formal, competitive bid Purchase Agreement

process. process.

A supplier verified as the sole

Justification + RSCD
Sole Source provider of a specific product
Approval
or service.

7.1 Ad-Hoc Suppliers

An Ad-Hoc Supplier is a Supplier that has not been vetted through prior due diligence or
competitive Open Tender process, has not yet participated in and won a competitive
Contracted Supplier or MPA process, and does not meet the criteria for a Sole Source
supplier. If a Country Office spends about $20,000 USD or more with a Supplier annually,
then Supply Chain is strongly advised to establish a Master Purchase Agreement for that
category by following the process in Section 9.2.

7.2 Contracted Suppliers

Contracted Suppliers are suppliers with whom the IRC has a formal contractual relationship
governing pricing and terms and conditions for a set list of items or services for a set
amount of time. Contracted Suppliers are selected via a competitive Open Tender process
(Section 8). See Section 9 for further instructions on contracting suppliers or setting up a
Master Purchase Agreement.

Suppliers can be contracted for a one-time procurement of goods or services, such as a

construction project, or to establish a Master Purchase Agreement (MPA) which is an
umbrella agreement that sets the terms and conditions, prices, and quality of goods or
services throughout the term of the contract. The advantage to using an MPA is that you are
not required to go through the full tender process every time a need arises.

A contract that sets the prices and terms for services over a period of time is called a Master
Service Agreement (MSA). In order to simplify the instructions, in most cases, this manual
refers to all master agreements for goods or services as MPAs.

It is IRC policy to use a Master Purchase Agreement when the Country Office has ongoing
needs for the same goods or services on a regular basis. This structure can improve value for
money, reduce lead times, and decrease the opportunity for illegal or unethical practices by
reducing the number of tenders. When procuring under an MPA, all purchasing can be done
directly with the Supplier regardless of the value of the order.

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