Write a sole-source justification that will survive review
A noncompetitive procurement justification with the legal basis, market research, and price reasonableness that auditors and procurement officers expect.
The prompt
Help me write a sole-source (noncompetitive) procurement justification.
Procurement rules that apply: [e.g. "federal FAR", "2 CFR 200 for grant-funded purchases", "state procurement code", "city purchasing ordinance"]
What we need to buy and why: [GOODS OR SERVICES, mission need]
Proposed vendor: [NAME]
Estimated value and funding source: [AMOUNT, fund or grant]
Why only this vendor can meet the need: [e.g. "proprietary system compatibility", "exclusive license", "emergency", "only responsive bidder after competition"]
Market research done: [who we contacted, what we searched, results]
Price information: [quotes, past prices, GSA or cooperative contract rates]
Draft the justification with these sections:
1. Description of the requirement and the need.
2. The specific authority or exception being relied on, quoted from the rules I name. If I have not supplied the text, write [ADD AUTHORITY] rather than guessing a citation.
3. Unique qualifications of the vendor, supported by facts rather than preference.
4. Market research: what was done, dates, and why alternatives were not viable.
5. Price reasonableness: how we know the price is fair.
6. Actions to enable competition next time (e.g. data rights, open standards, earlier planning).
7. Signature and approval blocks.
Then act as a skeptical reviewer: list the weakest points an auditor or protester would challenge and what evidence would strengthen each.
Rules: do not overstate uniqueness; convenience, staff familiarity, or lack of time due to poor planning are usually not valid grounds, so flag them if I rely on them. Have procurement staff or counsel confirm the authority before approval.
Highlighted [brackets] are blanks to replace with your own details.
Fill in the blanks and use this promptMore Projects & Operations prompts
What to fill in
- GOODS OR SERVICES, mission need
- NAME
- AMOUNT, fund or grant
- who we contacted, what we searched, results
- quotes, past prices, GSA or cooperative contract rates
- ADD AUTHORITY
How this prompt is built
This prompt follows the Few-Shot structure (Few-shot prompting). A few-shot prompt includes one or more worked examples of the input and the output you want, so the model can copy the pattern instead of guessing it.
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