Auraria Higher Education Center

All State agencies are required by Colorado State Law Statute, 17-24-111 C.R.S. to purchase office furniture and systems from Colorado Correctional Industries (CCI):

All such purchasing agencies shall operate under the provisions of Section 17-24-111, C.R.S requiring the purchase of goods and services from the division of correctional industries, and failure of any such purchasing agency to comply with such requirement shall be cause for the executive director to suspend for a period of up to one year at the discretion of the executive director the authority of a purchasing agency created pursuant to this subsection (2) to purchase goods and services. The authority of a purchasing agency to purchase goods and services may also be suspended at the discretion of the executive director. (The financial and staff resources dedicated to the purchasing function in the affected agency shall be under the authority of the department of personnel during the period of suspension, and purchases made for the affected agency shall be in accordance with the requirements of Section 17-24-111(1), C.R.S.)

The terms office furniture and office systems shall mean:
Those systems and furniture that, at the time the product requirement is communicated, are described in Division of Correctional Industries’ catalogs and web site and are intended primarily for use in an office environment (including faculty offices, meeting rooms and conference rooms).

Purchase Requisitions (PR) for CCI supplied services or materials over $5,000 are processed as described in Section XI. Orders under $5,000 may be placed using the CCI form available in the Purchasing Office, or with the Procurement Card (PCARD).

Efforts to use services and materials available from CCI must be made by all state offices. For department/division convenience, a web page, www.coloradoci.com, includes an up to date, on-line catalog of products produced by CCI.

The address for the Denver Sales office is 4999 Oakland Street. A showroom is located at this site where campus employees can go view and test products before purchasing anything. CCI’s general phone number is 303.370.2200. The account representative who works with the Auraria campus can be reached at this number.

Campus departments wishing to save money may purchase used furniture from State Surplus. All state and government organizations have priority for state surplus items. Costs are significantly less than new items. Reuse of surplus saves tax dollars and extends the useful life of equipment and materials.

To purchase state surplus items, employees may go to the Oakland Street warehouse and "shop" for surplus. Staff at the warehouse will assist in preparing documents, loading items, and answering any questions that might arise. If an item is not available, State Surplus has an online "wish list”; when the item from the list arrives at State Surplus the requestor will be notified.

When purchasing goods or services capable of being performed or supplied by CCI, departments are highly encouraged to consider CCI. In certain instances, purchasing may request a written justification from the department as to why CCI was not used in the procurement of goods or services.

A request for a waiver to purchase office furniture outside of the mandatory price agreement can be found at Purchasing’s web site at:

After the form is completed and sent to Purchasing, the Director of Purchasing will review the request and forward it to CCI for approval.

CCI will review the waiver request, and will respond in writing within five (5) working days of receipt, whether CCI can meet comparable quality, price, and reasonable time requirements.

1. If an agency mistakenly orders an item and wants to it, there may be a 15% restocking charge (an industry standard).

2. If an agency orders an item, based upon incorrect information received from CCI, the item can be returned without the restocking charge.

3. If an agency orders an item, and it is determined a mutual error or misunderstanding has taken place, the item can be returned without the restocking charge.

CCI has shown a willingness to replace items that are not satisfactory for our needs, but written documentation of problems must be forwarded to the Purchasing Office to insure that corrective steps are taken to prevent future problems of the same nature. Including clear, detailed specifications indicating the desired features for any item(s) ordered can prevent problems from occurring in the first place.

Due to the fact that CCI is constitutionally restricted from monetarily binding future legislators, they have developed a service agreement which is their answer to a private industry warranty. This service agreement meets and/or exceeds those same industry standards. Under the service agreement all items produced by CCI are guaranteed to be free from defects in material and workmanship upon delivery for a two year period. In addition there are additional agreements, such as a warranty period of 10 years for stacking/side chair frames.

Access the warranty by going to:
CCI web page: www.coloradoci.com. help and information tab at the top of the page, about CCI, and then service.
The warranty will appear as a PDF file.