Piggyback Contract

Piggybacking attaches an agency to a contract another entity awarded for its own purposes. It resembles cooperative purchasing and differs in an important way: a cooperative contract was built from the start to be shared, while a piggyback arrangement borrows one that was not necessarily.

Whether it is permitted turns on the original solicitation. Contracts intended to be shared normally carry language allowing other public entities to purchase from them, sometimes called a rider or extension clause. Without that language the vendor may be willing but the contract does not authorize it, and the buying agency carries the exposure.

The second question is whether the buying agency own rules allow it, which is again local. Some jurisdictions permit piggybacking broadly, some restrict it to named cooperatives, and some require a documented determination that it is in the public interest.

Used carefully it is a legitimate and common route. Used casually it is one of the easier ways for a well-intentioned purchase to become an audit finding.