South Carolina
South Carolina's Consolidated Procurement Code Article 19 broadly authorizes cooperative purchasing for supplies, services, technology, and construction — making it one of the most explicit construction-friendly cooperative purchasing statutes in the country.
Cooperative Purchasing Authorized S.C. Code §11-35-4810
"Any public procurement unit may participate in, sponsor, conduct, or administer a cooperative purchasing agreement for the procurement of any supplies, services, technology information, or construction with one or more public procurement units in accordance with an agreement entered into between the participants."
— S.C. Code §11-35-4810, Cooperative Purchasing Authorized
Plain-language summary
South Carolina is notable for explicitly naming construction in its cooperative purchasing statute. §11-35-4810 authorizes any public procurement unit to participate in, sponsor, conduct, or administer cooperative purchasing agreements for the procurement of supplies, services, technology information, or construction. The statute is broad in scope, covering joint and multi-party contracts, open-ended state contracts made available to local procurement units, and similar arrangements. Under §11-35-4880, a public procurement unit participating in a cooperative purchase managed by a compliant administering entity is deemed to have complied with the entire procurement code.
Key requirements
- →The participating entity must qualify as a "public procurement unit" as defined in §11-35-4610.
- →Cooperative purchasing must be conducted pursuant to a formal agreement between participants.
- →For multistate cooperative purchasing, the contracts must have been awarded through full and open competition using source selection methods substantially equivalent to those in Article 5.
- →30 days' prior notice is required for multistate solicitations under §11-35-1520(3).
- →State public procurement officers must determine in writing that participation is in the state's interest and complies with internal controls requirements.
Construction services
South Carolina explicitly includes construction in §11-35-4810, making it one of the clearest authorities for cooperative purchasing of construction services in the country. Under §11-35-4880, the using agency complies with the full Procurement Code when participating in a cooperative purchase that is itself code-compliant. This makes South Carolina a particularly strong jurisdiction for LNC's cooperative construction purchasing model.
How South Carolina agencies access our contracts.
LNC holds multiple cooperative purchasing contracts through OMNIA Partners and Region 14 ESC Texas, all of which are available to public agencies in South Carolina under S.C. Code §11-35-4810.
Your agency can use our contracts to procure construction services through certified Affiliate Vendors. Every Affiliate proposal is audited and certified by LNC before reaching you.
Talk to LNC About Your Project →This summary is provided for general informational purposes only and is not legal advice. South Carolina's procurement code may have been amended since this content was prepared. Confirm the current text of S.C. Code §11-35-4810 and consult your jurisdiction's legal counsel before relying on this authority for a specific procurement.