Frequently Asked Questions: Procurement Provisions
Doesn’t the pre-audit process provide oversight in relation to the purchase of goods and services?
It provides for a burdensome and duplicative process that is covered in post-audit controls.
What are the ramifications of finding out after the fact (post-audit) that something was handled incorrectly if a service was already performed or a good was already purchased?
A. Accountability is a major part of SUNY’s responsibility in this request. The guidelines to be implemented by SUNY would include steps to be taken if a campus is found to be in violation of State procurement rules. This might include decreased autonomy at the campus level for pre-contract review.
Why should SUNY and CUNY be exempt from this process, while other agencies and entities are not?
SUNY already is exempt from the pre-audit process for expenditures up to $250,000. This would simply expand that exemption to all expenditures.
Didn’t the Governor just sign a public authorities reform bill that imposes pre-audit requirements on public authorities?
A. Yes. A newly enacted statute authorizes the State Comptroller to pre-audit individual contracts or categories of contracts of a public authority. The statute does not require that the State Comptroller pre-approve every contract of every public authority.
Aren’t there protections associated with the allowed design-bid-build construction mechanism that are not in place under the design-build or construction manager at-risk mechanisms?
Each of the delivery mechanisms has similar owner protections. The differences rest with the amount of responsibility that gets shifted to either the design-build team or to the construction manager. The primary goal with these mechanisms is to get the contractual parties working together to reduce the amount of time to complete the project. Design-bid-build will continue to be used for the vast majority of the projects.
What other entities within New York or public entities outside New York are able to use these construction methods?
These project delivery methods are well established. Forty-four states permit design-build on public projects as does the federal government, and 37 states use construction manager at risk. Within New York, DASNY has also successfully used these mechanisms.
What are the savings associated with using those methods?
The primary benefit is to deliver the project faster, which leads to quicker occupancy of the building. By completing the project sooner, escalation costs are avoided and assets are put into use sooner. Efficiencies are also gained from less disruption to the facilities by including the contractor in the planning phase of the project.
Isn’t employing these methods going to contradict the provisions of the Capital Reduction Plan, which is intended to slow down projects?
No, the concepts are mutually exclusive. The Capital Reduction Plan speaks to the number of projects that are progressed at any given time, not the manner in which they are progressed. SUNY will still need to manage the overall volume of work to stay within the State’s fiscal parameters established for the capital program.
Parts of this text are adapted from materials provided by the State University of New York.