Wisconsin

Plain-language summary

Wisconsin's cooperative purchasing framework contains one of the most explicit construction exclusions in the country. The primary cooperative purchasing statute, Wis. Stat. §16.73, authorizes the Wisconsin Department of Administration and municipalities to enter into joint purchasing agreements for 'materials, supplies, equipment, permanent personal property, miscellaneous capital or contractual services' — but expressly states in §16.73(1) that 'this subsection does not apply to construction contracts that are subject to s. 16.855 or 66.0901.' Section 16.855 governs state building program construction; §66.0901 governs municipal public works contracts. The same explicit construction exclusion appears in §16.73(4)(a), which addresses interstate cooperative purchasing agreements with purchasing agents of other states or the federal government. This double carve-out is unusually clear — Wisconsin's legislature specifically intended to exclude traditional construction work from cooperative purchasing pathways. The Intergovernmental Cooperation Act (Wis. Stat. §66.0301) provides broader authority — municipalities may make 'an agreement with another municipality or with a federally recognized Indian tribe or band' for 'the receipt or furnishing of services or the joint exercise of any power or duty required or authorized by statute.' This statute 'shall be interpreted liberally in favor of cooperative action between municipalities,' but it does not override the construction-specific statutes (§16.855 and §66.0901) that govern public works procurement.

Key requirements

• →Wis. Stat. §16.73(1) authorizes cooperative purchasing for 'materials, supplies, equipment, permanent personal property, miscellaneous capital or contractual services.'
• →EXPLICIT CARVE-OUT: §16.73(1) and §16.73(4)(a) both state that the subsection 'does not apply to construction contracts that are subject to s. 16.855 or 66.0901.'
• →Section 16.855 (state building program construction) and Section 66.0901 (municipal public works contracts) govern construction procurement separately.
• →Wis. Stat. §16.73(4)(a) authorizes interstate cooperative purchasing agreements with purchasing agents of other states or the federal government — with the same explicit construction exclusion.
• →Intergovernmental Cooperation Act (§66.0301): broader authority for municipalities to enter intergovernmental cooperation contracts for services or joint exercise of powers.
• →Section 66.0303 (interstate intergovernmental cooperation): Wisconsin AG approval required before interstate intergovernmental agreements become effective.
• →Wisconsin Administrative Code §Adm 8.08: intergovernmental procurements may be made without bidding if approved by the Department of Administration (except for printing and stationery).
• →Wisconsin public works construction continues to be governed by §66.0901 (municipal) or §16.855 (state) — competitive bidding, prevailing wage, and bonding statutes apply.

Construction services

Wisconsin presents one of the most explicit construction exclusions in U.S. cooperative purchasing law. Wis. Stat. §16.73(1) and §16.73(4)(a) both state directly that the cooperative purchasing subsections do not apply to construction contracts subject to §16.855 (state construction) or §66.0901 (municipal public works). This is not an implicit scope limitation (as in Kansas or Illinois) — it is an explicit statutory carve-out. Wisconsin public agencies considering cooperative purchasing for construction services should expect those services to be subject to Wisconsin's standard public works procurement requirements under §16.855 or §66.0901 (competitive bidding, prevailing wage, bonding). The Intergovernmental Cooperation Act (§66.0301) provides a separate pathway for cooperative action between municipalities, and may be available for some construction-adjacent arrangements — but the §16.855 and §66.0901 substantive construction requirements continue to apply. Wisconsin agencies should engage counsel early when considering cooperative construction procurement to determine whether any specific use case is workable within these statutory constraints.