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Title 10 — Armed ForcesRelease 119-73

§3205 Simplified procedures for small purchases

Title 10 › Subtitle Subtitle A— - General Military Law › Part PART V— - ACQUISITION › Subpart Subpart B— - Acquisition Planning › Chapter CHAPTER 221— - PLANNING AND SOLICITATION GENERALLY › § 3205

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

The Federal Acquisition Regulation must create simpler buying rules for some government purchases to save time and money. The rules must cover purchases that cost no more than the simplified acquisition threshold. They must also cover purchases that cost more than that threshold but not more than $5,000,000 when the contracting officer reasonably expects, from the type of item or service and market research, that offers will be for commercial products or services. Purchases above the simplified acquisition threshold cannot be split into smaller buys just to use the simpler rules. Agency heads must seek as much competition as is practical and follow the FAR rules cited in section 1901(e) of title 41.

Full Legal Text

Title 10, §3205

Armed Forces — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)In order to promote efficiency and economy in contracting and to avoid unnecessary burdens for agencies and contractors, the Federal Acquisition Regulation shall provide for—
(1)special simplified procedures for purchases of property and services for amounts not greater than the simplified acquisition threshold; and
(2)special simplified procedures for purchases of property and services for amounts greater than the simplified acquisition threshold but not greater than $5,000,000 with respect to which the contracting officer reasonably expects, based on the nature of the property or services sought and on market research, that offers will include only commercial products or commercial services.
(b)A proposed purchase or contract for an amount above the simplified acquisition threshold may not be divided into several purchases or contracts for lesser amounts in order to use the simplified procedures required by subsection (a).
(c)In using simplified procedures, the head of an agency shall promote competition to the maximum extent practicable.
(d)The head of an agency shall comply with the Federal Acquisition Regulation provisions referred to in section 1901(e) of title 41.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Codification The text of subsec. (g) of section 2304 of this title, which was transferred to this section and amended by Pub. L. 116–283, § 1811(d)(9), was based on Pub. L. 98–369, div. B, title VII, § 2723(a)(1)(C), July 18, 1984, 98 Stat. 1187; Pub. L. 100–26, § 7(d)(3)(A), Apr. 21, 1987, 101 Stat. 281; Pub. L. 101–510, div. A, title VIII, § 806(b), Nov. 5, 1990, 104 Stat. 1592; Pub. L. 102–25, title VII, § 701(d)(2)(A), Apr. 6, 1991, 105 Stat. 114; Pub. L. 103–355, title I, § 1001(2), title IV, § 4401(a), Oct. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 3249, 3347; Pub. L. 104–106, div. D, title XLII, § 4202(a)(1), Feb. 10, 1996, 110 Stat. 652; Pub. L. 105–85, div. A, title VIII, § 850(f)(3)(B), Nov. 18, 1997, 111 Stat. 1850; Pub. L. 111–350, § 5(b)(12)(D), Jan. 4, 2011, 124 Stat. 3843; Pub. L. 115–232, div. A, title VIII, § 836(c)(2), Aug. 13, 2018, 132 Stat. 1864.

Prior Provisions

A prior section 3205, act Aug. 10, 1956, ch. 1041, 70A Stat. 173; Pub. L. 85–600, § 1(3), Aug. 6, 1958, 72 Stat. 522; Pub. L. 85–861, § 1(60), (65), Sept. 2, 1958, 72 Stat. 1462, 1463; Pub. L. 95–551, § 2, Oct. 30, 1978, 92 Stat. 2069, prescribed authorized strength of Regular Army in commissioned officers on active list, exclusive of certain categories, prior to repeal by Pub. L. 96–513, title II, § 202, title VII, § 701, Dec. 12, 1980, 94 Stat. 2878, 2955, effective Sept. 15, 1981.

Amendments

2021—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 116–283, § 1811(d)(9)(A), (C), inserted heading, struck out par. (1) designation before “In order to”, and redesignated subpars. (A) and (B) as pars. (1) and (2), respectively. Former pars. (2) to (4) redesignated subsecs. (b) to (d), respectively. Pub. L. 116–283, § 1811(d)(9), redesignated subsec. (g) of section 2304 of this title as subsec. (a) of this section. Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 116–283, § 1811(d)(9)(B), (D), redesignated subsec. (a)(2) as (b), inserted heading, and substituted “subsection (a)” for “paragraph (1)”. Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 116–283, § 1811(d)(9)(B), (E), redesignated subsec. (a)(3) as (c) and inserted heading. Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 116–283, § 1811(d)(9)(B), (F), redesignated subsec. (a)(4) as (d) and inserted heading.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

Section and amendment by Pub. L. 116–283 effective Jan. 1, 2022, with additional provisions for delayed implementation and applicability of existing law, see section 1801(d) of Pub. L. 116–283, set out as an

Effective Date

of 2021 Amendment note preceding section 3001 of this title.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

10 U.S.C. § 3205

Title 10 — Armed Forces

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73