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Procurement requirements

Find information on the procurement of goods, services or equipment in relation to research projects.

The procurement of equipment, consumables and services, including maintenance must comply with all relevant national and EU legislation and UCL Financial Regulations. Please contact Procurement Services at the earliest opportunity to discuss your procurement requirements.

When obtaining goods, services or equipment the following limits apply in respect of quotations or tenders.

Goods, services or equipment under £5,000


Existing contracted or framework suppliers should be used where possible. Where none exists, Competitive quotations should be sought, where the benefits of doing so will outweigh the administrative costs of obtaining the quotation.

Goods, services or equipment costing between £5,001 - £50,000


You need to get at least three competitive tender bids or written quotations. These quotes must be kept for audit records.

Goods, services or equipment costing between £50,001 - £181,302


A minimum of three competitive tender bids are required, and where practical more than three, in order to obtain the most competitive price.

Exceptions may be appropriate where the product is a standard catalogue item, in which case at least three written quotations may be appropriate rather than competitive tender bids.

These quotes must be kept for audit records

Goods, services or equipment costing more than £181,302


All procurements above this value must be handled by UCL Procurement Services

These figures refer to the total order value.

Like items should be aggregated together in order to obtain best value from the supplier.

It is not permitted for orders to be subdivided into smaller amounts in order to avoid the appropriate procedures.

In addition to UCL and national legislation some research funders have specific conditions on the procurement of Equipment so please also refer to your funder’s terms and conditions or contact Award Services for further advice.

UKRI funded equipment


The procurement of equipment, consumables and services, including maintenance, must comply with all relevant national and EU legislation, UCL Financial Regulations and procedures for all UKRI Funded Equipment.

Accepted procurement best practice in the higher education sector must be observed.

For all equipment and services where the contract value is more than £25,000, excluding VAT, professionally qualified procurement staff must be consulted before the procurement process begins, and, where appropriate, at the market research stage.

UCL Procurement Services must approve the order/contract before it is placed with a supplier.