11.603(f)

(1) Department of Commerce (DoC) Delegation 1 to 15 CFR 700 specifies that this rating authority may not be used to support procurement of end items that are commonly available in commercial markets for general consumption, do not require major modification when purchased for approved program use, and are readily available in sufficient quantity so as to cause no delay in meeting approved program requirements. This restriction applies only to end items and is not applicable to repair parts, spares and components which by their nature do not stand alone in their intended use but are incorporated into end items. On this basis, the DLA ICPs cannot rate peacetime buys of commercial end items, unless they are not available in a timely manner which might cause an adverse impact in meeting approved program requirements. The ICPs must ensure that the DPAS officer reviews contracts for end items to verify proper ratings are applied. End items with surge and sustainment requirements for may qualify for rating eligibility even though peacetime requirements don't because of timely delivery requirements for emergencies or contingencies. When contracts have a combination of commercial and non-commercial end items on the contract, they need to specify which items are rated. A commercial item is defined in FAR 2.101.

(2) Under the DPAS regulation a person is not required to place a priority rating on an order for less than $50,000 or one half the FAR Simplified Acquisition Threshold, whichever is larger, provided that delivery can be obtained in a timely fashion without the use of the priority rating (15 CFR 700.17(f)). This does not preclude a person from rating an order under $50,000 if he chooses to do so to insure timely delivery. This threshold would also apply to the mandatory priority rating extension requirements for contractors in FAR 11.603(d)(2).

(3) Orders for eligible items placed against the various long term contracting vehicles and new business practice prime vendors/virtual prime vendors should be rated and contain a required delivery date. As a result, these orders will be considered a rated order as of the date received by the supplier, in accordance with 15 CFR 700.12(b). The basic contracting vehicle may have a rating on it, but because it does not have a specified delivery date, it is not technically considered a rated contract. It should contain a statement that orders placed against this contract will be considered rated orders. See the clause in 11.604.