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Northern Arizona University
Purchasing Policy and Procedure

Public and Proprietary Information

PROPRIETARY INFORMATION

If proprietary information is submitted with a bid or proposal, it must be clearly marked as such and, if possible, submitted in a separate envelope. To the extent the bidder designates and the Director of Procurement concurs, this information will not be considered public information. The Director of Procurement shall be the final authority on which material is considered confidential.

PUBLIC INFORMATION

The following purchasing information is considered public information:

FORMAL SEALED BIDS

Formal sealed bids shall be opened publicly, and the amount of each bid, along with such other relevant information as may be specified by the buyer for each procurement, shall be announced and recorded. This record shall be open to public inspection. The bids and the remainder of the bid information shall not be open for public inspection until after contract award.

SEALED PROPOSALS

Sealed proposals shall be opened publicly with only the name of the proposers being recorded and announced. Information, including pricing information, shall not be disclosed to the public until after award of the contract.

REQUESTS FOR INFORMATION

The response to requests for information from interested parties will be limited to review of the documents in Purchasing Services at a reasonable and convenient time as designated by the Director of Procurement. Copies of documents will be furnished to interested suppliers only in extreme cases as determined by the Director of Procurement. A fee, which shall include the cost of time and materials, shall be charged for all copies.

DEFINITIONS

PROPRIETARY INFORMATION - Information that is submitted by a vendor who claims exclusive ownership of that information and that is not to be disclosed publicly.

PUBLIC INFORMATION - All information in Purchasing Services files, except proprietary information, that has any bearing on the award of an order or contract.