Unless as may otherwise be ordered by the Secretary of Administration, the purchase of supplies, materials and equipment through the Secretary of Administration shall be mandatory in the following cases:

(1)        Published books, manuscripts, maps, pamphlets and periodicals.

(2)        Perishable articles such as fresh vegetables, fresh fish, fresh meat, eggs, and others as may be classified by the Secretary of Administration.

Purchase through the Secretary of Administration shall not be mandatory for information technology purchased in accordance with Article 15 of Chapter 143B of the N.C. Gen. Stat., for a purchase of supplies, materials or equipment for the General Assembly if the total expenditures is less than the expenditure benchmark established under the provisions of N.C. Gen. Stat. § 143-53.1, for group purchases made by hospitals, developmental centers, neuromedical treatment centers, and alcohol and drug abuse treatment centers through a competitive bidding purchasing program, as defined in N.C. Gen. Stat. § 143-129, by the University of North Carolina Health Care System pursuant to N.C. Gen. Stat. § 116-37(h), by the University of North Carolina Hospitals at Chapel Hill pursuant to N.C. Gen. Stat. § 116-37(a)(4), by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill on behalf of the clinical patient care programs of the School of Medicine of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill pursuant to N.C. Gen. Stat. § 116-37(a)(4), or by East Carolina University on behalf of the Medical Faculty Practice Plan pursuant to N.C. Gen. Stat. § 116-40.6(c).

All purchases of the above articles made directly by the departments, institutions and agencies of the State government shall, whenever possible, be based on competitive bids. Whenever an order is placed or contract awarded for such articles by any of the departments, institutions and agencies of the State government, a copy of such order or contract shall be forwarded to the Secretary of Administration and a record of the competitive bids upon which it was based shall be retained for inspection and review. ?(1931, c. 261, s. 7; 1957, c. 269, s. 3; 1971, c. 587, s. 1; 1975, c. 879, s. 46; 1981, c. 953; 1983, c. 717, ss. 65, 66; 1985, c. 145, s. 3; 1989 (Reg. Sess., 1990), c. 936, s. 3(e); 1998-212, s. 11.8(c); 1999-434, s. 14; 1999-456, s. 7; 2001-487, s. 21(f); 2009-184, s. 1; 2015-241, s. 7A.4(q).)