Loading the context…
Loading the context…
Purchasing by approaching one supplier rather than seeking competing offers from an open field of bidders.
Save conceptSingle-source describes a purchasing method in which an organisation approaches one supplier. An open competitive process instead invites competing offers from a wider field. The method is a description of the route used to buy, rather than a finding about whether the supplier was suitable or whether the price was reasonable.
The organisation identifies its requirement and the reason for selecting the single-supplier route under the applicable framework. Jamaica’s 2014 handbook describes direct contracting as inviting one contractor. Rules and approvals can change, so that historical reference explains the mechanism without determining the legality of a current award. Records allow later reviewers to understand the decision and the resulting contract.
Suppose an institution needs a replacement component that must work with an existing installation. It considers a one-supplier purchase and records the compatibility reason and the agreed work. A reviewer would still ask whether the reason was valid, whether the relevant approvals applied and what was delivered. This example does not claim that a particular Jamaican recovery contract had such a justification.
Single-source is not synonymous with . A purchase can concern a hurricane while being recorded under an ordinary one-supplier method, or be unrelated to a disaster. Purpose, procedure and compliance should therefore be assessed separately. Nor does one-supplier purchasing by itself prove favouritism or misconduct; those conclusions require evidence about the actual award.
Integrity Commission seeks review of J$5 billion in Melissa recovery contracts