NIGP 13515: Clay, Kaolin and Ball

NIGP 13515 Clay, Kaolin and Ball is an Item code covering natural clay materials sourced for ceramics production, studio operations, and industrial applications. State and local governments procure clay primarily to support public pottery studios and arts programming, as well as specialized industrial uses such as landfill cover soil and related geotechnical applications. The City of Orlando's recent pottery-supplies procurement illustrates the core institutional demand: clay delivered on fixed cycles (45-day ordering windows) in moderate volumes (4,000 to 5,000 pounds per cycle) to support active ceramics facilities with multiple kilns and wheel stations. Beyond arts programming, clay-based materials appear in environmental remediation and waste-management contexts, though the sourcing and testing scope in those applications often extends beyond raw clay supply into broader soil and fill operations. Issuing bodies include municipal recreation and arts departments (the primary visible buyers), environmental service authorities, and county purchasing offices.

The most recent activity concentrates in Florida and the Mid-Atlantic region. The City of Orlando issued IFB270025 for pottery supplies on October 6, 2026, with bids due November 5, 2026, and a Veteran Business Enterprise preference in evaluation; the contract runs one year with four renewal options. Maryland Environmental Service solicited competitive sealed bids (number 1274015, July 15, 2026 deadline) for sourcing and delivery of up to 450,000 cubic yards of cover soil to Brown Station Road Sanitary Landfill in Upper Marlboro, Prince George's County—a substantially larger but less typical clay-category application. A Sourcewell cooperative procurement (RFP 061626, June 16, 2026 deadline) for law enforcement equipment in Washington state and multi-state participation does not align with this code's scope and appears to be misclassified in the source. The pottery-studio market segment remains active but narrow; bid-response cycles run 30 days or less, and insurance and set-aside compliance requirements are standard.