The Illinois Procurement Code, enacted by the Illinois Legislature effective July 1, 1998, governs all procurement activity of the State of Illinois. The code established an administrative structure and requirements for directing all activities involved in the procurement of goods, services, concessions, and leases for the various state agencies.

Administered by a five-member Procurement Policy Board appointed by the Governor, there are four main divisions, including the Higher Education Division, which is made up of the thirteen state universities and the Illinois Math & Science Academy.

The Procurement Code was enacted to establish an open, level field for competitive source selection. Several categories of purchases have been established including commodities and equipment; professional and artistic services; and construction; each category having different dollar thresholds above which sealed bids or Requests for Proposals are required. For smaller dollar level purchases, other competitive source selection methods such as formal written Requests for Quotation may be used.

By law, all bids and awards must be advertised in the Illinois Public Higher Education Procurement Bulletin. This is a free, publicly available web site created and supported by the Higher Education division members. All notices published for bids or awards must appear in the bulletin for a minimum of fourteen days from date of publication before any further action of a purchase can take place. Until the bid document is complete and approved by the Office of Procurement Services and the end-user, no notices may be published in the Bulletin.