1.3. Order of Precedence
If the procurement professional determines that the needed good/service is not exempt from the State Purchasing Act or the competitive bidding requirements have not been waived, the next key question is whether a current contract exists to satisfy the purchasing need or whether the procurement professional will need to conduct a sourcing event. To answer this question, the procurement professional must follow the Order of Precedence, beginning with Tier 1 mandatory statewide contracts to Tier 2 (existing state entity contracts ), Tier 3 (statutory sources), and continuing to Tier 4 (convenience statewide contracts , GEPS
products, piggyback purchases, open market), as defined in Diagram 1.1.
NOTE: Compliance with the order of precedence is mandatory.
Diagram 1.1
* In the event a state entity term contract is established, then the resulting contract will be considered a Tier 2 state entity contract for purposes of applying the Order of Precedence for future purchases.