| (a) Inspection of merchandise.
(1) Qualified ordering entities must inspect all shipments
received against orders and report any discrepancies to the comptroller
immediately.
(2) If unlisted shortages are discovered, the contractor
and the comptroller must be notified immediately. Unless shipments
are checked immediately upon arrival and such shortage reports are
made within 15 days, the contractor cannot be held responsible for
shortages.
(3) A contractor may be required to pick up any merchandise
not conforming to specifications and replace the merchandise immediately.
(b) Substitutions. Substitution of items called for
in a contract is not permitted without the prior approval of the director.
No such approval will be granted unless substituted items are of equal
quality and are offered at the same or lower price.
(c) Cancellations.
(1) Cancellations on orders issued by the comptroller's
statewide procurement division, either on the part of the vendor or
a qualified ordering entity, are not permitted without the prior written
approval of the comptroller's statewide procurement division.
(2) Orders may be canceled without the contractor's
consent due to unsatisfactory performance or nonperformance by the
contractor.
(3) Orders may not be canceled without first obtaining
the consent of the contractor if the reason for cancellation is not
the fault of the contractor.
(4) A contract or a portion of a contract may be canceled
on request of the contractor if the contractor is unable to perform
due to circumstances beyond its control. In these instances, the comptroller's
statewide procurement division will consider such requests when presented
in writing with proper documentation.
(d) Damages for failure to perform.
(1) A vendor who fails to perform as required under
a contract shall be liable for actual damages and costs incurred by
the state.
(2) If any merchandise delivered under a contract has
been used or consumed by an agency and on testing is found not to
comply with specifications, no payment may be approved by the comptroller's
statewide procurement division for such merchandise until the amount
of actual damages incurred has been determined.
(3) The comptroller shall seek to collect damages by
following the procedures established by the Office of the Attorney
General for the collection of delinquent obligations.
|
