Restrictions on Purchasing and Contracting with Certain Vendors (C-48)
Original Implementation: January 25, 2000
Last Revision: July 10, 2007
DEFINITIONS
Warrant Hold – status identifying vendors who are delinquent in payments to the state of Texas and prohibiting the state comptroller from issuing payment to the vendor. Determination of this status is required up to 7 days before “contracting” with any vendor and may prevent the university from being able to “contract” with the vendor.
EPLS – Federal government’s Excluded Parties List System identifying Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) with whom the United State President’s Executive Order 13224 prohibits any government entity from doing business.
Contract - As defined by the state comptroller in Notice to State Agencies #FM00-35, dated 12/2/99, a "contract" is a commitment of agency funds for the purchase of goods or services. This definition includes P-cards, vouchers, purchase orders and contracts.
RESPONSIBILITY FOR DETERMINATION
It will be the responsibility of the department placing the order to insure that the selected vendor is NOT on warrant hold or the EPLS up to 7 days before the “contract” date, but no later than the “contract” start date for the following types of transaction.
Purchasing places the order:
- standing orders
- purchase orders or contracts completed from a requisition submitted for order placement by purchasing
Library Book Purchases made by the Library:
- library delegated purchases
Stone Fort Museum Purchases for Resale made by Stone Fort Museum Staff:
- stone fort delegated purchases
Department End Users place the order:
- payment vouchers
- p-card purchases exceeding $150 (EPLS check is not required for p-card purchases)
- purchases made by an employee for which reimbursement will be sought (tax status of the vendor from whom the purchase is made must be checked)
- requisitions for which a telephone PO is issued
Note: If any department end user does not wish to verify warrant hold or EPLS status in conjunction with placing the type of order listed above, then a requisition must be submitted to the purchasing office for order placement.
DETERMINATION INSTRUCTIONS
State Comptroller Warrant Hold Status Determination
The verification process involves searching for the vendor by vendor number and/or name at the state comptroller's web-site created specifically for verification of vendor warrant hold status. The internet address is
http://ecpa.cpa.state.tx.us/vendor/tpsearch1.html.
The vendor number can be obtained from the FRS database, screen 203 (State Vendor ID found immediately below the vendor name) or by obtaining the vendor's state of Texas sales tax number. If a vendor number or sales tax number is unknown, then a name search may be attempted.
- If the vendor number or vendor name search indicates that the vendor 1) is "not on vendor hold", 2) returns no match, or 3) indicates the number is not on the taxpayer file, proceed with the purchase in accordance with university policies and procedures.
- If the vendor number or vendor name search indicates that the vendor is "on warrant hold", the department making the determination has the following options:
- Locate another vendor with whom to “contract” and who is not on warrant hold.
- Contact the vendor and inform him/her to contact the state comptroller's office at 1-800-531-5441 to resolve the "on warrant hold" warrant status. The corrected status must be viewable on-line or a written notice received from the state comptroller’s office and maintained with the “contract” file. The vendor may be given an adequate period of time to rectify his/her warrant hold status from "on warrant hold" to "not on vendor hold".
- The vendor may choose to allow their payment to be forwarded to the state comptroller to off-set the debt. Contact accounts payable for further instructions.
Federal Government Excluded Parties List System (EPLS) Determination
The verification process involves searching for the vendor by vendor name at the federal government’s EPLS web-site created specifically for this determination. The internet address is http://www.epls.gov/epls/search.do.
Type the last name of the individual or the first word (except ‘the’) of a company name; scroll to the bottom of the screen and click ‘search’. Any names found will be returned in alphabetical order.
If the search finds a match, more research is required to rule out the possibility of a “false hit.”
- Is the name an exact match?
- Is the name very close?
- Is the vendor you are searching for located in the same general area as the name returned in the search?
If the match appears to be valid, contact the director of purchasing.
DOCUMENTATION OF DETERMINATION
The document created by the department placing the order (requisition for telephone PO, p-card transaction, payment voucher, purchase order, etc.) must include a warrant hold and EPLS status determination statement as follows:
“Vendor not on hold/EPLS (date) (your initials)
Cross Reference: Texas Government Code, Title 10, Chapter 2252.903; U. S. President Executive Order 13224 issued September 23, 2001
Responsible for Implementation: Vice President for Finance and Administration
Contact for Revision: Director of Purchasing and Inventory/HUB Coordinator
Forms: None