Sole Source Justification

This form must accompany purchase requisitions for the sole source procurement of equipment or supplies exceeding $25,000.00 total (purchases from contract vendors excepted). The purpose of sole source justification is to show that competitive bidding is impractical because only one product can meet a specific need. Therefore, an equitable evaluation of comparable products must be made and documented by the requestor showing that rejection of other products is based solely on their failure to meet that need. In cases where no other comparable source can be identified, a technical description of the product requested and a listing of those companies which were considered as alternate sources must be provided. Sole source justification cannot be based on quality or price. Quality can be subjective evaluation based on opinion. Public procurement law requires price considerations be evaluated via competitive bidding. Justification must contain clear, in-depth, and accurate information in order to avoid protests and the possibility of delaying the procurement.

The Submitter will need to fill out the Department Head/Main Investigator’s name and email along with Requisition Number, Vendor name, model number, and product description. These fields are left optional in cases where it may not be applicable, such as services. The Product Description is meant to be a brief summary of the product/service to give the approver a general understanding of its utility. The search bar at the bottom labeled “Type in your department” brings up department names to what is being inputted by the user. Once the appropriate department is found, the submitter can then select the name, and click on the “Next” button that appears. This will take you to the DocuSign form. Under the “statement” section in the form, there are gray boxes to be filled out in areas where they are applicable to the submitter. Not all sections are required to be filled out, however please provide full explanations, complete descriptions, and/or list all relevant reasons where space has been provided. Forms lacking sufficient detail cannot be approved.