Micro-Purchase (under $10,000 for federal contracts, and $50,000 for federal grants/cooperative agreements) - For purchases UNDER the micro-purchase threshold, competitive quotes are not required, but justifying and documenting price reasonableness is. (§200.320 – Methods of Procurement).
Small Purchase Procedures ($10,000 - $99,999.99* for federal Contracts) ($50,000 - $99,999.99 for federal grants/cooperative agreements). These thresholds require supporting documentation by using the Form A below. If your transaction is be split-funded, whereby 19900 funds are being used for $8,000, and federal contract funds are being used at $2,500, a Form A is not required. However, if your purchase is $11,000 on a federal contract and $20,000 on state funds, then the Form A is required. Rate quotations (a total of 3 or more) must be obtained for these transactions, as well as documenting and justifying Price Reasonableness on the Form A: Source Selection & Price Reasonableness Form.
Competitive Proposals (exceeds $100,000) - For all transactions at the UC over $99,999.99, a public, competitive bid must be conducted. This means an RFQ or RFP (bid) must be posted on the public UC bid website by a member of the Procurement team. If you feel your item/commodity is unique, and only one supplier in the world can provide it, a Sole Source (see below section regarding Form A) may be acceptable. Price Reasonableness/Price Analysis must be documented for any acquisition over $99,999.99 (§200.324 – Contract Cost and Price)
A simplified version of this can be found at the below image, called the Procurement Claw:
*State vs. Federal
Note, the Small Purchase Procedure refers to the Simplified Acquisition Threshold in the FAR 88, CFR Subpart 2.1, which is currently defined as $249,999.99. However, California's state competitive bidding threshold requirement is $100,000.00 (Public Contract Code 10507.7). Because the State has more restrictive law than the Federal Government, and because the more restrictive policy applies, the UC competitive bidding threshold remains at $100,000.00 regardless of the funding source. Per the Uniform Guidance, §200.317, Procurement by States:
"When procuring property and services under a Federal award, a state must follow the same policies and procedures it uses for procurements from its non-Federal funds."