Cooperative Procurement

A Cooperative Procurement is a solicitation conducted by or on behalf of more than one governmental body joined together through an intergovernmental agreement. The three Cooperative Procurement types: Joint, Permissive and Interstate, are described below.

Generally, the State Chief Procurement Officer (State CPO) will enter into a Cooperative Procurement on behalf of agencies, unless authority is delegated to an agency to act as an Administrator or Participant. If delegated, an Administrator or Participant may participate in, sponsor, conduct or administer Joint Cooperative Procurements, Permissive Cooperative Procurements and Interstate Cooperative Procurements.

A few examples of cooperative agreements that DAS administers or participates in and makes available for agencies’ use include:

Additionally, certain General Services Administration (GSA) Schedule 70 Contracts may be appropriate for agency use, provided they meet standards for competitive bidding and other statutory requirements. Agencies seeking to use a GSA contract should confer with legal counsel prior to entering into a GSA agreement.

Joint Cooperative Procurements are solicitations where the participating governmental bodies or cooperative procurement group to the contract are named in the procurement and resulting contract. Use of these Cooperative Procurements is limited to the identified participants only and other governmental bodies may not later use the resulting contract. Joint Cooperative Procurements require Participants to enter into a formal ORS 190 Intergovernmental Agreement with an Administrator executing the agreement on behalf of the cooperative procurement group.

Permissive Cooperative Procurements are solicitations where contracting governmental bodies are not specifically named individually in the procurement and resulting contract. The contract requires the contractor to extend the terms, conditions and pricing of the original contract to an Administrator and all interested Participants. Permissive Cooperative Procurements allow Participants to establish contracts or price agreements under the terms, conditions and prices of the original contract. Participants may not make material change to the contract terms, conditions or prices.

Interstate Cooperative Procurements are a form of Permissive or joint Cooperative Procurements where an Administrator or one or more Participants is located outside of Oregon. For an agency to use an Interstate Cooperative Procurement, the Administrator must be a governmental body that is authorized under the laws, rules or regulations of that jurisdiction to enter into public contracts.

There are many benefits to using cooperative purchasing contracts and agreements, including reduction of staff time, cost savings through volume price discounts, leveraged concessions, and reduced risk through extended warranties and insurance provisions.

An agency may participate in, sponsor, conduct, or administer Cooperative Procurements for products or services, based on its delegated authority. Cooperative Procurements should be used by an agency when it is clear that one or more governmental bodies have the same or similar procurement need and can use their combined volume to drive best value contract pricing and terms for an Administrator and all Participants.

Additionally, an agency should seek to use a Cooperative Procurement when an existing cooperative contract meets its need for a product or service, meets all state requirements and is in the agency’s best interest.

The process for conducting a Cooperative Procurement depends on whether the agency is acting as the Cooperative Procurement Administrator or Participant to the resulting contract. Agencies are delegated the authority to administer and participate in one-time, non-repetitive Joint Cooperative Procurements, however the resulting contract value may not exceed $150,000 ($100,000 for Public Improvements), including all amendments. Additionally, the procurement may not result in establishment of a Permissive Cooperative contract.