State contracts are contracts set up by Louisiana State Purchasing with various vendors for the purchase of a variety of specified items during a given period of time.

The University has the option of purchasing through these state contracts without the requirement of developing specifications or requesting bids.

Reasons for purchasing through State Contracts:

1. No competitive pricing is required
2. Purchase orders may be placed immediately for faster delivery
3. Because of the volume associated with state purchases, prices are very competitive

State contracts may be viewed on the Internet at the following address:
http://www.doa.louisiana.gov/osp/osp.htm

If you need assistance on locating an item on the state contract please contact the Purchasing Department at 797-5272.

The State Contract number from which the purchase is to be made should be shown on the requisition. (Tips for searching State Contract Web Site are shown below)

IF YOU ARE IN DOUBT AS TO WHETHER OR NOT AN ITEM IS ON STATE CONTRACT, SEND YOUR REQUISITION SHOWING SPECIFICATIONS OF THE ITEM YOU WISH TO PURCHASE (BRAND, MODEL #, ETC.) AND THE PURCHASING DEPARTMENT WILL SEARCH THE CONTRACTS PRIOR TO MAKING PURCHASES.

There are several ways to search State Contracts:

1. Searching by Approved Catalog Contracts:

• If an item is on an approved catalog contract, you will not be able to find it by searching the State Contract Pages.  You will locate approved catalog contracts by doing the following:

• After you have opened the State Contract home page, move your

     cursor to the left side (Dark Blue Section) and place it on “contracts”

• A drop down box will appear - Select “Approved Catalog Contracts”
• The next page has a list of Approved Catalog Contracts
• Go to the description you are looking for and click on it
• The company’s web page for State Contract Pricing will open and you can search the web pages for the items you wish to purchase.

2. Searching by type of item:

• After you have opened the State Contract Home Page:

• Move your cursor to the Logo that says LA eCat and double click on the Logo
• The next page that appears will say “Welcome To LA eCat” at the top of the page.  Important: There is a place for a Login ID and Password. You do not need to log in. Just double click on the words Contract Search.
• At the top of the next page there is a search request:

 Search for:  O Contracts O Items
Put a dot in the “Items” and click on “Find It” at the bottom of the page

• You can search on the page by putting in a short item description, model # or Brand.  Keep your descriptions simple.
• If there is a state contract for the item, a list of contracts will appear.  Click on the contract number and search the contract for the item.
• If you already know the contract number, but do not know the item cost, you can pick “Contracts” on the search page and put in the contract number or vendor name and find the contract.
• You can do a general search from these pages, keeping in mind that if the item is on an “Approved Catalog Contract” it cannot be found by doing general searches.

3. Searching State Contract by T-Number:

• After you open the State Contract Home Page:

• Move your cursor to the left side (Dark Blue Section) and place it on CONTRACTS.
• A drop down box will appear
• Move your cursor to “Contracts by Title and T-Number” and click to open
• On the next page a list of Commodities in alphabetical order appears with a T-Number assigned to it.
• Write down the T-Number and go to the Contract Search as described in #2 above and type in the T-Number.  You will then get a list of Contracts that sell this type item.
• You can do a general search from these pages, keeping in mind that if the item is on an “Approved Catalog Contract” it can not be found by doing general searches.