Micropurchase (Commercial Purchase Card)

In the context of the Buy-Quiet Process Roadmap, the micropurchase process may be used to purchase equipment using the a Government Commercial Purchase Card (often referred to as “PCARD” or “Bank Card”) when product-specific or class-specific noise emission data are available for a product and the appropriate authorizations are obtained (for criterion adjustments or use of class-specific instead of product-specific noise emission data). If the noise emission criterion is adjusted, the Requestor is required to select the product with the lowest noise emission. Micro-purchases are made using the Government Commercial Purchase Card (“bank card” or “PCARD”). The Requestor works with a bank-card holder, who will place the order. No specification is prepared, and shop/field verification cannot be required using the micropurchase process.

The micropurchase process is cited in the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) as the appropriate procurement vehicle for purchases under the micropurchase limit of $3000.

From FAR 13.202 Purchase guidelines

• (a) Solicitation, evaluation of quotations, and award.
  • (1) To the extent practicable, micro-purchases shall be distributed equitably among qualified suppliers.
  • (2) Micro-purchases may be awarded without soliciting competitive quotations if the contracting officer or individual appointed in accordance with 1.603-3(b) considers the price to be reasonable.
  • (3) The administrative cost of verifying the reasonableness of the price for purchases may more than offset potential savings from detecting instances of overpricing. Therefore, action to verify price reasonableness need only be taken if—
    • (i) The contracting officer or individual appointed in accordance with 1.603-3(b) suspects or has information to indicate that the price may not be reasonable (e.g., comparison to the previous price paid or personal knowledge of the supply or service); or
    • (ii) Purchasing a supply or service for which no comparable pricing information is readily available (e.g., a supply or service that is not the same as, or is not similar to, other supplies or services that have recently been purchased on a competitive basis).
• (b) Documentation. If competitive quotations were solicited and award was made to other than the low quoter, documentation to support the purchase may be limited to identification of the solicited concerns and an explanation for the award decision.