Brand Specific & Sole Source Justification

Orders over $25,000

Preference for one vendor, product, or service does not constitute a sole source.  Furthermore, obtaining a vendor’s quotation, demonstration, or acquisition and testing by a department does not constitute a sole source.  If your requirement is available from more than one source, it is not considered a sole source.

A preferences must be determined through a competitive RFQ/RFP/IFB process issued by the Materials Management Department.

Brand Specific

At times, a certain brand of equipment or item is needed.  When a single, preferred product is required, it is called Brand Specific.  Examples of brand specific procurement include:

• When changing brands or manufacturers would compromise the continuity of the research project or proprietary items, e.g. copyrighted software, publications, etc.
• When a researcher’s grant specifies a certain brand of instrument or equipment (Department will be required to attach appropriate section of grant to verify this information).

Justification will include features which are unique and essential for the intended use that other manufacturers of like products do not offer.

A completed Sole Source and/or Brand Specific Justification form should be submitted with your approved requisition to Materials Management for review and approval.  Materials Management may send a bid document to multiple vendors for a brand specific purchase with the required specifications.

Sole Source

On occasion it may be necessary to purchase equipment, supplies or services from a single source vendor.  When an item or service is clearly and legitimately available from only one known source of supply, this is called a Sole Source.  Research is required to confirm there is only one source and documentation is needed for the file.  Examples of sole source procurements include:

• Items which must be operationally compatible with existing equipment or systems and are available only from the original manufacturer.
• Items that have specific or clearly unique features essential for the completion of the task or project at hand that is available from only one source.

A completed Sole Source and/or Brand Specific Justification form should be submitted with your approved requisition to Materials Management for review and approval. Sole Source and/or Brand Specific Justification Form

Materials Management may send a bid document to a sole source vendor to establish firm pricing and include our Terms and Conditions to form a contract.

Note:  A detailed explanation, see section 3 of the Sole Source and/or Brand Specific Justification form, is required along with the Department Chair’s/Department Head’s original, full signature of approval.

All Sole Source and/or Brand Specific purchases must be justified by the end user and approved by Materials Management.  The use of Sole Source or Brand Specific shall be limited only to those specific instances which are totally justified to satisfy compatibility or technical performance needs.