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FISCAL MANAGEMENT OPERATIONS GUIDE

Emergency Purchases

An emergency purchase as defined by the General Services Commission is "the purchase of supplies or services which are so badly needed that the department will suffer financial or operational damage if the supplies of services are not secured immediately." An emergency purchase does not necessarily negate the use of competition, but dictates rather, that normal purchasing procedures cannot be followed. Use of competition is in fact, encouraged when possible. When the purchase of a product or service needs to be processed on an emergency basis, a written justification must be provided and include the following information:

1. The reason for the emergency purchase by explaining what the emergency is and/or what caused the emergency situation.
2. The financial or operational damage/risk that the University will accrue if the needs are not satisfied immediately.
3. Why the needs were not or could not be anticipated so that the products/services could have been purchased using standard procedures.
4. The reason and process used for selecting the vendor.

Prior to committing a Purchase Order for the product or services, the justification must be reviewed and approved by the Purchasing Department.