Unauthorized Purchases

When an individual without having complied with the S.C. Consolidated Procurement Code and without Procurement authority commits the College to an obligation by ordering or receiving goods or services prior to review by the Procurement Office and the issuance of a Purchase Order, it is an unauthorized purchase. Procurement staff is prohibited from authorizing these acts “after the fact.” Only the head of the agency (President of the College of Charleston) or his designee has the authority to ratify unauthorized purchases, and then only to agency certification limits.

Unauthorized acts exceeding agency certification must be sent to the Division of General Services. State law requires that the head of the agency prepare a written determination with the following information: (1) facts and circumstances surrounding the act; (2) what corrective action is being taken to prevent reoccurrence; (3) action taken against the individual committing the act; and, (4) documentation that the price paid is fair and reasonable. The College's Unauthorized Purchase Ratification Request was designed to simply address all the required points.

If you have an unauthorized purchase that must be ratified, complete the form and forward to the Procurement Director. Requests are then presented to the President, or his designee, for ratification. Caution: if the price paid is unreasonable, the individual may be held pecuniarily liable for the difference. If disapproved, the obligation will become the personal responsibility of the person who made the unauthorized procurement.