In January, the Procurement Service Center updated the University’s Procurement Rule to update its purchasing thresholds to allow for informal competitive quotes by campus departments for purchases between $10,000.01 and $100,000 rather than requiring a Document Quote to be issued. This rule change is both compliant with Federal Uniform Guidance for grant and contract purchases and ensures that the University is being fiscally responsible with its purchases.

With the rule change, the PSC published a new Source Selection & Price Reasonableness (SSPR) form to accompany those purchases between $10,000.01 and $100,000. Throughout the month of January and into early February, we gathered your feedback and have made significant changes to the SSPR form. Below is a list of changes that have been made. Although the form is no longer required for certain purchases, the PSC must do its due diligence for all procurements and may seek competition for any purchase made by CU.

1. The SSPR form is no longer required for Sole Source purchases, including University Standard Sole Sources, or emergency procurements (the form is also not required for purchases that result from a PSC awarded bid with an active term or those made against a cooperative contract).
2. Departments can now request to use a Continuity of Service exception rather than obtaining competitive quotes when an existing relationship exists for similar services.
3. A recently issued purchase order for like goods or services can be used for price comparison rather than obtaining an additional quote.
4. The SSPR form no longer requires a signature.

In addition to making changes to the form, the PSC has published a list of most commonly used cooperative contracts here. Please note that if a department is making a purchase against a cooperative contract, the supplier must note that cooperative contract on their quote in order for the SSPR exception to apply.

For more information about the new purchasing thresholds and to obtain an updated copy of the SSPR form, please visit our website.