Sole Source, Single Source, or Sole Brand Request

All sole source, single source and sole brand purchases must be reviewed and approved by Procurement prior to any commitments or purchases being made. To request a review, you must fill out and submit a Sole/Single Source Request (SSR) form and submit along with your requisition or directly to your Procurement Specialist.

Sole source is when only one source exists for the required product or service, usually due to, but not limited to: patent rights, copyrights, secret process, limited rights, or markedly unique and necessary features which differentiate from all others.

Single source is when two or more vendors are capable of providing a good or service, but for acceptable business reasons a specific vendor may be selected to provide that commodity or service without a competitive bid at that time.

Sole brand is when only one brand can meet the requirement/specifications. But the brand may be purchased from more than one source. Sole Brands are bid using typical university processes and procedures.