PROCUREMENT SOLE SOURCE JUSTIFICATION FORM

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• PURPOSE
• GENERAL INFORMATION
• EXHIBIT AND INSTRUCTIONS
• FORM REQUIREMENTS
• NUMBER OF COPIES AND ULTIMATE DISTRIBUTION
• WHERE TO SEND COMPLETED FORMS
• CONTACT INFORMATION
• CROSS REFERENCES

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PURPOSE

In accordance with Policy BS09 Initiating Purchases from Vendors Outside of the University, the Procurement Sole Source Justification Form must be completed for a purchase from a sole source without open competition when the purchase is $25,000 or above (but may also be used for purchases under $25,000, such as for federal programs with lower limit of $10,000 in accordance with Uniform Guidance 2 CFR200: The Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards). Sole source justifications should not be broken into several smaller orders to circumvent normal purchasing policies and procedures. Sole source justifications are used only as an exception when all reasonable attempts to pursue competition failed, and a particular purchase of goods or services is clearly and legitimately limited to a sole supply source. Acceptance of this justification will be at the discretion of the Office of Central Procurement and dependent upon the requesters successful showing it satisfied at least one qualifying criterion. Where a Sole Source Justification Form has been denied, the Office of Central Procurement assists the requester in identifying other suppliers and facilitates a competitive bid process.

GENERAL INFORMATION

A sole source means only one supplier, to the best of the requesters knowledge, based upon thorough market research, can provide the required good or service. Similar goods and services may exist, but only one supplier, for reasons of expertise, standardization, quality, compatibility with existing equipment, specifications, or availability, is the only acceptable source to meet a specific need.

EXHIBITS AND INSTRUCTIONS

See the Competitive Bidding page for complete details.

FORM REQUIREMENTS

No form may be used that substitutes for an approved official University form without prior review and approval by the steward of the form/central office, as facilitated by the Office of Systems and Procedures (designated representative of the Associate Vice President for Budget and Finance). Policy FN17 Required Use of Approved University Forms Appearing in the General University Reference Utility (GURU) requires that all form templates must be vetted and approved prior to being published on the GURU website and all such documents having gone through said established approval process must be password protected. See Procedure FN2017 Use of Forms Appearing on the GURU Website for complete details.

NUMBER OF COPIES AND ULTIMATE DISTRIBUTION

WHERE TO SEND COMPLETED FORMS

For Penn State Health, attach the approved Sole Source Justification Form to the Purchase Order Requisition and submit for normal approval and processing through the respective purchasing departments.

For PSUbuy, including Applied Research Lab, upload the approved Sole Source Justification Form as supporting documentation to the shopping cart.

CONTACT INFORMATION

For questions or additional details regarding the Sole Source Justification Form, please contact Central Procurement.

CROSS REFERENCES

• Policy AD35 University Archives and Records Management
• Policy BS09 Initiating Purchases From Vendors Outside of the University
• Policy FN17 Required Use of Approved University Forms Appearing in the General University Reference Utility
• Procedure FN2017 Use of Approved Form Templates Appearing on the GURU Website

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