Public access to procurement records

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(a) General rule.--Records concerning a procurement shall be made public, consistent with the act of February 14, 2008 (P.L.6, No.3), known as the Right-to-Know Law.

(b) Public posting and availability of procurement information.--The purchasing agency shall post the following procurement documents on the department's or, in the case of an independent agency, its own publicly accessible Internet website or otherwise make available in the manner indicated below:

(1) Public notice of an invitation for bids or request for proposals may be given in accordance with section 512(c)(1) (relating to competitive sealed bidding) or 513(b) (relating to competitive sealed proposals) by posting the invitation for bids or request for proposals, including, if applicable, the written determination required by section 513(a), on the date issued and until the closing date for receipt of bids or proposals.

(2) Bid tabulations recording the name of each bidder and bid amount in accordance with section 512(d) shall be posted as soon as practicable after bid opening, unless the purchasing agency elects to cancel the invitation for bids.

(3) Notices of award pursuant to an invitation for bids shall be posted as soon as practicable after the purchasing agency elects to make an award in accordance with section 512(g).

(4) The written determination required by section 513(g) shall be posted upon receipt of the final negotiated contract signed by the selected offeror. Subject to proper redaction under the Right-to-Know Law, responsive proposals received by the purchasing agency and, until fully executed, the final negotiated contract are not required to be posted but shall be made available to the public upon request.

(5) Requests to award a contract pursuant to section 515(a)(1), (2), (4) and (10) (relating to sole source procurement) shall be posted for seven calendar days for public comment prior to approval of the request by the department or independent purchasing agency. Upon approval of a request by the department or independent purchasing agency, the signed and written determination required under section 515(b) shall be posted.

(6) The written determinations required by section 516 (relating to emergency procurement) shall be posted in advance, if feasible, but no later than seven calendar days after authorization by the department or independent purchasing agency.

(7) A contract resulting from a procurement under this part shall be posted as soon as practicable upon its full execution by the Commonwealth.

(8) Requests under section 515 or 516 to extend a contract for which no further options, renewals or extensions are available in the contract shall be posted for seven calendar days for public comment prior to approval of the request by the department or independent purchasing agency. Upon approval of a request by the department or an independent purchasing agency, the signed and written determination required under section 515(b) or 516 shall be posted.

(c) Access and retention.--Procurement documents specified under subsection (b) must be accessible on the Internet website for a minimum of 30 days from posting and further retained in accordance with section 563 (relating to retention of procurement records) and applicable agency record retention policies.

(Nov. 4, 2016, P.L.1216, No.163, eff. 60 days)

2016 Amendment. Act 163 added section 106.1.


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