When is an No Bid Justification (NBJ) Required?

A No Bid Justification is needed when the Sourcing Requirements cannot be met for a Purchase. To view the Sourcing Requirements please see the Competitive Procurement Reference Guide.

Exceptions to Competitive Procurement, No Bid Justification (NBJ), & GPOs

  1. Products or Services purchased off a University, State (OSD)/ COMMBUYS, E&I (Educational & Institutional Cooperative Purchasing) or MHEC (Massachusetts Higher Education Consortium) contract
  2. Purchases of materials, goods, commodities, leases (including equipment or real property), or licenses (including software or real property) less than ten thousand dollars ($10,000) in value.
  3. The best overall value based on a minimum of two with a preferred three quotes for purchases of materials, goods, commodities, leases (including equipment or real property), and licenses (including software) between ten thousand dollars ($10,000) and fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) in value.
  4. Consultant, services contracts, or sub-contracts with fees of fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) or less per fiscal year.
  5. A No-Bid Justification form is completed

An exception to competitive procurement (no-bid justification) may only be used if the following conditions exist:

  • The product or service being purchased is unique and the specified vendor is the only vendor from whom the product or service may be purchased, or
  • Similar products/services may exist, but for reasons of expertise, standardization, quality, compatibility with existing equipment, specifications, or availability, the vendor selected is the only acceptable vendor to the University.

No Bid Justification (NBJ) (formerly sole source): For UMB and UMass Amherst Campuses, can also be used for select departments in other campuses whose requisitions do not originate in BuyWays.