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Guidance for Use of the SP Exemption Form

Background:

As a state institution, Florida Atlantic University is required to comply with Florida Statute and Board of Governor regulations in regard to the purchase of commodities and contractual services.

Under these regulations, FAU is required to obtain additional quotes or conduct a formal bid process when a purchase reaches a certain threshold.

  • For purchases between $25,000 and $74,999 - a second quote is required. Competitive quotes must be obtained in writing and can be provided via a website or email.
  • For purchases between $75,000 and $149,999 – a third quote is required. Competitive quotes must be obtained in writing and can be provided via a website or email.
  • For purchases over $150,000 - a formal bid process is required. Please contact the Procurement Office for information on the bid process.

All purchases made under a grant or contract (sponsored account), shall be made in accordance with the requirements of Florida Statute, Board of Governor and FAU policies.

However, under certain circumstances, an exemption to the bid requirements may be allowed when one of the following occurs:

For Federal Projects - 2 CFR 200.320(f):

  1. The item to be purchased is only available from a single source - (This exemption requires a Sole Source determination by Procurement Office.) SP Exemption Form is not needed.
  2. A public exigency or emergency for the requirement will not permit a delay resulting from competitive solicitation - (This exemption requires that the purchase be necessary due to a state/national emergency.)
  3. Federal awarding agency or pass-through entity expressly authorizes noncompetitive proposals in response to a written request from the non-federal entity (FAU) – (This exemption requires that the awarding agency has approved a specified purchase vendor/consultant in the award or in writing by the agency.)
  4. After solicitation of a number of sources, competition is determined inadequate – (This exemption requires a determination by the Procurement Office.) SP Exemption Form is not needed.

In most cases, a SP exemption is allowable under #3 which requires that the awarding agency expressly authorizes the purchase. When a specified vendor/consultant is named in the proposal and awarded by the agency (sponsor), FAU’s written request has been authorized by the agency. In this case, a SP Exemption Form should be completed and submitted to the Office of Sponsored Programs for approval. Once signed by OSP, the form should be included with the requisition and submitted to the Procurement Office for processing.

If the vendor/consultant is not specifically named in the proposal and award, in most cases, it may be easier/quicker to obtain a second quote from another vendor/consultant rather than going back to the agency (sponsor) for written approval. A second quote may be obtained online from a website.

Once a second quote is obtained, a SP exemption form is no longer required. The second quote should be included with the requisition and submitted to the Procurement Office for processing.

For all SP exemptions, the Principal Investigator must certify in writing that the purchase is necessary for the efficient or expeditious execution of the research project, they have no conflict of interest in the entity(ies) evaluated and selected and all information provided is true and correct to the best of their knowledge and belief.