(a) The specification manager with advice from the contracting officer, if necessary, shall determine if inclusion of a CID in a solicitation is the most appropriate way of describing the Government's needs.

(b) When the CID consists of only the minimum salient characteristics of the commercially available supplies (e.g., general requirements, test procedures), a commercial item certification must be included in the solicitation. (See 511.070.) Because the certification provision supplements and replaces the quality assurance provisions, the certification must be obtained to represent that the supplies being offered are of standard commercial quality.

(c) For CID's that incorporate specific salient characteristics including performance standards, packaging and packing requirements, quality assurance provisions (e.g., visual examination, sampling plans, test methods) the commercial item certification is not required. In this instance, the CID is the sole basis of determining whether the item meets the Government's needs.

511.070 Solicitation provision.

Except for supplies acquired using the Federal Prison Industries or Workshops as mandatory sources (see FAR Subparts 8.6 and 8.7), the contracting officer shall include the provision at 552.211-70, Commercial Item Certification, in solicitations for supplies when a basic or broad description of a standard commercially available product is used to describe the requirement.

PART 512-CONTRACT DELIVERY OR PERFORMANCE

Subpart 512.1-Delivery or Performance Schedules

Sec.

512.101 General. 512.104

Contract clauses.

AUTHORITY: 40 U.S.C. 486(c)

SOURCE: 54 FR 26512, June 23, 1989, unless otherwise noted.

(b) The contracting officer must be satisfied that the requisitioning office has justified, in writing, an unusually short time of delivery. This is particularly important where the time specified is so short that it may limit competition and possibly result in higher prices. Examples of justifications are:

(1) Furniture is required to outfit quarters scheduled for occupancy on a specific date;

(2) Construction material is required to meet job progress schedules; and

(3) Supplies are required at a port to meet scheduled ship departures.

(c) When a portion of the total delivery is needed early, the contracting officer should:

(1) Consider requiring that portion by the early date and the balance later; and

(2) Determine whether the portion required early and the balance should be included as separate items in the same solicitation or whether the two portions should be procured separately.

(d) When a solicitation contains a mixture of items that require different times for delivery, the delivery periods should be set forth separately and items with similar delivery time requirements should be grouped according to delivery times in the solicitation.

(e) In negotiations for multiple award schedules, the contracting officer should secure the best possible delivery time regardless of the "desired" delivery time(s) in the solicitation. For example, some offers comply with the Government's desired delivery time but others cite delivery times which are substantially shorter. The former

should be negotiated to bring them in line with the latter. Variable delivery time offers (e.g., 30-90 days) should be negotiated to keep the timespan to a minimum. If the span applies to several items or several quantity breaks for one item, the items or item quantity breaks should be segregated into smaller groups which can be assigned more specific delivery times.

512.104 Contract clauses.

(a) Supply contracts. The contracting officer shall insert the clause at:

(1) 552.212–1(a), Time of Delivery, in solicitations and single award schedule contracts for supplies. If it is necessary to show different delivery times for different items or groups of items, use Alternate I.

(2) 552.212-1(b), Time of Delivery, in solicitations and multiple award schedule contracts for supplies. If the Government's desired delivery time is shown in the Schedule of Items, use Alternate I. If the same delivery time applies to all items, use Alternate II.

(3) 552.212-70, Time of Shipment, in solicitations and stock replenishment

contracts that do not include the Availability for Inspection, Testing and Shipment/Delivery clause at 552.212-72 and require shipment within 45 calendar days after receipt of the order. If shipment is required in more than 45 days, use Alternate I.

(4) 552.212-71, Notice of Shipment, in solicitation and contracts for supplies when it is in the Government's interest to have the contractor furnish a notice of shipment.

(5) 552.212-72, Availability for Inspection, Testing and Shipment/Delivery, in solicitations and contracts that provide for source inspection by Government personnel and that require lengthy testing for which timeframes cannot be determined in advance. If the contract is for stock items, use Alternate I.

(b) Construction contracts. The contracting officer shall insert the clause at 552.212-74, Non-compliance with Contract Requirements, in solicitations and contracts for construction when the contract amount is expected to exceed the small purchase limitation.

mote maximum competition if there is a reasonable expectation of obtaining two or more quotations that will be competitive in terms of market price. If there is no expectation of obtaining two or more competitive quotations, more than three sources should be solicited. If only one response is received, the purchase may be made if the price is reasonable and the contractor is responsible.

cir

(b) Oral solicitation. Quotations may be solicited orally under the cumstances described in 13.106(b)(2) unless:

FAR

(1) The acquisition includes a wage determination issued by the Department of Labor under the Service Contract Act; or

(2) The acquisition meets the requirements in FAR 5.101(a)(1) and must be synopsized in the Commerce Business Daily.

(c) Data to support small purchases. (1) When other than the lowest quotation is accepted, the basis for rejecting any lower quotation must be included in the purchase file.

(2) The GSA Form 2010, Small Purchases Tabulation Source List/Abstract, or an automated equivalent which provides substantially the same documentation, must be used to document written and oral quotations.

[54 FR 26512, June 23, 1989, as amended at 55 FR 48847, Nov. 23, 1990]

513.106-70 Unusual and compelling ur gency procurements.

When a procurement is of unusual and compelling urgency, competition may be solicited by having prospective sources visit the site together, orally informing them of the exact requirements, and requesting them to prepare quotations while written specifications are being prepared for inclusion in the contract. Unusual and compelling urgency, as used in this subsection, includes situations which, if not corrected immediately, will result in unnecessary expenditure of funds, property damage, personal injury, or interruption of agency functions.

Subpart 513.2-Blanket Purchase Agreements

513.203 Establishment of Blanket Purchase Agreements.

513.203-1 General.

(a) Document preparation. Blanket purchase agreements (BPA's) must be prepared on a purchase order form or on a GSA Form 3521, Blanket Purchase Agreement.

(b) Terms and conditions. Each blanket purchase agreement should, when appropriate, specify the geographic area to be served under the BPA.

(c) Placing orders under the BPA. Only the contracting officer (CO) or officials authorized by a CO and designated in the BPA are authorized to place orders under the BPA. The GSA Form 2877, Non-Depot Item Requisition / Order / Receiving / Payment Record, is authorized for use by the Federal Supply Service in placing orders against BPA's for customer supply center items that are not available from Government supply depots. Before placing orders against the BPA, each requirement must be screened for availability from mandatory sources of supply. Necessary controls must be maintained by the person placing orders under the BPA to ensure that any limitation stated therein is not exceeded. The BPA number and purchase number should be specified each time an order is placed.

(d) Delivery or service tickets. Each delivery ticket, in addition to the requirements of FAR 13.203–1(j)(6), must contain the name of the person placing the order. The delivery ticket must be signed and dated by the individual receiving the items or services. The supplier and the receiving office must retain a copy of the delivery ticket.

(e) Invoicing. If a supplier will not accept one of the invoicing statements outlined in FAR 13.203-1(j)(7), the contracting officer is authorized to deviate from FAR 13.203(j)(7) in order to permit the submission and payment of invoices for each delivery under the BPA. Before authorizing submission and payment of invoices for individual deliveries, the contracting officer must make every effort to get the supplier to accept one of the FAR invoicing state

ments. The BPA file must document the contracting officer's efforts and the supplier's refusal to accept the FAR invoicing statements.

(f) Processing invoices. Invoices must be time-stamped by the designated billing office to indicate the date of receipt. Invoices received by ordering offices must be forwarded to the appropriate Finance Division for payment within 5 workdays of receipt of the invoice or acceptance of the supplies or services, whichever is later, unless the BPA provides for the accumulation of invoices as outlined in FAR 13.2031(j)(7)(iii). If the BPA provides for accumulation of invoices by the ordering office for a specified period, the ordering office must forward the accumulated invoices to the appropriate Finance Division for payment within 5 workdays after the specified period for accumulation. All invoices should be marked to indicate that purchases were made under a BPA.

513.204 Purchases under Blanket Purchase Agreements.

(a) Individual purchases under BPA's may not exceed $10,000.

(b) Individual purchases under BPA's may exceed the $10,000 threshold in paragraph (a) of this section and the small purchase threshold (FAR 13.101) if the BPA has been established in accordance with FAR 13.203–1(f).

Subpart 513.3-Fast Payment Procedure

513.301 General.

The fast payment procedure is not authorized for use by GSA contracting activities.

Subpart 513.4-Imprest Fund 513.403 Agency responsibilities.

Imprest fund cashiers must be designated and will function in accordance with HB, Accounting Users Guide-Imprest Fund and Travelers Checks (COM P 4268.1) and FAR Subpart 13.4.

513.404 Conditions for use.

The per transaction limitation for cash payments made through imprest funds is $500 ($600 for emergency dis

The SF 1164, Claim for Reimbursement for Expenditures on Official Business, or SF 1165, Receipt for CashSubvoucher, will serve as the authorized purchase requisition for purchases made by offices maintaining their own imprest funds, e.g., Public Buildings Service Field Offices. Purchase requisitions such as the GSA Form 49, Requisition/Procurement Request for Equipment, Supplies or Services, may be used if required by contracting activity directives. If the GSA Form 49 is used, it must be endorsed "Payment to be made from imprest fund."

Subpart 513.5-Purchase Orders 513.501

General.

The Finance Divisions will not accept facsimile signatures on machineproduced purchase orders. An original or carbon copy (but not photocopied) handwritten signature is required to obligate funds for individual purchase orders except for machine-produced purchase orders generated by the FSS19 system.

513.505 Purchase order and related forms.

513.505-2 Agency order forms in lieu of Optional Forms 347 and 348.

(a) Unless another form is prescribed, the GSA Form 300 or 300-1 (pin-feed format), Order for Supplies and Services, must be used instead of the OF 347, Order for Supplies or Services, when making purchases payable through the National Electronic Accounting and Reporting (NEAR) System. The forms may also be used to make other purchases when a specific form is not prescribed or as a delivery order to place orders under established contracts. The GSA Form 300 must be prepared and processed in accordance with the instructions at 553.370-300-I. GSA Form 300A or 300-A(1) (pin-feed format), order for Supplies or Services (continuation), is available for use with GSA Form 300 or 300-1.

(b) The GSA Form 1458, Motor Vehicle Shop Work Order, Repair and Pur

chase Order, must be used instead of the OF 347 when making purchases in connection with the maintenance, servicing or repair of GSA fleet management vehicles.

(c) The GSA Form 3186, Order for Supplies or Services, GSA Form 3186A, Order for Supplies or Services (Small Purchase), or GSA Form 3186B, Order for Supplies or Services (EDI), must be used instead of the OF 347, Order for Supplies or Services, when making small purchases or placing delivery orders against established contracts through the FSS-19 system. The GSA Form 3186 must be used when generating orders against established contracts that will be mailed to contractors. The GSA Form 3186A must be used when orders, utilizing small purchase procedures, will be mailed to the contractors. The GSA Form 3186B must be generated and placed in the file to document delivery orders and purchase orders transmitted to contractors electronically using Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) procedures. The GSA Form 3186C, Purchase Order Notice, or electronic equivalent, simultaneously will be generated by FSS-19 to provide summary data from the order to the consignee and the freight forwarder (if designated).

(d) GSA Form 8002, Motor Vehicle Delivery Order, is used to order fleet management vehicles. This form is not intended for use as a purchase order for small purchases and does not include provisions and clauses on the reverse.

[54 FR 26512, June 23, 1989, as amended at 57 FR 7555, Mar. 3, 1992]

513.505-3 Standard Form 44, Purchase Order-Invoice-Voucher.

(a) General. Use of the Standard Form 44 will not serve the best interest of either the Government or business when the accounting system of the seller requires production of an invoice as a matter of routine. In these cases, other authorized methods of making small purchases should be used. Whenever possible, preference should be given to the use of imprest funds and blanket purchase agreements.

(b) Issuance of books from stock. SF 44 books will be issued to contracting directors or their designees. Contracting directors are responsible for the cus