Purchasing non-equipment <$10,000

For basic purchasing (non-equipment under $10,000), please fill out the ESS Purchase Request Form, which will ask for the following information.

• Contact information
  • First, Last name / phone number
  • Employee status
• Purchasing details
  • Ship to address – recipient name, street address, city, state, zip code
  • Purchase line items, for each item please provide the following:
    • Product name
    • Supplier
    • Item URL
    • Unit cost
    • Quantity
    • Total cost
• Approval from PI/Faculty/Administrator (where appropriate) to include:
  • Business purpose
  • Item(s) request
  • Estimated cost(s)
  • Worktag(s) and/or budget information (if known)
• Sole Source Justification – if applicable
  • A sole source justification is required for every purchase over the Direct Buy Limit ($10,000 including shipping and handling but excluding tax) unless the purchase is being made from an existing contract, the supplier is specifically named in the funding source award documents, or the purchase is being competitively solicited. More information can be found on the Sole Source Justification webpage.
  • If you purchase needs a sole source justification you must fill out and submit the Sole Source Justification Form, download the PDF generated on the confirmation screen, and attach the PDF to the purchase request form.
• Award letter – if applicable (e.g., department student award, GPSS, College/Graduate School travel award, etc.)
• Any additional comments or attachments
  • Quotes/estimates need to include estimated shipping charges and recipient address
• If requesting food, light refreshments or alcohol, please also include:
  • Event date, time, location
  • Attendees List (first, last names) – describe if public event or non-UW participation
  • ESS will help with the Food Approval Form (required), and may need your signature to complete the document

Purchases and contracts ≥ $10,000

Email with details and to confirm the budget.

For purchases and contracts equal or greater than $10,000, over the direct buy threshold and does not fall under an exemption for competition, the solicitation must be managed by Procurement Services.

The following is required for processing:

• Approval from PI/Faculty/Administrator (where appropriate) to include:
  • Business purpose
  • Item(s) request
  • Estimated cost(s) – quotes/estimates need to include estimated shipping charges and recipient address
• A sole source justification – if applicable (Sole Source Purchasing)
• Three (3) competing bids – (Purchasing Guidelines for Required Competition)
• A summary of your process including vendors you contacted, copy of email requests, criteria, list of vendors
• Confirm if the vendor is a registered supplier with the University

Note: Only UW Procurement Services is authorized to sign procurement contracts. Employees, faculty, and students are not authorized to sign a procurement contract of any dollar amount. Requests are processed by filling out the Procurement Contract Manager Support Request form.

Equipment purchases >$5,000 per item and a life span >1 year

For equipment purchases over $5,000 per item and a life span > 1 year:

• Machinery & Equipment (M&E) Sales Tax Exemption
  • Equipment purchased for certain University research and development activities may qualify for tax exemption allowed under RCW 82.08.05656, please see the UW finance website for more information.
  • If a purchase is M&E sales tax exempt, then the sales and use tax exemption certificate must be filled out. ESS Fiscal Staff will take care of this step.
  • If your purchase qualifies for M&E tax exemption, you must choose “Yes” in response to the “Is this a Machinery & Equipment (M&E) Purchase” question on the Purchase Request Form, and include a short statement (1-2 sentences) detailing type of research and desired outcome. See here for M&E statement examples.
  • In general, to qualify for the M&E tax exemption, equipment must have a useful life of greater than one year, be used more than 50% annually on qualifying research, and have an acquisition cost of $200 or more. More information about the M&E tax exemption can be found on the M&E Sales Tax Exemption webpage.
• Equipment of value equal to or greater than $5000 requires tagging within 3-7 days after a receipt is received. Please contact Mike Harrell () for appropriate tagging of inventory. Please see the Equipment Inventory Office website for more details.