South Carolina Administrative Code

19-445.2075. All or None Qualifications. Unless the invitation for bids so provides, a bid is not rendered nonresponsive by the fact that the bidder specifies that award will be accepted only on all, or a specified group, of the items included in the invitation for bids. However,…

19-445.2077. Bid Samples and Descriptive Literature. A. ‘‘Descriptive literature’’ means information available in the ordinary course of business which shows the characteristics, construction, or operation of an item which enables the State to consider whether the item meets its …

19-445.2080. Bid Reductions. The responsible procurement officer may accept a voluntary reduction in price from a low bidder after bid opening but prior to award; provided that such reduction is not conditioned on, nor results in, the modification or deletion of any conditions co…

19-445.2085. Correction or Withdrawal of Bids; Cancellation of Awards.

19-445.2090. Award. A. Application. The contract shall be awarded to the lowest responsible and responsive bidder(s) whose bid meets the requirements and criteria set forth in the invitation for bids. B. The procurement officer shall issue the notice of intent to award or award o…

19-445.2095. A review panel composed of one representative each from the governmental body, the Materials Management Office, and the Commission on Higher Education shall review such proposals and approve it prior to the issuance of an award or notification of intent to award, whi…

19-445.2097. Rejection of Proposals. A. Unless there is a compelling reason to reject one or more proposals, award will be made to the highest ranked responsible offeror or otherwise as allowed by Section 11-35-1530. Every effort shall be made to anticipate changes in a requireme…

19-445.2098. Rejection of Individual Proposals. A. Proposals need not be unconditionally accepted without alteration or correction, and to the extent otherwise allowed by law, the State’s stated requirements may be clarified after proposals are submitted. This flexibility must be…

19-445.2099. Competitive Negotiations. A. General (1) Competitive negotiations are governed by R.19-445.2030B, -2040, -2042, -2045, -2050B, -2085C, -2090B, -2095C, -2095J, and -2098. Regulation 19-445-2097 (Rejection of Proposals) applies to competitive negotiations except that R…

19-445.2100. Small Purchases and Other Simplified Purchasing Procedures. A. Authority. (1) An agency may make small purchases not exceeding the limits prescribed in Section 11-35-1550 in accordance with the procedures in that section and herein. (2) Any purchase of supplies, serv…

19-445.2105. Sole Source Procurements. A. Application. The provisions of this Regulation shall apply to all sole source procurements unless emergency conditions exist as defined in Regulation 19-445.2110. B. Exceptions. Sole source procurement is not permissible unless there is o…

19-445.2110. Emergency Procurements. A. Application. The provisions of this Regulation apply to every procurement made under emergency conditions that will not permit other source selection methods to be used. B. Definition. An emergency condition is a situation which creates a t…

19-445.2115. Information Technology Procurements. A. Reserved. B. Reserved. C. Software Licensing Pursuant to Section 11-35-510, the Information Technology Management Officer may execute an agreement with a business on behalf of, and which binds all, governmental bodies in order …

19-445.2120. Cost or Pricing Data. A. Definitions (1) Adequate Price Competition. Price competition exists if competitive sealed proposals are solicited, at least two responsive and responsible offerors independently compete for a contract, and price is a substantial factor in th…

19-445.2122. Price Reasonableness. A. General. The objective of offer analysis is to ensure that the final contract price is fair and reasonable. The procurement officer is responsible for evaluating the reasonableness of the offered prices. Normally, competition establishes pric…

19-445.2125. Responsibility of Bidders and Offerors. A. State Standards of Responsibility. Factors to be considered in determining whether the state standards of responsibility have been met include whether a prospective contractor has: (1) available the appropriate financial, ma…

19-445.2127. Organizational Conflicts of Interest. A. General. (1) ‘‘Organizational conflict of interest’’ occurs when, because of other activities or relationships with the State or with other businesses: (a) a business is unable or potentially unable to render impartial assista…

19-445.2130. Prequalification of Supplies and Suppliers.

19-445.2132. Prequalification for a Single Solicitation. A. Application. The pre-qualification process shall not be used to unduly limit competition. Any mandatory minimum requirements shall comply with Section 11-35-2730. In a competitive bid, the pre-qualification process is no…

19-445.2135. Conditions for Use of Multi-term Contracts. A. General. A multi-term contract is a contract for the acquisition of supplies, services, or information technology for more than one year. A contract is not a multi-term contract if no single term exceeds one year and eac…

19-445.2137. Food Service Contracts. Any food service contracts entered into by any governmental body shall be solicited by the Materials Management Office under Code Section 11-35-1530, Competitive Sealed Proposals, and Regulation

19-445.2140. Specifications. A. Definitions. (1) ‘‘Brand Name Specification’’ means a specification limited to one or more items by manufactur- ers’ names or catalogue number. (2) ‘‘Brand Name or Equal Specification’’ means a specification which uses one or more manufactur- er’s …

19-445.2141. Commercial Products. A. Definitions. (1) Commercial product has the meaning stated in Section 11-35-1410, and does not include printing or insurance. (2) Commercially available off-the-shelf product (‘‘COTS’’) has the meaning stated in Section 11-35-1410, and does no…

19-445.2143. Contract clauses and administration. A. Contracts formed pursuant to the Consolidated Procurement Code are deemed to incorporate all applicable provisions thereof and the ensuing regulations. B. Prohibited Terms. Unless otherwise specifically provided by or authorize…

19-445.2145. Construction, Architect Engineer, Construction Management, and Land Surveying Services. A. Definitions (1) Designer, as used in these regulations, means a person who has been awarded, through the qualifications-based process set forth in Section 11-35-3220, a contrac…

19-445.2150. Surplus Property Management. (Statutory Authority: 1976 Code § 11-35-3810) A. Definition, Authority and Mission. (1) Definition. Surplus property is all State-owned supplies and equipment, not in actual public use, with remaining useful life and available for disposa…

19-445.2152. Leases, Lease/Payment, Installment Purchase, and Rental of Personal Property. A. Justification. A governmental body proposing to enter into an agreement other than an outright purchase is responsible for the justification of such action. Lease, lease/purchase, instal…

19-445.2155. Intergovernmental Relations. A. Selective Mandatory Opting. As provided in the solicitation, local political subdivisions such as counties, municipalities, school districts, public service or special purpose districts and the Federal Government may purchase from or t…

19-445.2160. Assistance to Minority Businesses. A. Definitions (1) ‘‘Minority Person’’ means a United States citizen who is economically and socially disadvan- taged. (2) ‘‘Socially disadvantaged individuals’’ means those individuals who have been subject to racial or ethnic prej…

19-445.2165. Gifts. A. Policy It is the policy of the State that a governmental body should not accept or solicit a gift, directly or indirectly, from a donor if the governmental body has reason to believe the donor has or is seeking to obtain contractual or other business or fin…

19-445.2180. Assignment, Novation, and Change of Name. A. ‘‘Novation agreement’’ is a contractual amendment by which the State recognizes a successor in interest to a State contract as provided in this regulation. The successor in interest assumes all the obligations under the co…

19-445.2200. Administrative Review Protective Orders. A. At the request of any party or on its own initiative, the appropriate chief procurement officer or the Procurement Review Panel may issue a protective order controlling the treatment of protected information for purposes of…

19-445.3000. School District Procurement Codes; Model. A. Application. Under Section 11-35-5340, a school district is exempt from the South Carolina Consolidated Procurement Code (except for a procurement audit) if the district has its own procurement code which is, in the writte…

19-446. Representation in Proceedings. (Statutory Authority: 1976 Code § 11-35-540) Persons not licensed to practice law in South Carolina, including laypersons, Certified Public Accountants, attorneys licensed in other jurisdictions, persons possessing Limited Certificates of Ad…

19-450. PERMITS FOR CONSTRUCTION IN NAVIGABLE WATERS. (Statutory Authority: 1976 Code § 48-6-10 et seq., 49-1-10, and 2023 Act No. 60, effective July 1, 2024.) 19-450.1. Scope of Duties. A. Scope. Unless expressly exempted, a permit issued by the Department of Environmental Servi…

19-450.10. Appeal of the Notice of Proposed Decision. A. Persons Who May Appeal. Any person with legal standing to contest the decision of the Notice of Decision to grant or deny a permit under this regulation may appeal that decision in accordance with S.C. Code of Laws Section …

19-450.11. Final Decision of the Department and Judicial Review. Department review and any subsequent judicial review of the order of the Administrative Law Judge shall be allowed according to law and applicable procedures, rules and regulations. HISTORY: Added by State Register …

19-450.12. Unpermitted Activity; Review of Previously Permitted Activity. A. Any activity undertaken after the commencement of the Construction in Navigable Waters permitting program under regulation 19-450 promulgated on December 31, 1976 for which a permit is required but was n…

19-450.13. Amendments to Permits or Applications for Permits. A person who has been issued a permit by the Department may petition for an amendment to the permit. If the amendment reduces the size of the permitted structure, or the permitted activity, and results in less intrusiv…

19-450.14. Minor Projects. The Department may expedite the processing of an application for permits for projects under this regulation, including reducing the time for public or agency comment, if the projects by their nature, size, location or use have a negligible impact on nav…

19-450.15. General or Block Permits. The Department, using the procedures under this regulation, may issue general or block permits to an agency, political subdivision or public service corporation for certain clearly described categories of work or substantially similar structur…

19-450.16. Saving Clause. If any provision of these regulations is adjudged invalid or unconstitutional, the remainder, and the application of their provisions to other persons shall not be affected thereby. HISTORY: Added by State Register Volume 10, Issue No. 6, eff June 27, 19…

19-450.2. Definitions. A. Department means the South Carolina Department of Environmental Services. B. Navigable waters means those waters which are now navigable, or have been navigable at any time, or are capable of being rendered navigable by the removal of accidental obstruct…

19-450.3. Exemptions. A. No permit is required by the Department for any activity or construction on private highlands above the mean high water line or ordinary high water mark which does not affect directly and significantly any navigable water or water or land subject to a pub…

19-450.4. Permit Conditions. A. Any permit issued pursuant to these regulations is subject to the following conditions as well as any specifically mentioned in the individual permit. 1. The authorization for activities or structures granted by the permit shall constitute a revoca…

19-450.5. Application Procedure to Obtain Permit. A. Preliminary Interagency Meeting. The Department may convene at any time a meeting of commenting agencies and the applicant to provide assistance to the applicant, to explain the statutory requirements and areas of agency concer…

19-450.6. Review of Permit Application and Comment by State Agencies. A. Review by Agencies 1. State agencies commenting on permit applications are collectively responsible for providing to the Department a total assessment of the impact of any proposed work affecting navigable w…

19-450.7. Procedure if Agency Objects to Activity Requiring State Permit. A. Conciliation of Agency Objections 1. Within thirty (30) days of notification of a permit application, or any extension thereof, an agency objecting to or intending to object to a projected activity shall…

19-450.8. Comments by Public on Permit Application. A. Comments From Interested Persons. Any person who may be affected by the grant or denial of the permit, or the conditions under which a permit may be granted, may submit, in writing, comments or objections to the proposed acti…

19-450.9. Review of Comments and Action by the Department. A. Review by the Department. The Department is responsible for assessing the total impact of the projected activity on the navigable waters and lands subject to the jurisdiction of this regulation, as well as the impact o…