A new government-wide rule issued June 18 amends certain sections of the Federal Acquisition Regulation.  Of interest to our readers:

1.  An interim rule seeking to implement the National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2004 provides that performance-based contracts or task orders for services will be treated as commercial items if certain conditions are met and the rule requires agencies to report on these awards.  The definition of commercial item will be amended to add performance-based language.  COs will now be able to use FAR Part 12, Acquisition of Commercial Items and Part 37.6, Performance-Based Contracting for non-commercial services and treat these services as commercial services when specific conditions are met. This provision was made into a final rule in the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement on June 25 (Fed. Reg. 35,532).

2.  Deletes the cost principle at FAR 31.205-24, Maintenance and repair cost, because either the Cost Accounting Standards or Generally Accepted Accounting Practices adequately address such costs.  In addition, non-substantive revisions to remove unnecessary and duplicative language were made to FAR 31.205-7, Contingencies; FAR 31.205-26, Material costs and FAR 31.205-44, Training and education costs.  

3.  Intending to strengthen the procedures for establishing Blanket Purchase Agreements (BPAs) under the General Services Administration’s Federal Supply Schedules (FSS), the rules (1) clarifies the difference between an Authorized FSS pricelist and an FSS publication (2) makes clear that the CO placing an order on another agency’s behalf is responsible for applying that agency’s regulatory requirements (3) contains new coverage on use of statements of work when acquiring services from the schedules (4) requires that when an agency awards a task order requiring a statement of work that if the award is based on other than price (e.g. best value) the CO shall provide a brief explanation of the basis for the award to any unsuccessful contractor requesting such information (5) requires the ordering activity to document the results of its BPA review and (6) reminds (encourages) agencies they may seek a price reduction at any time, not just when an order exceeds the maximum order threshold (Fed. Reg. 34233).

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