§3501 General

Summary

Defines two key terms and sets rules about when a service can be treated as a commercial service. "Cost or pricing data" means the facts a careful buyer or seller would expect, as of the agreed price date (or another date both sides pick under section 3506(a)(2)), to matter a lot in price talks; it does not include opinions, but does include the facts used to form those opinions. "Subcontract" includes transfers of commercial products or services between a contractor’s divisions, subsidiaries, or affiliates. The Federal Acquisition Regulation must say that services not sold in large amounts in the commercial market can only be treated as commercial if the contracting officer writes that the offeror gave enough information to judge price reasonableness by comparing prices. To decide, the officer may ask for prices paid for the same or similar services by government and commercial buyers, and if that is not enough, may ask for other cost or price details such as labor, material, and overhead.