Connecticut General Statutes
Chapter 58 - Purchases and Printing
Section 4a-57. (Formerly Sec. 4-112). - Competitive bidding or competitive negotiation for purchases and contracts. Regulations. Waivers. Exceptions.

(a) All purchases of, and contracts for, supplies, materials, equipment and contractual services, except purchases and contracts made pursuant to the provisions of subsection (b) of this section and public utility services as provided in subsection (e) of this section shall be based, when possible, on competitive bids or competitive negotiation. The commissioner shall solicit competitive bids or proposals by providing notice of the planned purchase in a form and manner that the commissioner determines will maximize public participation in the competitive bidding or competitive negotiation process, including participation by small contractors, as defined in section 4a-60g, and promote competition. In the case of an expenditure that is estimated to exceed fifty thousand dollars, such notice shall be posted, not less than five calendar days before the final date of submitting bids or proposals, on the State Contracting Portal. Each notice of a planned purchase under this subsection shall indicate the type of goods and services to be purchased and the estimated value of the contract award. The notice shall also contain a notice of state contract requirements concerning nondiscrimination and affirmative action pursuant to section 4a-60 and, when applicable, requirements concerning the awarding of contracts to small contractors, minority business enterprises, individuals with a disability and nonprofit corporations pursuant to section 4a-60g. Each bid and proposal shall be kept sealed or secured until opened publicly at the time stated in the notice soliciting such bid or proposal.

(b) The commissioner may, at the commissioner's discretion, waive the requirement of competitive bidding or competitive negotiation in the case of minor nonrecurring or emergency purchases of ten thousand dollars or less in amount.
(c) The commissioner shall adopt regulations, in accordance with the provisions of chapter 54, establishing (1) standards and procedures for using competitive negotiation for purchases and contracts, including but not limited to, criteria which shall be considered in making purchases by competitive negotiation and the weight which shall be assigned to each such criterion, and (2) standards and procedures under which additional purchases may be made under existing contracts.
(d) The commissioner, in consultation with the Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection and with the approval of the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management, may waive the requirement of competitive bidding or competitive negotiation in the case of a purchase of cars or light-duty trucks in order to comply with any provisions of the general statutes regarding the purchase of alternative fuel vehicles or any such requirement of federal law.
(e) (1) The purchase of or contract for the following public utility services shall not be subject to competitive bidding or competitive negotiation: (A) Electric distribution services; (B) water services; (C) gas distribution services; (D) electric generation services until the date such services are competitive pursuant to the schedule set forth in section 16-244b, provided electric generation services shall be exempt from competitive bidding and competitive negotiation after said date if such services are provided by an electric municipal utility other than by a participating electric municipal utility, as defined in section 16-1, in the service area of said electric municipal utility; and (E) gas supply services until the date such services are competitive pursuant to legislative act or order of the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority, provided gas supply services shall be exempt from competitive bidding and competitive negotiation after said date if such services are provided by a gas municipal utility in the service area of said gas municipal utility.
(2) Any purchase of or contract by the department for electric generation services that are subject to competitive bidding and competitive negotiations shall be conducted in cooperation with the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection pursuant to section 16a-14e.
(f) Nothing in this section shall be construed to apply to the award of janitorial or service contracts pursuant to the provisions of subsections (b) to (d), inclusive, of section 4a-82.
(1949 Rev., S. 252; 1959, P.A. 258, S. 4; 1963, P.A. 208; 1967, P.A. 193; P.A. 77-291; 77-444, S. 2; 77-614, S. 93, 610; P.A. 80-208; P.A. 82-99, S. 2, 3; 82-285, S. 1, 3; P.A. 84-412, S. 2, 8; P.A. 86-256; 86-357, S. 2; P.A. 87-145, S. 1; P.A. 88-297, S. 4; P.A. 90-252, S. 2, 10; P.A. 94-72; 94-126, S. 4; P.A. 95-218, S. 14; 95-285, S. 3, 9; June 18 Sp. Sess. P.A. 97-9, S. 20, 50; P.A. 99-161, S. 2, 11; P.A. 06-129, S. 6; Sept. Sp. Sess. P.A. 09-7, S. 158; P.A. 11-80, S. 1; P.A. 13-227, S. 2; P.A. 14-188, S. 13; P.A. 16-173, S. 1; P.A. 21-76, S. 12.)
History: 1959 act substituted “director” for “supervisor”; 1963 act added proviso for auction sales; 1967 act deleted requirement for submission of duplicate bids, changed estimated amount from $1,000 to $2,000 for public notice requirement in three daily papers in the state rather than previous requirement for publication in one paper in each county and permitted waiver of bids for minor expenditures; P.A. 77-291 changed estimated amount from $2,000 to $4,000 and amount included in waiver provision from $100 to $200 limit; P.A. 77-444 excluded gas, water, and electric light and power services from competitive bidding requirement; P.A. 77-614 replaced director of purchases with commissioner of administrative services; P.A. 80-208 changed estimated amount to $6,000 and waiver limit to $300 and required regulations for purchases not subject to bid requirements; P.A. 82-99 divided section into Subsecs. and granted authority to commissioner to purchase or contract for advertising space or time by means other than competitive bidding; P.A. 82-285 amended section to exempt purchases and contracts made in connection with emergency repairs to state facilities; P.A. 84-412 inserted provision concerning notice of requirements pursuant to Sec. 4-114a; P.A. 86-256 increased threshold for sealed bidding requirement from $6,000 to $7,500 and increased threshold for waiver of bidding requirements in minor nonrecurring and emergency purchases from $300 to $400; P.A. 86-357 added reference to purchases and contracts made pursuant to Sec. 4-23n re data processing equipment, programs and services; P.A. 87-145 inserted new Subsec. (b) re sale of personal property to municipalities and transit districts, relettered previously existing Subsec. (b) as Subsec. (c) and made technical change in Subsec. (a); P.A. 88-297 amended Subsec. (a) to repeal exception from competitive bidding requirement for purchases and contracts made pursuant to Sec. 4-132(c) or 4-23n, to substitute “competitive bids” for “sealed bids” and to increase threshold for competitive bidding requirement from $7,500 to $10,000, amended Subsec. (c) to increase threshold for waiver of bidding requirement in case of minor nonrecurring and emergency purchases from $400 to $600, to authorize competitive negotiation for purchase or contract for data processing equipment, programs or services costing $20,000 or less or advertising space or time, and to require adoption of regulations re competitive negotiation and standards and procedures under which additional purchases may be made on limited basis under existing contracts and made technical changes; Sec. 4-112 transferred to Sec. 4a-57 in 1989; P.A. 90-252 amended Subsec. (a) to authorize obsolete, unserviceable or unusable personal property also to be sold at state-owned retail store and amended Subsec. (b) by allowing for rejection of all bids when property to be sold at public auction and by adding Subdiv. (2) re order of selling or disposing of property; P.A. 94-72 amended Subsec. (b)(1) by deleting provisions re competitive bids, offering property to municipalities, transit districts and the public at the same time, municipality or transit district which makes the highest bid and rejection of all bids, adding provision re price determined by commissioner or designee, changing reference from no municipality or transit district making a bid to no municipality or transit district purchasing property, and added Subsec. (d) re leasing of personal state property that has become obsolete, unserviceable or unusable; P.A. 94-126 amended Subsec. (c) by raising maximum amount of purchases for which competitive bidding may be waived from $600 to $1,000; P.A. 95-218 added Subsec. (e) re waiver of requirements of competitive bidding for alternative fuel vehicles; P.A. 95-285 amended Subsec. (a) by revising procedure for solicitation of competitive bids by commissioner and amended Subsec. (c) by repealing $20,000 limit on data processing equipment, programs or services that may be purchased by competitive negotiation, effective July 1, 1995; June 18 Sp. Sess. P.A. 97-9 amended Subsec. (c) to repeal authority for commissioner to use competitive negotiation to purchase or contract for data processing equipment, programs or services, effective July 1, 1997; P.A. 99-161 added competitive negotiation as a permissible method for purchases and contracts, revised the exemption for certain public utility services and moved the exemption from Subsec. (a) to a new Subsec. (e), amended Subsec. (a) by deleting provision re personal property that has become obsolete, unserviceable or unusable, increasing the threshold for publication of notices of planned purchases from $10,000 to $50,000 and requiring posting of such notices on the Internet, deleted Subsec. (b) re sale, donation or disposal of certain personal property, relettered portion of former Subsec. (c) re waiver as Subsec. (b) and amended relettered Subsec. (b) by increasing the maximum amount of purchases that can be waived from $1,000 to $10,000, deleted Subsec. (c)(1) re standards and part of(c)(2) re procedures, rewriting them as new Subdiv. (1) re standards and procedures and renumbering Subdiv. (3) as Subdiv. (2) and deleting “on a limited basis” from renumbered Subdiv. (2), deleted Subsec. (d) re property that has become obsolete, unserviceable or unusable, and relettered former Subsec. (e) as Subsec. (d), effective July 1, 1999; P.A. 06-129 added Subsec. (f) re janitorial contracts awarded pursuant to Sec. 4a-82(b) to (e), inclusive; Sept. Sp. Sess. P.A. 09-7 amended Subsec. (a) to change notice requirement from inserting in 2 or more publications to posting on the State Contracting Portal and make technical changes, effective October 5, 2009; pursuant to P.A. 11-80, “Commissioner of Environmental Protection” was changed editorially by the Revisors to “Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection” in Subsec. (d) and “Department of Public Utility Control” was changed editorially by the Revisors to “Public Utilities Regulatory Authority” in Subsec. (e)(1), effective July 1, 2011; P.A. 13-227 amended Subsec. (f) to replace reference to Sec. 4a-82(e) with reference to Sec. 4a-82(d); P.A. 14-188 amended Subsec. (f) to add reference to service contracts; P.A. 16-173 amended Subsec. (e)(2) by replacing “Office of Policy and Management” with “Department of Energy and Environmental Protection”, effective June 7, 2016; P.A. 21-76 amended Subsec. (b) by making a technical change and changing “and” to “or”, effective July 1, 2021.

Structure Connecticut General Statutes