FAR 51 Deviation - Responsibilities

Federal Government

The Federal Government Must:

• Use the FAR Part 51 deviation appropriately and in accordance with applicable FAR Parts, including FAR Part 51 and the guidance contained in this ordering guide.
• Include Clause 52.251-1, Government Supply Sources, in RFQs/solicitations. The RFQ/solicitation should also specifically state that items offered that may be procured using the FAR Part 51 deviation authority must be proposed on a T&M/LH basis. However, the Federal Government should not mandate that the quote/proposal include such items.
• Issue a written authorization to the buying contractor in accordance with FAR 51.102. An authorization template that contains additional information specific to the FAR Part 51 deviation is provided in Section 6.0.
• Ensure that the buying contractor is in compliance with the written authorization. If utilizing the GSA Schedules program, ensure that the buying contractor has followed the ordering procedures in FAR 8.405-1 to promote competition. Compliance with FAR 8.405-1 can be verified by requesting evidence from the buying contractor that competition has been conducted, e.g., RFQ, quotes received, etc.
• Include the supplies and services ordered by the buying contractor in the dollar amount reported to Federal Procurement Data System (FPDS-NG) in accordance with FAR 4.606. Orders from the GSA Global Supply™ program do not need to be reported in FPDS-NG because they are automatically reported by GSA systems.
• If the buying contractor is using the Global Supply Program, ensure that the sponsoring agency’s authorized Point of Contact (POC) requests assignment of an Activity Address Code (AAC) or Department of Defense Activity Address Code (DoDAAC) from GSA or DoD.

Buying Contractor

Contractors Placing Orders Must:

• Identify and separate those ancillary items that are proposed to be purchased under the FAR Part 51 deviation authority on the quote/proposal submitted to the Federal Government and on the subsequent invoice.
• When purchasing from a Schedule contract, purchase items at the Schedule contract price (or lower) with no fee/surcharge/markup. If items are provided by the selling contractor at lower than the contract price, the buying contractor must pass on the savings by invoicing the Federal Government accordingly.
• Ensure that the items procured under FAR 51 deviation authority are ancillary to the overall order/contract.
• Provide a copy of the written authorization from the Federal Government with each applicable order to the selling contractor. When purchasing from GSA Global Supply™, the written authorization only needs to be submitted with the request for assignment of the AAC or DoDACC and not with each order.
• If the buying contractor is a Schedule contractor, ensure that the buying contractor’s Schedule contract number is on each order issued to the selling contractor.
• Remit full payment to the selling contractor.
• Submit documentation of the transmittal of full payment to the selling contractor when invoicing the Federal Government.
• Follow any applicable Schedule (FAR 8.405-1) or GSA Global Supply™ program ordering procedures. For more information on placing orders with GSA Global Supply™, please visit www.gsaglobalsupply.gsa.gov.

Selling Contractor

Contractors Accepting Orders Must:

• Have the ability to accept or reject orders from the buying contractor.
• Ensure that a copy of the written authorization from the Federal Government is included in the order issued by the buying contractor.
• If the buying contractor is a Schedule contractor, ensure that the buying contractor’s contract number is shown on each order.
• For Schedule orders, sell to the buying contractor at the MAS contract price or lower pursuant to FAR 8.4.
• For Schedule orders, understand that a purchase made under the authority of FAR Part 51 deviation does not trigger a price reduction under GSAR clause 552.238-75, Price Reductions.
• Include on each invoice the language, “in care of ‘[name of government agency]’ under written authorization from ______ dated ______”
• Assume the financial risk and other risks of selling directly to another contractor. Any dispute involving the distribution of payment between the buying and selling contractor will be resolved without any involvement by the Federal Government. Since each contractor has a Schedule or GSA Global Supply™ contract, each contractor is held accountable under the terms and conditions of its contract for any problems, such as warranty or performance issues.
• For Schedule orders, track and report sales as Schedules contract sales, and remit the Industrial Funding Fee (IFF) accordingly.

GSA Global Supply™

GSA Global Supply™ will:

• Accept all orders from buying contractors, provided the contractor has been assigned an AAC or DoDACC. The buying contractor will provide evidence of proper authorization to GSA or DoD at time of request for AAC/DoDAAC.
• Charge the standard price.
• Follow normal requisition processes using assigned AAC or DoDAAC.

Refer to www.gsa.gov/far51deviation for additional information.