Special Purchases and Solicitations
What are Special Purchases?
Special purchases refer to purchasing situations where the competitive bidding process is not utilized. This may be a result of the following exceptions:
- Emergency conditions: When there exists, under emergency conditions, a threat to public health, welfare or safety.
- Compatibility of equipment, accessories, or replacement parts: (1) Compatibility of equipment, accessories or replacement parts is a substantial consideration in the purchase; and (2) only one source meets the university’s reasonable requirements.
- Unique product/service: Products or services with unique or proprietary features limited to one source and where no comparable product or service exists.
Purchases Under $10,000
On purchases of $9,999 or less, the delegate must document the required business justification and retain it in the delegate’s procurement file.
A solicitation process or pre-approval by Procurement Services is not required. The delegate may negotiate deliverables, but Procurement Services must approve the terms and conditions before signing the contract.
Purchases Over $10,000
Purchases that are $10,000 or greater require pre-approval from Procurement Services and may be considered a special purchase. Procurement Services will evaluate the request and determine the appropriate procurement method, which may or may not include the competitive bidding process.
Sponsored Program Services requires completion of the Verification of Equipment Non-Availability Form (PDF) for purchases of equipment exceeding $25,000 and paid for with federal funds. For more information about this process, visit the Procedures for Screening Equipment to be Purchases with Federal Funds page of the Property Accounting website.
Sourcing Process
Step 1: Request for Proposal (RFP)
- Determine if a special purchase applies.
- Customer purchase request > $10K are submitted to Central Procurement.
- Procurement determines best approach to meet the customer
business need(s).- Contracted Supplier
- Request for Quote (RFQ) – Cost to meet a specific need.
- Request for Purchase (RFP) – Evaluate merits of each vendor compared to others
Step 2: Create Quote Request
- Procurement will provide approval for special purchase
- Procurement will work with the requester to develop RFX documents and publish/issue the appropriate RFX to qualified vendors.
Step 3: Receive Vendor Responses
- Vendors submit their response to the solicitation.
- Procurement reviews the responses with stakeholders to determine best value for the university.
- Overall value may include price, volume discounts offered, generic vs. brand, etc.
Step 4: Award (Only Applies to Solicitations)
- Procurement provides award recommendation to Business area.
- Business area determines which supplier will be awarded.
- Contract negotiations finalized by department.
- Ariba automatically notifies vendors of award when requisition is closed.
Required Forms
The delegate must complete the following forms and submit them electronically to Procurement Services:
- Special Purchases Form – Located in Ariba Guided Buying. Attach this form to the online submission via the link below.
- Request for Purchases $10,000 and Over form
Procurement Services staff will determine the best procurement method for the request and provide the delegate with next steps and estimated processing timelines.
Contact the Strategic Sourcing staff if you have questions about this process.