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Title 41, Public ContractsRelease 119-110

§3505 Submission of Other Information

Title 41 › Subtitle I — Federal Procurement Policy › CHAPTER 35 — TRUTHFUL COST OR PRICING DATA › § 3505

Last updated Sep 22, 2026|Official source

Summary

When certified cost or pricing data are not required, a contracting officer must get other pricing information needed to decide if a contract price is reasonable. Except for contracts covered by the exception in section 3503(a)(1), the officer must at least get past sales prices for the same or similar items so the price can be evaluated. The Federal Acquisition Regulation must limit those requests. It must set reasonable limits on sales-data demands, require officers to ask only for records the seller normally keeps, and keep commercial data exempt from public disclosure under section 552(b) of title 5 private.

Full Legal Text

Title 41, §3505

Public Contracts, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Authority To Require Submission.—
When certified cost or pricing data are not required to be submitted under this chapter for a contract, subcontract, or modification of a contract or subcontract, the contracting officer shall require submission of data other than certified cost or pricing data to the extent necessary to determine the reasonableness of the price of the contract, subcontract, or modification of the contract or subcontract. Except in the case of a contract or subcontract covered by the exceptions in section 3503(a)(1) of this title, the contracting officer shall require that the data submitted include, at a minimum, appropriate information on the prices at which the same item or similar items have previously been sold that is adequate for evaluating the reasonableness of the price for the procurement.
(b)Limitations on Authority.—
The Federal Acquisition Regulation shall include the following provisions regarding the types of information that contracting officers may require under subsection (a):
(1)Reasonable limitations.—
Reasonable limitations on requests for sales data relating to commercial products or commercial services.
(2)Limitation on scope of request.—
A requirement that a contracting officer limit, to the maximum extent practicable, the scope of any request for information relating to commercial products or commercial services from an offeror to only that information that is in the form regularly maintained by the offeror in commercial operations.
(3)Information not to be disclosed.—
A statement that any information received relating to commercial products or commercial services that is exempt from disclosure under section 552(b) of title 5 shall not be disclosed by the Federal Government.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Historical and Revision Notes

Revised SectionSource (U.S. Code)Source (Statutes at Large) 350541:254b(d).June 30, 1949, ch. 288, title III, § 304A(d), as added Pub. L. 103–355, title I, § 1251(a)(2), Oct. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 3281; Pub. L. 104–106, title XLII, §§ 4201(b)(1), 4321(e)(4), Feb. 10, 1996, 110 Stat. 652, 675; Pub. L. 105–261, div. A, title VIII, § 808(b), Oct. 17, 1998, 112 Stat. 2085.

Editorial Notes

Amendments

2018—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 115–232 substituted “commercial products or commercial services” for “commercial items” wherever appearing.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

of 2018 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 115–232 effective Jan. 1, 2020, subject to a

Savings Provision

, see section 836(h) of Pub. L. 115–232, set out as an

Effective Date

of 2018 Amendment;

Savings Provision

note under section 453b of Title 6, Domestic Security.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

41 U.S.C. § 3505

Title 41, Public Contracts

Last Updated

Sep 22, 2026

Release point: 119-110