(a)(90) Circumstances when the contracting officer may reasonably expect that quotes or offers will include only commercial items include, but are not limited to, the following:
(1) No sources of items other than commercial items are known to exist; or
(2) Sources of items other than commercial items are known to exist but are not expected to offer.
If the contracting officer reasonably expected that quotes or offers would only include commercial items but receives one or more offers of other than commercial items, the contracting officer may proceed with the acquisition under the procedures in Subpart 13.5.
(91) Contracting officers are authorized to issue purchase orders and blanket purchase agreement (BPA) calls (see FAR 13.303-5(b)(2)) in amounts greater than the simplified acquisition threshold but not exceeding $5,000,000 when the contracting officer determines, after the synopsis of the requirement, and after the evaluation of all offers or quotes in response to the synopsis, that the purchase order or BPA call is the appropriate contract vehicle. Each DLA contracting office may establish appropriate guidelines, based on the nature of the commodities it is responsible for acquiring, as to when a request for proposals may be more appropriate than a request for quotations, and may issue other guidance it determines necessary to protect the Government’s interest (e.g., identifying circumstances when use of a bilateral purchase order should be considered). Each DLA contracting office shall retain BPA call limitations it determines appropriate to its automated systems and that are consistent with both the nature of the items it is responsible for acquiring and the historical pricing practices of its suppliers.
(92) Some procedures in Part 13 are expressly limited to the simplified acquisition threshold or some lower threshold, or their use is expressly superseded by a reference to differing procedures in FAR Subpart 13.5. Examples of Part 13 procedures that would not be authorized for use when conducting an acquisition under Subpart 13.5 include:
(i) Micro-purchase procedures (FAR 13.2);
(ii) Simplified justification procedures for sole source buys (FAR 13.106-1(b)(1) and 13.106-3(b)(3)(i));
(iii) Fast payment procedures (FAR Subpart 13.4); and
(iv) Imprest fund procedures (FAR Subpart 13.305).
(c) Unless Part 12 expressly provides otherwise, procedures required in other FAR parts still apply to acquisitions of commercial items, including those conducted under Subpart 13.5. Some examples include the requirements to:
(1) Synopsize proposed contract actions expected to exceed $25,000 in the Commerce Business Daily (CBD) (FAR 5.101(a)(1)); and
(2) Announce contract awards valued over $3,000,000 (FAR 5.303(a)) [$5,000,000 for DoD (see DFARS 205.303(a)(i))].
Agency and/or local requirements for review under specified circumstances also still apply, unless explicitly waived. Additionally, if an exemption applies only to acquisitions that are not expected to exceed the simplified acquisition threshold, such an exemption is not applicable when using Subpart 13.5. One example of an exception that does not apply under Subpart 13.5 is the exception from the synopsis requirement when the contract action is expected to exceed $25,000 but not expected to exceed the simplified acquisition threshold and will be made through FACNET (FAR 5.202(a)(13)). Another example is the new coverage at DLAD 7.102(91), which has been revised to require written acquisition plans for all proposed contract actions other than “those not expected to exceed the simplified acquisition threshold,” instead of “those effected under FAR Part 13.”
(90) Acquisitions under Subpart 13.5 cannot be conducted in the same manner as those that were formerly called “small purchases,” which did not exceed $25,000 and therefore were never subject to synopsis requirements. Synopsis requirements are not waived for acquisitions conducted under Part 13 (including Subpart 13.5), and all questions or offers must be considered (see FAR 5.101(a)(1) and 13.106-2(a)(3), respectively). Therefore, acquisitions conducted under the authority of Subpart 13.5 are comparable to simplified acquisitions between $25,000 and $100,000, which also require synopsis.
