7-5.2 Emergency Purchases

In emergencies, the client must always contact the contracting officer for any immediate purchasing needs. If the contracting officer cannot be reached, the client may commit funds to sustain the Postal Service’s operations through the use of eBuy. eBuy is the electronic commerce portal that provides the Postal Service’s employees with electronic requisitioning, approval and invoice certification capability and is available at https://ebuy.usps.gov/jsp/co/Login.jsp. eBuy is the Postal Service’s preferred method of order placement.

However; if eBuy is not available or if the requested products or service cannot be found on eBuy, the client may contact a supplier to begin emergency work. The client may then pay through either credit card or invoice to the Postal Service. Although these commitments occur before obtaining contracting officer approval, they do require the concurrence of the client’s manager. The client must contact the contracting officer the next business day to determine whether any follow-up work or a contract is needed. When such postpurchase approval practices are used, the contracting officer must provide approval within 10 business days of the actual commitment. The documentation must include a justification of postapproval.