“Commercial item” purchases are often favored both by the Government and by contractors, as they are subject to fewer regulations and may be procured more quickly, using streamlined Federal Acquisition Regulation (“FAR”) Part 12 procedures. Recently enacted laws encourage this strong preference for the acquisition of commercial supplies and services. On February 24, 2017, the Department of Defense (“DoD”) issued a draft Guidebook for Acquiring Commercial Items (“Guidebook”).
The draft Guidebook is comprised of two parts – Part A: Commercial Item Determination and Part B: Pricing Commercial Items. Part A of the Guidebook proposes processes and decision trees, and some examples of their applications, for DoD personnel to use in assessing whether a product or service qualifies as a “commercial item” under FAR 2.101 “Commercial item”. Part B: of the Guidebook proposes processes and decision trees for conducting a price analysis to determine the appropriateness of a contractor’s proposed commercial item pricing.
Takeaways:
The period for submission of comments on the Guidebook has been extended; comments are due on or before May 1, 2017.
If you have questions about this draft Guidebook, or are interested in learning more about whether a particular product or service might qualify as a “commercial item” subject to more streamlined acquisition requirements and processes, please contact your Fortney & Scott attorney, or Susan Warshaw Ebner.
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