Single-source procurement renamed as Direct Award

As a publicly funded institution, UBC is subject to internal policies and trade agreement obligations to ensure the procurement of goods and services is fair, equitable, transparent and competitive. However, there are circumstances that allow for a Direct Award.

A Direct Award (formerly known as limited tendering or single source) is the award of a contract to a specific supplier for the purchase of goods and/or services greater than $75,000 without an open and public competitive tender.

New Direct Award form

Purchases that fall under any of the listed exemptions in the Direct Award guidelines will need to complete a Direct Award Justification Form and attach it to the Workday purchase requisition (Requisition Type 5). If the purchase does not meet an exemption, please refer to the competitive procurement process (formerly competitive tendering). Please note that this is a new Direct Award form, and the previous version should no longer be used. 

Once the Direct Award Justification Form is received, a Procurement team member will advise whether a direct award is appropriate.  If your acquisition qualifies for an exemption and is appropriate for a Direct Award, Procurement may decide that a Notice of Intent will need to be posted on BC Bid and Bonfire for ten (10) calendar days.

For details regarding the Direct Award exemptions, please visit Direct Award Requests.

For any questions, please contact your designated Procurement Officer.