Guide to County Purchasing: Specifications

A specification is a concise description of goods or services that an entity seeks to buy, and the requirements the vendor must meet in order to be considered for the award. A specification may include requirements for testing, inspection, or preparing any goods or services for delivery, or preparing or installing them for use. The specification is the total description of the goods or services to be purchased.

The purpose of any specification is to provide purchasing personnel with clear guides from which to purchase, and to provide vendors with firm criteria of a minimum standard acceptable for goods or services. A good specification has four characteristics:

1. It establishes the minimum acceptability of the goods or services;
2. It promotes competitive bidding;
3. It contains provision for reasonable tests and inspections for acceptability of the goods or services; and
4. It provides for an equitable award to the lowest and best bid from a responsible bidder.

Specifications may be proposed by the user department, occupant department, or an outside agency. THE FINAL ACCEPTANCE OF THE SPECIFICATIONS, OTHER THAN THOSE FOR CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS, WILL REST WITH THE PURCHASING OFFICE FOR COMPLIANCE WITH LEGAL PURCHASING REQUIREMENTS. This will ensure proper quality control and avoid the proliferation of conflicting specifications in the different departments of county. The budget office should verify for the purchasing agent that the goods and services were considered and approved in the budget process. Any purchases that were not approved in the budget process will be submitted to commissioners court before specifications are prepared and advertised.

There are a number of specification types which can be employed by the county. They include:

DESIGN - A detailed description of goods or services, including such things as details of construction or production, dimensions, chemical composition, physical properties, materials, ingredients and all other details needed for the provider to produce goods and services of minimum acceptability. Design specifications are usually required for construction projects, custom produced goods, and for many services.

PERFORMANCE - Where the goods or services are described in terms of required performance. They may include such details as required power, strength of material, test methods, and standards of acceptability and recommended practices. This type specification should be used more often for capital equipment.

BRAND-NAME OR EQUAL - Lists goods or services by brand-name, model, and other identifying specifics, except that products equal to the characteristics of the named brand are specified as acceptable. Usually the composition of a brand-name good and service are provided through labeling, but broader tolerances and less consistency from item to item may be expected as compared with standard goods. Other manufacturers may provide a nearly identical good under their own brand name. THIS METHOD WILL BE EMPLOYED BY COUNTY PURCHASING OFFICE IF AND ONLY IF THERE IS SOUND JUSTIFICATION. THE BURDEN OF JUSTIFICATION WILL REST WITH THE USER DEPARTMENT.

INDUSTRY STANDARD - This is one of the simplest specifications available. All goods made to an industry standard are identical, regardless of manufacturer and will result in acquisition of goods of uniform quality. An example is the UIL standard for electrical products.