Policies & Procedures Manual - Elizabeth City State University

400.1.6Adopted: 06/14/05ELIZABETH CITY STATE UNIVERSITYSolicitation of Bids and QuotationsState StatutesThe Statutes of the State give explicit instructions on the solicitations of bids when the total purchaseis $35,000 and over. Please be sure you do not exceed the $35,000 benchmark when schedulingmonthly and quarterly purchases and indefinite quantity contracts which may be established for itemspurchased on a repetitive basis. Indefinite quantity contracts must have a stipulation that theexpenditures on the contract cannot exceed this benchmark. If it is determined that the expenditureson an indefinite contract may exceed the benchmark for a one-year period, please notify thePurchasing Department which will in turn contact the NC Division of Purchase and Contract forhandling.Solicitation on Orders < $35,000Solicitation of bids and quotations on orders for less than $35,000 and on certain specified items andservices has been delegated by the State to the University. With this delegation comes the requirementto solicit, where possible, competitive bids whenever purchases are $2,500 or more. All quotations,including sole source documentation, must be no older than (30) days.Competitive Guidelines that ECSU must follow:1. Purchases with a total dollar value of $2,500 or less do not require written competition. However,the Purchasing Department will monitor these procurements to guard against abuse of the systemand to ensure that the dollar value received is commensurate with the dollar amount expended.2. Telephone or written competitive quotes are required, where available, for purchases valued from$2,500 -$5,000.3. The Purchasing Department and the Requisitioning Department must work together to assure awritten request for quotes for purchases that exceed $5,000 but are less than $35,000 is issued.Even in the case of a waiver of competition, if time permits, a written request for a quote should besent out to the sole source vendor. A permanent copy of these written requests for quotes will be onfile in the Purchasing Office.4. The Purchasing Office must document all transactions over $2,500. This includes a record of allquotes received, written and verbal, written justification for award to other than the lowest quote,and documentation for waiver and emergency purchases over $2,500.5. In all cases, applicable legal requirements, good purchasing practices, and all Procedures specifiedin the North Carolina Department of Administration – Division of Purchase and Contract Manual