Utah

Plain-language summary

Utah's cooperative purchasing authority sits in the Utah Procurement Code at §63G-6a-2105. The statute permits a Utah procurement unit to participate in cooperative procurements but imposes a structured procedural framework that's stricter than many other states. For an in-Utah cooperative: each participating party must enter into an agreement describing rights and duties, the procurement must be conducted in accordance with the Utah Procurement Code, the solicitation (RFQ/IFB/RFP) must clearly indicate it's a cooperative procurement and identify each party that may purchase under the resulting contract, and each participating party must sign a participating addendum describing its rights and obligations relative to the resulting contract. For purchases under federal General Services Administration (GSA) contracts, the Director of the State Division of Purchasing and General Services must make a written determination that the GSA procurement substantially complied with the Utah Procurement Code's provisions — this written determination is a meaningful prerequisite.

Key requirements

• →Each party involved in the cooperative procurement must enter into an agreement describing the rights and duties of each party.
• →The original procurement must be conducted, and the contract awarded, in accordance with the Utah Procurement Code.
• →The RFQ, IFB, or RFP must clearly indicate that the procurement is a cooperative procurement.
• →The solicitation must identify each party that may purchase under the resulting contract.
• →Each participating procurement unit must sign a participating addendum describing its rights and obligations in relation to the resulting contract.
• →A procurement unit may NOT obtain items under a cooperative contract if it was not identified in the original solicitation or has not signed a participating addendum.
• →For purchases under U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) contracts: the Director of the State Division of Purchasing and General Services must determine in writing that the GSA procurement substantially complies with the Utah Procurement Code's provisions (does not apply to legislative or judicial procurement units).

Construction services

Utah's cooperative procurement framework applies to procurement items generally, with the Utah Procurement Code separately defining specific procurement processes for construction. The strict procedural requirements — particularly the requirement that the original solicitation clearly identify the procurement as cooperative AND name each participating party — can make traditional out-of-state national cooperative contracts (like OMNIA Partners or Region 14 ESC Texas) difficult to use without careful structuring. The participating addendum requirement is also notable: Utah procurement units cannot simply use a cooperative contract; they must formally enroll via a signed addendum. Construction-specific procurement requirements under the Utah Procurement Code (including design professional procurement, construction manager-at-risk, and various other construction-specific processes) continue to apply. Utah agencies considering cooperative construction procurement should verify with counsel that the specific cooperative contract structure meets §63G-6a-2105's procedural requirements AND any applicable construction-specific procurement rules.