ART - Purchasing Policy: Blanket Orders 2002

The document is a regulation from the Purchasing Department of the Pulaski County Special School District (PCSSD) regarding the use of blanket orders for small purchases. The purpose of the regulation is to streamline the process of placing small orders by allowing departments to use blanket orders issued by the Purchasing Department. A blanket order is a written authorization for a department to purchase indefinite quantities of goods and/or services from a specific vendor for a specified period of time, usually one year. The rationale behind this regulation is that processing numerous purchase orders for small dollar value items is expensive and time-consuming, so issuing blanket orders for such purchases saves administrative costs for PCSSD. The regulation states that blanket orders may be issued for purchases against term contracts, purchases of items exempt from bidding requirements, and small order purchases. For small order purchases, the blanket order is limited to $1,000.00 per month to each vendor. Department funds are encumbered for the entire amount of the blanket order at the time it is issued. After the blanket order is issued, the ordering department contacts the vendor directly to make purchases against the blanket order. Invoices with partial payment requests are submitted to Accounts Payable for vendor payment. This procedure is followed until either the time period expires or the encumbered funds are exhausted. Blanket orders are requested through the same procedure as other purchase orders, with a purchase requisition submitted for all required approvals.