Bid Limit Increasing to $75,000 – Effective October 1, 2022
- September 2nd, 2022
- in Uncategorized
The State of Alabama has approved a new procurement law for goods and services that will go into effect on October 1, 2022. The new law will allow for a more modern approach to standard procurement practices, provide needed flexibility, and will be easier to understand. The primary change that will impact campus is the competitive bid limit will increase from the current $15,000 to the new limit of $75,000. The new limit will put the University more in line with our peer institutions across the southeast. While the bid threshold will change, all other Purchasing Guidelines and applicable University policies will remain the same. As a reminder, all purchases for goods or services less than $75,000 should still be made using Approved Contract Vendors whenever possible. If the good or service needed is not available from a contract vendor, then multiple quotes should be obtained whenever possible. Please contact Purchasing staff with any questions you may have about this upcoming change.
As mentioned above, the primary change that will impact campus is simply a higher competitive bid threshold. All Purchasing Guidelines and applicable University policies will essentially remain the same. This increase will provide many benefits to campus such as more flexibility to independently source goods or services at the departmental level that are less than $75,000 and not available from approved contract vendors. This increase will also result in less sole source justifications for required purchases that are only available from one source. While this is a positive change for campus, we do understand that you may have some questions or concerns about how this change may impact your area. Purchasing’s staff of Senior Buyers have already been meeting with many areas of campus to discuss the impacts of this change. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to a Purchasing Senior Buyer to schedule a meeting to discuss.