Emergency Purchases
An emergency condition is defined as "a situation that creates a threat to public health, welfare, safety, or property, such as may arise by reason of floods, epidemics, riots, equipment failures, or such other reasons as may be proclaimed by the Governor of the State of Louisiana."
Poor planning does not constitute an emergency condition. An emergency purchase may be made when the existence of an emergency condition creates an immediate and serious need for supplies, materials, equipment, or services that cannot be purchased by normal methods or through the mandated contractor and the lack of which would seriously threaten:
- the functioning of state government,
- the preservation or protection of property, or
- the health or safety of any person.
Departments should attempt to follow purchasing guidelines as much as possible by utilizing master/existing contracts or obtaining competitive pricing (written, telephone, etc.). If not a punch-out catalog in Workday, a non-catalog requisition must be released to Procurement Services, with attached documentation of the competition that was obtained or attempted and the a business justification why normal procurement methods could not be used to make the purchase. Justification must be signed by the department head or the authorized representative. A separate email to the buyer including the requisition number and attachments can be sent to expedite the purchase if needed.
If the requisition/purchase order process cannot be followed, Procurement Services should be contacted when an emergency condition arises to obtain approval from the Assistant VP of Procurement or her designee. The department is responsible for providing documentation to justify emergency purchases not done through a purchase order.
All emergency purchases requiring competition are reported to the Legislative Auditors by Procurement Services.
Rev 5/07/21