Simplified Purchases

An excellent means for vendors to enter the federal marketplace is with Simplified Purchases. They are buys under $100,000 that are processed using Simplified Acquisition Procedures.

Quotations for requirements may be solicited electronically, orally or written. The following are some of the methods utilized to acquire goods or services under designated thresholds:

• Micro-purchases are acquisitions under $2,500. While they are not necessarily reserved for small businesses, the "government wide commercial purchase card" is normally used to acquire goods or services under this value.
• All acquisitions between $2,501 and $25,000 are automatically reserved for small businesses. If there are two or more small business vendors that can offer the product of two or more different domestic concerns who may be either large or small.
• Acquisitions between $25,001 and $100,000 are reserved for small vendors as long as there are two or more small business concerns that can offer the product of a small manufacturer
• A Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA) is a simplified method of filling anticipated repetitive needs for supplies or services by establishing "charge accounts" with qualified sources of supply. Contracting Officers may establish BPAs when there is a wide variety of items in a broad class of supplies or services that are generally purchased, but the exact items, quantities and delivery requirements are not known in advance. A BPA must be in place before vendors are permitted to submit quotes electronically.

Additional information on Indefinite Delivery Purchase Orders for the Directorate of Construction and Equipment is available at the IDPO page.