall advertise for and receive sealed bids in accordance

with procedures set forth in P.L.1999, c. 440 ( C.40A:11-4.1 et al.). (21) “ Contract ” means any agreement, including but not limited to a purchase order or a formal agreement,

which is a legally binding relationship enforceable by law, between a vendor who agrees

to provide or perform goods or services and a contracting unit which agrees to compensate

a vendor, as defined by and subject to the terms and conditions of the agreement. A contract also may include an arrangement whereby a vendor compensates a contracting

unit for the vendor's right to perform a service, such as, but not limited to, operating

a concession. (22) “ Contract year ” means the period of 12 consecutive months following the award of a contract. (23) “ Competitive contracting ” means the method described in sections 1 through 5 of P.L.1999, c. 440 ( C.40A:11-4.1 thru 40A:11-4.5 ) of contracting for specialized goods and services in which formal proposals are

solicited from vendors; formal proposals are evaluated by the purchasing agent or

counsel or administrator; and the governing body awards a contract to a vendor or

vendors from among the formal proposals received. (24) “ Goods and services ” or “ goods or services ” means any work, labor, commodities, equipment, materials, or supplies of any tangible

or intangible nature, except real property or any interest therein, provided or performed

through a contract awarded by a contracting agent, including goods and property subject

to N.J.S.12A:2-101 et seq. (25) “ Library and educational goods and services ” means textbooks, copyrighted materials, student produced publications and services

incidental thereto, including but not limited to books, periodicals, newspapers, documents,

pamphlets, photographs, reproductions, microfilms, pictorial or graphic works, musical

scores, maps, charts, globes, sound recordings, slides, films, filmstrips, video and

magnetic tapes, other printed or published matter and audiovisual and other materials

of a similar nature, necessary binding or rebinding of library materials, and specialized

computer software used as a supplement or in lieu of textbooks or reference material. (26) “ Lowest price ” means the least possible amount that meets all requirements of the request of a

contracting agent. (27) “ Lowest responsible bidder or vendor ” means the bidder or vendor: (a) whose response to a request for bids offers the

lowest price and is responsive; and (b) who is responsible. (28) “ Official newspaper ” means any newspaper designated by the contracting unit pursuant to R.S.35:1-1 et seq. (29) “ Purchase order ” means a document issued by the contracting agent authorizing a purchase transaction

with a vendor to provide or perform goods or services to the contracting unit, which,

when fulfilled in accordance with the terms and conditions of a request of a contracting

agent and other provisions and procedures that may be established by the contracting

unit, will result in payment by the contracting unit. (30) “ Purchasing agent ” means the individual duly assigned the authority, responsibility, and accountability

for the purchasing activity of the contracting unit, and who has such duties as are

defined by an authority appropriate to the form and structure of the contracting unit,

pursuant to P.L.1971, c. 198 ( C.40A:11-1 et seq. ) and who possesses a qualified purchasing agent certificate. (31) “ Quotation ” means the response to a formal or informal request made by a contracting agent by

a vendor for provision or performance of goods or services, when the aggregate cost

is less than the bid threshold. Quotations may be in writing, or taken verbally if a record is kept by the contracting

agent. (32) “ Responsible ” means able to complete the contract in accordance with its requirements, including

but not limited to requirements pertaining to experience, moral integrity, operating

capacity, financial capacity, credit, and workforce, equipment, and facilities availability. (33) “ Responsive ” means conforming in all material respects to the terms and conditions, specifications,

legal requirements, and other provisions of the request. (34) “ Public works ” means building, altering, repairing, improving or demolishing any public structure

or facility constructed or acquired by a contracting unit to house local government

functions or provide water, waste disposal, power, transportation, and other public

infrastructures. (35) “ Director ” means the Director of the Division of Local Government Services in the Department

of Community Affairs. (36) “ Administrator ” means a municipal administrator appointed pursuant to N.J.S.40A:9-136 and N.J.S.40A:9-137 ; a business administrator, a municipal manager or a municipal administrator appointed

pursuant to the “Optional Municipal Charter Law,” P.L.1950, c. 210 ( C.40:69A-1 et seq. ); a municipal manager appointed pursuant to “the municipal manager form of government

law,” R.S.40:79-1 et seq. ; or the person holding responsibility for the overall operations of an authority

that falls under the “Local Authorities Fiscal Control Law,” P.L.1983, c. 313 ( C.40A:5A-1 et seq. ). (37) “ Concession ” means the granting of a license or right to act for or on behalf of the contracting

unit, or to provide a service requiring the approval or endorsement of the contracting

unit, and which may or may not involve a payment or exchange, or provision of services

by or to the contracting unit. (38) “ Index rate ” means the rate of annual percentage increase, rounded to the nearest half-percent,

in the Implicit Price Deflator for State and Local Government Purchases of Goods and

Services, computed and published quarterly by the United States Department of Commerce,

Bureau of Economic Analysis. (39) “ Proprietary ” means goods or services of a specialized nature, that may be made or marketed by

a person or persons having the exclusive right to make or sell them, when the need

for such goods or services has been certified in writing by the governing body of

the contracting unit to be necessary for the conduct of its affairs. (40) “ Service or services ” means the performance of work, or the furnishing of labor, time, or effort, or any

combination thereof, not involving or connected to the delivery or ownership of a

specified end product or goods or a manufacturing process. Service or services may also include an arrangement in which a vendor compensates

the contracting unit for the vendor's right to operate a concession. (41) “ Qualified purchasing agent certificate ” means a certificate granted by the director pursuant to section 9 of P.L.1971, c.

198 ( C.40A:11-9 ). (42) “ Mistake ” means, for a public works project, a clerical error that is an unintentional and

substantial computational error or an unintentional omission of a substantial quantity

of labor, material, or both, from the final bid computation. 1

L.2013, c. 4, §§ 1 and 2 (N.J.S.A. §§ 5:12-161 and 40A:11-2).