Emergency Purchases 

An emergency condition is defined as “a situation that creates a threat to public health, welfare, safety, or public property, or conservation of public resources such as may arise by reason of floods, epidemics, riots, equipment failures, or such other reasons as may be determined by the Chief Procurement Officer.” An emergency purchase may be made when the existence of an emergency condition creates an immediate and serious need for goods or services that cannot be met through normal procurement methods.

Emergency procurements shall be made using the most competitive process available consistent with the need for responding to the emergency. Reasonable efforts under the circumstances shall be made to obtain quotations from three or more vendors when goods or services are to be purchased on an emergency basis. Emergency procurement shall be limited to only those goods and services necessary to meet the emergency.

Poor planning does not constitute an emergency condition. 

LSU Procurement must be contacted when an emergency condition arises for approval from the Chief Procurement Officer (Director of Procurement). If an emergency condition arises after office hours and circumstances will not permit any delays, then the Department Head or an authorized department representative must attempt to follow purchasing guidelines as much as possible by obtaining competitive pricing (written, telephone, etc.) and proceeding with the purchase, using discretion. Written documentation explaining the nature of the emergency must then be signed by the Department Head or the authorized representative and attached to a requisition for the goods or services purchased. The requisition must be released to Procurement within two working days, with attached documentation of the competition that was obtained or attempted.

Catastrophic Emergencies may be handled differently only when the Governor declares a State of Emergency and issues an Executive Order outlining the procedures to be followed.

All emergency purchases requiring competition are reported to the Legislative Auditors by Procurement.

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