Starting Your Purchase

Low-Value Purchase Authorization & Transactions

The authority to purchase common goods and services from Suppliers up to $10,000.00 per transaction has been granted by UC Berkeley's Chief Procurement Officer to departments. 

Common goods and services are goods, materials, supplies, and services that are readily obtainable through conventional commercial retail channels. Examples include consumer electronics, consumable goods, photocopying, printing, or other services that are available to the general public that does not require a contract.

Employees are able to create purchase requests (requisitions) for goods or services in BearBUY or by using a  Procurement Card. Catalog orders under $5,000 and non-catalog orders under $1,000 that are filled out correctly will be auto-approved the same day. Support for non-catalog orders and service requests less than $10,000 that have a quote that does not require a signature or does not contain any legal terms of service/terms and conditions are provided by Berkeley Regional Services. Support for high-value purchases, signed contracts, and "special considerations" (outlined below) is provided by Supply Chain Management (SCM).

Transactions shall not be artificially divided to falsely create multiple small purchase orders (PO) or procurement card charges under the low-value purchase authorization limit. Improper use of "splitting" POs or procurement card transactions by an employee may be grounds for disciplinary action and may result in the cancellation of the individual's procurement card. 

High-Value Purchases, Signed Contracts, & Special Considerations

Most BearBUY requisitions over $10,000 will automatically route to an SCM Buyer to review.  If the transaction is less than $10,000, use the "Buyer Intervention" button in BearBUY when submitting a shopping cart if the purchase involves these Special Considerations:   

Depending on the funding source of the purchase, there may be competitive bid requirements. Typically, competitive bids are required when a federally-funded purchase exceeds $10,000 or when non-federally funded purchases exceed $100,000 per transaction.   

See RFx - Competitive Bidding for more information.