About the Purchasing Office

Procurement of Goods and Services

The Purchasing Department is responsible for the procurement of goods and services for Northwest Florida State College. Goods and services may be procured through written quotes or formal sealed solicitations.

No goods may be shipped, nor any services performed without a signed Northwest Florida State College Purchase Order (PO) or Purchasing Card (PCard) number. The PO or PCard number must be listed on the shipping documents. The College does not authorize employees to agree to purchases without a signed Northwest Florida State College Purchase Order (PO) or Purchasing Card (PCard) number.

All procurement is handled through the College’s Purchasing Department at Northwest Florida State College, 100 College Boulevard, Niceville, FL 32578. The business hours of the Purchasing Department are 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Thursday. The College may have adjusted hours during the summer term and holidays.  To contact the Purchasing Department, please email purchasing@nwfsc.edu.

Sales Calls

Vendor representatives may contact College departments by phone. Any in-person sales visit requires an appointment. Departments are not authorized to purchase goods or services during sales calls or in-person visits. Sales representatives are encouraged to contact the Purchasing Department directly at purchasing@nwfsc.edu.

Bidding Process

Quotes

Vendors must supply written quotations by email. Vendors are responsible for making all pricing information, specifications, terms, and conditions known to the College buyer in writing prior to a College purchase. Written quotes must be good for at least 30 days.

Sealed Bids

When a purchase is $65,000 or more, Florida law requires the College to publicly solicit sealed bids, unless the purchase fits within a list of exceptions or meets the standard of an emergency in which the President waives the requirement. Northwest Florida State College opens bids in a public bid opening held by the Purchasing Department. The bid opening dates/times are listed in the solicitation. The following is a list of procedures followed by the Purchasing Department after bids are opened:

1. Bid results are tabulated and recorded on a tabulation sheet by the Purchasing Department.
2. The bids will be evaluated according to the terms of the solicitation.
3. A recommended award will be posted in the Purchasing Office and online on BidNet generally no later than ten working days after the bid opening. A recommended award will remain posted for vendor review for ten working days.
4. Bid protests must be filed within the time prescribed in s. 120.53(5), Florida Statutes. Failure to file within the statutory period prescribed and post the required bond shall constitute a waiver under Chapter 120, Florida Statutes. Click the Solicitations and Awards link for more information. Upon receiving a protest, the Director of Purchasing will notify the General Counsel’s office and contact the protestor with further information.
5. After the bid protest period has elapsed, the College will recommend final award to the Board of Trustees. The decision of the College District Board of Trustees will be final. Contract execution and purchase order issuance occurs following final approval.

Terms and Conditions

Purchase Order Terms & Conditions

Vendors are responsible for reading the terms and conditions applicable to College purchases. In a formal solicitation, the vendor is also responsible for reading all solicitation documents.

Demonstrations, Trials and Samples

The College may accept no‐cost product samples of vendors’ products for testing or demonstration purposes for College purposes. Examining samples or viewing demonstrations can be an important part of the process of source selection. A sample or demonstration is not a guarantee of approval to purchase. The Purchasing Department will assist departments in securing samples for the College, and coordinate testing and returns of any unused sample products, when appropriate.

Because College records are open to public inspection, vendors are not guaranteed that proprietary information will be protected. Results of tests will be available to all interested parties. The College reserves the right to subject all samples to tests and inspections as in its judgment are deemed necessary. Product samples may be requested as part of any competitive solicitation. Samples will become the property of the College upon receipt, unless the College agrees in writing prior to receipt to return the samples. Samples may be damaged, destroyed, or used in part or in whole during testing. The vendor shall pay all shipping charges. The College shall bear no responsibility for damaged, destroyed, or unreturned samples unless the College agrees in writing prior to receipt of the samples.

Like samples, the display or demonstration of vendor products is often an important part of the specification development and source selection process. Purchasing organizes equipment demonstrations. Equipment demonstrations follow the same standards as samples, except the College will endeavor to return equipment samples as soon as possible after demonstration and evaluation.

Deliveries

Vendors shall not make a delivery or perform a service for the College without having an authorized Purchase Order or Purchasing Card payment. If vendors supply items to College personnel without proper authorization, the College does not bear responsibility or risk for payment, delivery, or storage. The vendor must assume the responsibility for collection of the payment of these goods or services from the individual with whom the transaction was made. All merchandise should be shipped/delivered to the Receiving Department, Building 630 on the Niceville Campus unless otherwise noted on the PO. Call 850-729-5381 to check hours of operation.

Invoicing

Payment is made after acceptance, inspection, and receipt of goods/services. Payment terms are Net 30 days after receipt of a valid invoice. The Accounts Payable Department is solely responsible for the payment of invoices associated with the Purchase Order. Any questions concerning an invoice should be directed to the Accounts Payable Department. All invoices are to be mailed or emailed to:

Northwest Florida State College 
Accounts Payable Department 
100 College Boulevard 
Niceville, FL 32578
 (850) 729-5215
accountspayable@nwfsc.edu

To ensure prompt payment of your invoice, the Purchase Order number must appear on your invoice. Failure to indicate the College Purchase Order number on your invoice will result in a delay of the payment and the possible return of the invoice.

Special Contract Purchases

The Purchasing Department may uses contracts from State of Florida, other Florida colleges or universities, schools board, counties, and purchasing cooperative groups. This procedure allows the College to waive competitive bidding as these contracts have already been competitively bid. Substantial quantity savings are obtained by using these contracts since they are based on the requirements of other entities within the State of Florida.

Vendor Opportunities

The College encourages all eligible vendors to participate in the College’s purchasing program to meet the needs of the College. The College will comply with federal and state preferences that are applicable to the College.

Veterans: If applicable to the solicitation, veteran business enterprises certified by the Department of Management Services may submit proof of such certification for consideration in the solicitation. If applicable to the solicitation, the College may but is not required to offer consideration to a bidder based on this certification.

Woman- or Minority-owned Business Enterprise: As with certified veteran business enterprises, the Florida Department of Management Services certifies woman- and minority-owned business.

Preference to Florida Businesses: Under section 287.084, Florida Statutes, there are circumstances under which the College must provide a preference to Florida businesses. Contact the Purchasing Department for more information.

Prison Rehabilitative Industries and Diversified Enterprises, Inc.: The College supports purchasing supplies from PRIDE whenever it is reasonable to do so.

Federal Preferences: When a College purchase uses federal funds, the College must also comply with preferences offered federally such as domestic preference for procurements, Buy America, and use of minority- and woman-owned businesses.

Notice  of Fraudulent Purchase Order Attempts

There have been fraudulent attempts to place purchase orders (POs), enter into contracts, and/or request for quotations that purport to originate from Northwest Florida State College using lookalike domain registrations. While the College cannot prevent this illegal activity, the College works with law enforcement to investigate the use of the College’s name, brand, and likeness in these fraudulent attempts. If you are unsure if you have been fraudulently contacted regarding a College purchasing matter, please contact the College’s Purchasing Department.

If your company has been fraudulently contacted, please report it to the Internet Crime Complaint Center using the following link to file a complaint: www.ic3.gov. Submissions to that law enforcement site are monitored by the appropriate Federal Agencies for handling on-line scams.