Purchasing Forms
Public purchasers use a number of standard forms in order to carry out their responsibilities. Although each unit of government has developed its own set of forms, many of them have common elements. Local government purchasers in North Carolina have often shared and copied each others' forms when developing or revising forms for their own units. In recent years, these forms have been incorporated into software programs that are being used in purchasing, finance, and related areas.
The School of Government and the Carolinas Association of Governmental Purchasing have undertaken a joint project to make forms available on the Internet for purchasers across the state to use as examples when developing or revising purchasing forms and computer systems.
These are not "model forms." Although we originally discussed the idea of creating model forms, we recognize that each unit organizes the purchasing function differently so that it would be difficult to create a set of forms that would work in every jurisdiction. In addition, local governments are increasingly converting to "paperless" or computerized purchasing systems. In these systems, the "form" is a part of the computer program and should be incorporated into the design of the system.
With these practical realities in mind, this resource identifies for the two most commonly used forms - the purchase order and the requisition - the essential pieces of information that should be contained on the form, and leaves the organization, wording, and layout (whether on paper or in software) to the jurisdiction's discretion. For each of these forms, and for all the remaining forms contained in this site, we have also identified and reproduced existing forms from North Carolina local governments that provide examples of how the layout and wording might look.
We hope these documents will provide both new and experienced public purchasers with a starting place in developing purchasing procedures, systems, and documents that will be efficient, legal, and effective for their units of government.
Forms used for purchasing by the state Division of Purchase and Contract are available on the division's website at http://www.doa.state.nc.us/PandC/.
For questions or suggestions about this page, please contact Norma Houston at the School of Government.
Property Disposal
The forms provided here are designed for use by local governments in complying with the procedures for disposing of property under Article 12 of Chapter 160A of the North Carolina General Statutes and other statutes regulating property disposition. They are excerpted from Local Government Property Transactions in North Carolina by David M. Lawrence, published by the School of Government. You can order this title online or contact the Publications Marketing and Sales Office (sales@sog.unc.edu or 919.966.4119). For complete information about the legal requirements for disposing of property, please consult this book.
Using the forms
These forms have been created using fictional names and information. The user must read through the form and substitute the appropriate information for the jurisdiction and property involved. Dates, times, locations, names, and property descriptions contained in these forms are for illustrative purposes only. Always have your local attorney review all legal documents.