From formation through administration, contracting with the federal government is a highly regulated process with many traps for the unsuspecting. Unlike commercial contracting, which is governed generally by the Uniform Commercial Code and the common law, federal government contracting is governed by a maze of statutes and regulations. These statutory and regulatory provisions dictate, for example, what method or process an agency must use to solicit a contract; how the agency is to negotiate or award a contract; and under certain circumstances, what costs the Government will reimburse and how a contractor must account for those costs. In addition, a government contractor must remain aware that it is subject to the policy dictates of the sovereign. The U.S. Government imposes a host of socio-economic obligations through its contracts, including requirements related to affirmative action, drug-free work place, subcontracting, and minimum employee wages. Although Congress has streamlined the contracting process to reduce the burdens on contractors offering commercial products and services, any entity considering entering into a government contract must tread carefully. This overview is intended to provide you a general insight into the federal government’s contracting process.
Simplified acquisition procedures for federal purchases include everything from very small purchase card transactions up to purchases of commercially available supplies and services of up to $5,000,000 per order. During fiscal year 2002, this amounted to nearly 8 million contracting actions, totaling over $15 billion dollars. (FPDC) This paper discusses the policies and procedures generally used by Government buyers to acquire supplies and services under the rules of Part 13 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), using a variety of purchasing methods collectively known as simplified methods. This generally covers all items bought below the micro-purchase threshold of $2,500 and those covered under the simplified acquisition procedures (SAP) threshold of $100,000 (higher in certain national security areas), in addition to purchases of commercial items up to $5,000,000...............
