The Administrator, in all his or her purchasing and property control activities, shall pursue a policy of securing the best value for supplies, materials, equipment and services.

1. A person who makes an unsuccessful bid or proposal may file a notice of appeal with the Purchasing Division and with the Hearings Division of the Department of Administration within 11 days after the date of award as entered on the bid record. The notice of appeal must include a written statement specifying any alleged violation of this chapter.
2. A person filing a notice of appeal must post a bond with good and solvent surety authorized to do business in this state or submit other security, in a form approved by the Administrator by regulation, to the Purchasing Division, who shall hold the bond or other security until a determination is made on the appeal. Except as otherwise provided in subsection 3, a bond posted or other security submitted with a notice of appeal must be in an amount equal to 25 percent of the total value of the successful bid submitted.
3. If the total value of the successful bid cannot be determined because the total requirements for the contract are estimated as of the date of award, a bond posted or other security submitted with a notice of appeal must be in an amount equal to 25 percent of the estimated total value of the contract. Upon request, the Administrator shall provide:
(a) The estimated total value of the contract; or
(b) The method for determining the estimated total value of the contract,
based on records of past experience and estimates of anticipated requirements furnished by the using agency.
4. Within 20 days after receipt of the notice of appeal, a hearing officer of the Hearings Division of the Department of Administration shall hold a contested hearing on the appeal in substantial compliance with the provisions of NRS 233B.121 to 233B.1235, inclusive, 233B.125 and 233B.126. The successful bidder must be given notice of the hearing in the same manner as the person who filed the notice of appeal. The successful bidder may participate in the hearing. Within 60 days after receipt of the notice of appeal, the hearing officer shall make a determination on the appeal.
5. The hearing officer may only cancel the award for lack of compliance with the provisions of this chapter. A cancellation of the award requires a new award in accordance with the provisions of this chapter.
6. A notice of appeal filed in accordance with the provisions of this section operates as a stay of action in relation to any contract until a determination is made by the hearing officer on the appeal.
7. A person who makes an unsuccessful bid or proposal may not seek any type of judicial intervention until the hearing officer has made a determination on the appeal.
8. The Administrator may make as many open market purchases of the commodities or services as are urgently needed to meet the requirements of the Purchasing Division or the using agency until a determination is made on the appeal. With the approval of the Administrator, the using agency may make such purchases for the agency.
9. Neither the State of Nevada, nor any agency, contractor, department, division, employee or officer of the State is liable for any costs, expenses, attorney’s fees, loss of income or other damages sustained by a person who makes an unsuccessful bid or proposal, whether or not the person files a notice of appeal pursuant to this section.
10. If the appeal is upheld and the award is cancelled, the bond posted or other security submitted with the notice of appeal must be returned to the person who posted the bond or submitted the security. If the appeal is rejected and the award is upheld, a claim may be made against the bond or other security by the Purchasing Division and the using agency to the Hearings Division of the Department of Administration in an amount equal to the expenses incurred and other monetary losses suffered by the Purchasing Division and the using agency because of the unsuccessful appeal. The hearing officer shall hold a hearing on the claim in the same manner as prescribed in subsection 4. Any money not awarded by the hearing officer must be returned to the person who posted the bond or submitted the security.

1. Every contract or order for goods must be awarded to the lowest responsible bidder. To determine the lowest responsible bidder, the Administrator:
(a) Shall consider, if applicable:
(1) The granting of the preference described in NRS 333.3366.
(2) The required standards adopted pursuant to NRS 333.4611.
(3) The certification described in NRS 333.182.
(4) The granting of the preference described in NRS 333.3354.
(b) May consider:
(1) The location of the using agency to be supplied.
(2) The qualities of the articles to be supplied.
(3) The total cost of ownership of the articles to be supplied.
(4) Except as otherwise provided in subparagraph (5), the conformity of the articles to be supplied with the specifications.
(5) If the articles are an alternative to the articles listed in the original request for bids, whether the advertisement for bids included a statement that bids for an alternative article will be considered if:
(I) The specifications of the alternative article meet or exceed the specifications of the article listed in the original request for bids;
(II) The purchase of the alternative article results in a lower price; and
(III) The Administrator deems the purchase of the alternative article to be in the best interests of the State of Nevada.
(6) The purposes for which the articles to be supplied are required.
(7) The dates of delivery of the articles to be supplied.

2. A committee appointed pursuant to subsection 1 must consist of not less than two members. A majority of the members of the committee must be state officers or employees. The committee may include persons who are not state officers or employees and possess expert knowledge or special expertise that the chief of the using agency or the Administrator of the Purchasing Division determines is necessary to evaluate a proposal. If the committee is appointed to evaluate a proposal for the procurement of technology for which the estimated cost is more than $100,000, the committee must include a person designated by the Chief Information Officer of the State appointed pursuant to NRS 223.085 if the Chief Information Officer determines the inclusion of such a person is necessary to evaluate the proposal.
3. Members of a committee appointed pursuant to subsection 1 are not entitled to compensation for their service on the committee, except that members of the committee who are state officers or employees are entitled to receive their salaries as state officers and employees. No member of the committee may have a financial interest in a proposal.;
NAC 333.162 5. Each committee to evaluate proposals must contain members that represent at least two using agencies.
6. The Administrator will not appoint a member to a committee to evaluate proposals who possesses direct supervisory authority over a majority of the other members of the committee.

1. Except as otherwise provided in NRS 227.185, claims for supplies, materials, equipment and services purchased pursuant to the provisions of this chapter must, when approved by the Administrator, be paid in the same manner as other claims against the State are required to be paid.
2. The Administrator shall annually assess each using agency a fee for the procurement and inventory services provided by the Purchasing Division to the using agency. The fee must be based on the using agency’s use of the procurement and inventory services of the Purchasing Division during preceding years. The Administrator shall adjust the formula for calculating the fee each biennium.
3. If an agency is not a using agency, the Administrator shall assess a fee of not more than the cost to the Purchasing Division to process the order for the agency.
4. If the Purchasing Division has obtained supplies, materials, equipment or services pursuant to a single contract or order from a vendor on behalf of two or more using agencies or governmental entities which have obtained supplies, materials, equipment or services on a voluntary basis from the Purchasing Division pursuant to NRS 333.469 or 333.470, or any combination thereof, the Administrator may assess and collect from the vendor an administrative fee in an amount not to exceed 4 percent of the total cost of the supplies, materials, equipment or services.
5. The administrative fee collected pursuant to subsection 4 may be used by the Administrator to offset the operating expenses of the Purchasing Division, including, without limitation, the implementation and maintenance of a system of on-line bidding or a computer system for the management and reporting of the procurement process.
6. The Administrator may adopt regulations to carry out the provisions of this section.
7. As used in this section, “on-line bidding” has the meaning ascribed to it in NRS 333.313.

1. A local government or its authorized representative shall award a contract for a public work pursuant to the provisions of NRS 338.1415 and:
(a) NRS 338.1377 to 338.139, inclusive;
(b) NRS 338.143 to 338.148, inclusive; or
(c) NRS 338.1711 to 338.173, inclusive.
2. A public body shall not use a reverse auction when awarding a contract for a public work.
3. Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, subsection 4 and chapter 408 of NRS, the provisions of this chapter apply with respect to contracts for the construction, reconstruction, improvement and maintenance of highways that are awarded by the Department of Transportation pursuant to NRS 408.201 and 408.313 to 408.433, inclusive. The provisions of NRS 338.1375 to 338.1382, inclusive, 338.1386, 338.13862, 338.13864, 338.139, 338.142 and 338.1711 to 338.1727, inclusive, do not apply with respect to contracts for the construction, reconstruction, improvement and maintenance of highways that are awarded by the Department of Transportation pursuant to NRS 408.201 and 408.313 to 408.433, inclusive.
4. To the extent that a provision of this chapter precludes the granting of federal assistance or reduces the amount of such assistance with respect to a contract for the construction, reconstruction, improvement or maintenance of highways that is awarded by the Department of Transportation pursuant to NRS 408.201 and 408.313 to 408.433, inclusive, that provision of this chapter does not apply to the Department of Transportation or the contract.
5. As used in this section:
(a) “Online bidding” means a process by which bidders submit bids for a contract on a secure website on the Internet or its successor, if any, which is established and maintained for that purpose.
(b) “Reverse auction” means a process by which a bidder may submit more than one bid if each subsequent response to online bidding is at a lower price.