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Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering

Purchasing Policies

What we do:

  • Process requisitions for purchase orders for goods and services
  • Process faculty, staff, and student reimbursements
  • Process unencumbered vendor payments
  • Provide support to Department administrators, faculty, staff, and students on purchasing procedures and guidelines

Helpful hints:

  • Review the policies and procedures on the UF Procurement website
  • The University of Florida transitioned to a new supplier portal in July 2024.
  • As part of this transition, there is an enhanced screening process for new suppliers that is routed to an off-sight third parting for vetting. Most new suppliers will be processed quickly through this process, however if there are additional questions or concerns that arise during the vetting, there may be some significant delays in the approval process that are outside of our control.
  • Recommendations about how to help avoid delays in this process where possible:
    1. Choose a UF approved vendor. Approved vendors may be found in UF Marketplace, or the purchasing staff can assist in identifying vendors as well. Also, Fisher Scientific can often reach out to suppliers that are not in the system and negotiate terms to possibly fill the order you need.
    2. If you are working with a new vendor, please plan ahead as much as possible to allow time for the new vendor application and approval process.
    3. Suppliers that have been used in the past may be deactivated after a couple of years of not being used. This will require them to submit an updated application.
    4. In some cases, you may be able to seek a one-time pcard increase. Please reach out to the ECE staff to see if this is an option for an emergency purchase.
  • All items being ordered must be easily identifiable. If a quote uses acronyms or terms that are not commonly known to the lay person, please briefly describe what you are ordering
  • If you are placing an order from a non-contract vendor totaling between $10,000 and $150,000, a total of three quotes are required (two competitive quotes, plus the winning or chosen quote). If competitive vendors do not exist for the product(s) you wish to order, please provide a ‘single vendor’ statement describing the uniqueness of what you are ordering and why it is only available from your chosen vendor.
  • All quotes must include estimated shipping charges (if they apply).
  • If you are placing an order that will add value to existing *equipment (with a UF property decal and a value of over $5K), please provide the name of the equipment, the physical location of the equipment (building name and room number), and the UF property decal number.

* UF definition of equipment: Unit cost of $5,000 or more with a life expectancy of a year or more.

Contact us:

purchasing@ece.ufl.edu