Contract Procedures

Purpose

Contract responsibilities are being centralized in Procurement and Contract Services (PCS) to improve internal controls and the organization of all district records. The Director of PCS will be responsible for providing the administrative support, review, preparation and centralized retention of all District contracts. Each agreement will require an approval signature by the Vice President of Business Services or his/her authorized designees before any District commitments can be scheduled.

Contracts Approved and Executed at District Level

Contracts involving an obligation of less than $114,500, except public construction contracts, which shall be limited to expenditures involving less than $200,000 may be executed at the District level. The Vice President of Business Services, or authorized designees, shall sign all District contracts. In no event shall separate departments enter into agreements with contractors for any kind of contracts. Agreements outside the prescribed district process entered into by separate Department may be looked upon as a private agreement between the department head and the contractor and district funds will not be expended for work done. The contracts approved and executed at District level will be ratified by the Board regularly.

Each new or amendment contract will require completion of a “Request for Contract” form. All information on this form must be completed to avoid a delay in processing this request. The contract documents will be prepared and an authorized District Contract Number will be assigned after approval signature by the Vice President of Business Services or his/her authorized designees.

Contracts Approved at Board Level

All formally bid public works contracts (and their respective change orders), and goods and services over the bid threshold require board approval. Please reference the following file path for the current bid threshold for good and services to determine if your request requires board approval: https://www.cerritos.edu/purchasing/faqs-district.htm. 

If the contract requires Board of Trustees approval, please input the Board meeting date in the space provided on the "Request for Contract" form. A listing of the Board meeting dates and deadline can be found on the President's Office website at the following link: https://go.boarddocs.com/ca/cerritos/Board.nsf/public. 

To access the file, start by selecting the Library tab from the top of the page. Then, select "Guide to Submitting Board Meeting Agenda Items" from the left panel. The Board Meeting Deadlines PDF is stored as an attachment at the bottom of the page. 

All information on the Request for Contract form must be completed to avoid a delay in processing this request. The contract documents will be prepared and an authorized District Contract Number will be assigned after approval signature by the Vice President of Business Services or his/her authorized designees.

Contract Term

Continuing contracts for work to be done, services to be performed, or for apparatus or
equipment to be furnished, sold, built, installed, or repaired for the district, or for materials or
supplies to be furnished or sold to the district may be made with an accepted vendor as
follows:

3 Years . . . . . . . . . . . . .Materials or Supplies
5 Years. . . . . . . . . . . . . Work, Services, or for apparatus or Equipment
(Reference: Education Code 17596)

Contract Records

All original district contracts will be centrally filed in the Procurement and Contract Services (PCS) office. A listing for all
contracts will be maintained to include the following information:

  1. District contract number
  2. Company
  3. Brief description of services
  4. Cost
  5. Name of originating department
  6. Term

A listing for all active contracts will be sent out to manager of the departments quarterly. (Jan., Apr., July., & Oct.). Manager is responsible to review the contract listing for accuracy, and notify the PCS of any changes, or submit a “Request for Contract” Form for any amendment or renewal to the contract. PCS will automatically remove all the expired contracts from the listing if PCS does not receive a “Request for Contract” form to amend or renew the expired contracts after 10 days after the listing sent out to the Managers.

All contracts have been classified as Class 3 – Disposable Records. All inactive contracts will be held for the required retention periods of five (5) years may be destroyed as per Title 5 Sections 16026-16027 of the California Administrative Code.

All contract records and supporting documentation will be subject to audit.

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