Bidding

Purchases require a minimum of three written bids if they meet either of these conditions:

· Total purchase is more than $25,000 but less than $99,999.

· Any single item purchased has a unit price* in excess of $5,000.

Federal Awards or other funding may require bidding for lower purchase amounts. Written bids can be obtained through email quotes from vendors, as well as price lists, catalogs, advertisements and other reasonable means. Vendor declines or failures to respond to bid requests, while infrequent, can be deemed a written bid, but must be documented. All purchases that require bids must be approved in advance by a member of Executive Leadership.

Construction and renovation projects totaling $50,000 or less where there is little advantage to requiring and obtaining multiple bids will not require competitive bidding procedures. Timeliness, the inability to get multiple bids, or the availability of quality contractors may all be determining factors on whether or not to seek multiple bids for construction and renovation projects totaling less than $50,000. Approval from the President of the College or Vice President of Finance are required to complete any construction or renovation project totaling $50,000 or less without bids.

Purchases or contractual agreements totaling $100,000 or more require a Request for Proposal, unless the purchase is for an item with a unit cost that exceeds $100,000 which will only require 3 written bids.

A sole/single feasible source purchase is a purchase made without following the competitive bidding process based on the justification that only one known source exists or that only one single supplier can fulfill the requirement. All sole/single feasible source purchases require approval in advance by a member of Executive Leadership. Sole/single feasible source purchases exist when supplies are proprietary and only available from the manufacturer or a single distributor; a reseller receives exclusive or preferential pricing, discounts, or terms from a sole-source provider that are not available to other authorized resellers, or it is determined that only one distributor services the region in which the supplies are needed; or supplies are available at a discount from a single distributor for a limited period of time.

The following are examples of single feasible source procurements:

· Services of visiting speakers, professors and performing artists;

· Published books, maps, periodicals, newspapers, and technical pamphlets, on-line library cataloging and other services, and bibliographic library services through consortiums;

· Regulated utility services;

· Trial use or testing specific items for suitability;

· Print, electronic, broadcast and/or other media advertising.

· Compatibility with existing equipment/software, warranty requirements, and manufacturer-authorized maintenance

· Support services only available from the actual manufacturer or service provider for existing systems.

Bidding requirements do not apply to purchases made using any state contract or through a group purchasing organization where the bidding process has already been completed. State Contracts can be searched by navigating to https://archive.oa.mo.gov/purch/contracts/.

Awards must be made to the respondent(s) providing the best overall value. Records must be retained to document the rationale for the method of procurement, bidder selection or rejection, and the basis for the bid price. Order splitting to avoid bidding requirements is prohibited.

*Unit price is defined as the total invoice cost per item and shall include shipping costs and any other integral item cost that are part of the item being purchased and included in the total invoice. If shipping is billed by a third-party common carrier and not billed by the vendor the product is purchased from, shipping will be excluded from the unit cost.

LINE OF AUTHORITY

Responsible Office: Business Office

Contact person in that office: Vice President of Finance

EFFECTIVE DATE: August 11, 2026

Approved by President: August 11, 2026