Page 10 - The Edge Back to School 2022

PROCUREMENT

BY BILL MUNCH, CPPO, CPPB
JOC Procurement: What’s It All About Anyway?

Bill Munch

Welcome to another school year. Enjoyed one of stringent competitive bidding requirements at U.S
best Summer Conferences ever! Army facilities in Europe. The true intent of JOC is
to compete job orders based on qualifications and
As we head into 2022-2023, I continue to receive negotiate a contract with the most qualified contractor
questions about Job Order Contracting (JOC), based on a Unit Price Book such as RSMeans or by
one of the Alternative Project Delivery Methods other negotiated methods. In theory, this process will
(APDM) for construction procurement and just allow the district to negotiate a contract utilizing the
how it is supposed to work. School Business contractor's expertise to come up with the best overall
Officials want to remain compliant. Since some construction solution at the most cost-effective price.
of this article will include my professional In a perfect world, this is how JOC would be mutually
procurement philosophies, I am going to take the beneficial for all involved.
liberty of paraphrasing the Barkman Doctrine:
That being said, it is allowable to compare costs
The following does NOT constitute legal advice from multiple awarded contractors by obtaining
but merely best practice recommendations from quotes asking for pricing to determine lowest
an old but certified public procurement official. cost. There is nothing in the rules that prohibits
Arizona School District Procurement Rule asking for quotes on an established JOC contract.
R7-2-1001, Paragraph 70 tells us, “Job-order- For less complicated projects, this could be a very
contracting” means a project delivery method in fruitful strategy and benefit all involved.
which:
Here's what I have been telling the districts I
a. The contract is a requirements contract for currently work with and mirrors what I did when
indefinite quantities of construction. I worked as Purchasing Director since APDM and
JOC became a thing in Arizona back in 2000. Either
b. The construction to be performed is specified qualifications based for more complicated projects
in job orders issued during the contract. or cost quotes for simpler projects will comply
with our procurement rules. Just remember, every
c. Finance services, maintenance services, operations procurement stands on its own. Use the process
services, preconstruction services, design that is most beneficial to your district.
services and other related services may be
included.” Can we use JOC when federal dollars are
involved? As you may know, I serve on the
The concept of JOC was created in 1982 to tackle AASBO Federal Procurement Task Force with
the demanding requirements, tight time frames and about a dozen school district and cooperative

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10 THE EDGE BACK TO SCHOOL 2022