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Office of Acquisition & Materiel Management

Policies and Regulations - Information Letter 90-99-4

90-99-4 Use of the Test Program for Certain Commercial Items, Federal Acquisition Regulation Subpart 13.5

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Department of Veterans Affairs
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Acquisition and Materiel Management
Washington DC 20420



IL 90-99-4
July 26, 1999

Office of Acquisition and Materiel Management Information Letter

TO: Veterans Integrated Service Network Directors; Directors, VA Medical Center Activities, Domiciliary, Outpatient Clinics, Medical and Regional Office Centers, and Regional Offices; Directors, Denver Acquisition and Logistics Center, Austin Automation Center, Records Management Center, VBA Benefits Delivery Centers, and VA Health Administration Center; Director, National Cemetery Administration; Chief Facilities Management Officer, Office of Facilities Management; and, the Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer for the National Acquisition Center
ATTN: Head of the Contracting Activity
All VA Contracting Officers
SUBJECT: Use of the Test Program for Certain Commercial Items, Federal Acquisition Regulation Subpart 13.5
  1. Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Subpart 13.5 currently allows agencies to use the simplified procedures of FAR Part 13 to acquire commercial items (goods and services) in amounts exceeding $100,000 but not exceeding $5 million.   FAR 13.500(c) states that the requirements of FAR Part 12 also apply to such acquisitions, and FAR 12.102(b) provides that commercial item acquisitions shall use the policies and procedures of FAR Parts 13, 14, or 15, as appropriate for the particular acquisition.   While this may appear to be confusing to acquisition professionals, it is even more so to firms and individuals who are not dealing with the FAR every day.
  2. The United States Court of Federal Claims recently addressed problems relating to the use of FAR Parts 13 and 15 that arose on a commercial item acquisition exceeding $100,000 (43 Fed. Cl. 243).   Based on the findings in that case, the United States Court of Federal Claims directed that Federal agencies, as a matter of fundamental fairness, inform offerors in a solicitation when they are invoking the simplified acquisition procedures of the test program in FAR Subpart 13.5.   More specifically, the Court directed that agencies state in such solicitations:
    1. That the procurement is being conducted under the Subpart 13.5 test program;
    2. That simplified acquisition procedures apply; and
    3. Whether the agency will conduct the procurement according to Parts 12, 13, 14, or 15 of the FAR or some combination thereof.
    In the event that an agency chooses to utilize a combination of those parts, it must provide in the solicitation a notice of which procedural provisions it will apply to the acquisition.   If a solicitation is issued using the procedures of FAR 12.603 (i.e., issuing a combined Commerce Business Daily (CBD) synopsis/solicitation), the information above must be included in the CBD announcement.
  3. Contracting officers are advised to immediately implement the above Court of Federal Claims requirements in all solicitations where the test program in FAR Subpart 13.5 is used to conduct the acquisition.
  4. Please direct any questions regarding this guidance to Don Kaliher, Acquisition Program Management Team (95A), at (202) 273-8819.



/s/David S. Derr
Associate Deputy Assistant Secretary
for Acquisitions

Distribution:   RPC 7029