[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 48, Volume 1]
[Revised as of October 1, 2003]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 48CFR13.303-2]

[Page 207-208]
 
            TITLE 48--FEDERAL ACQUISITION REGULATIONS SYSTEM
 
                CHAPTER 1--FEDERAL ACQUISITION REGULATION
 
PART 13_SIMPLIFIED ACQUISITION PROCEDURES--Table of Contents
 
               Subpart 13.3_Simplified Acquisition Methods
 
Sec.  13.303-2  Establishment of BPAs.

    (a) The following are circumstances under which contracting officers 
may establish BPAs:
    (1) There is a wide variety of items in a broad class of supplies or 
services

[[Page 208]]

that are generally purchased, but the exact items, quantities, and 
delivery requirements are not known in advance and may vary 
considerably.
    (2) There is a need to provide commercial sources of supply for one 
or more offices or projects in a given area that do not have or need 
authority to purchase otherwise.
    (3) The use of this procedure would avoid the writing of numerous 
purchase orders.
    (4) There is no existing requirements contract for the same supply 
or service that the contracting activity is required to use.
    (b) After determining a BPA would be advantageous, contracting 
officers shall--
    (1) Establish the parameters to limit purchases to individual items 
or commodity groups or classes, or permit the supplier to furnish 
unlimited supplies or services; and
    (2) Consider suppliers whose past performance has shown them to be 
dependable, who offer quality supplies or services at consistently lower 
prices, and who have provided numerous purchases at or below the 
simplified acquisition threshold.
    (c) BPAs may be established with--
    (1) More than one supplier for supplies or services of the same type 
to provide maximum practicable competition;
    (2) A single firm from which numerous individual purchases at or 
below the simplified acquisition threshold will likely be made in a 
given period; or
    (3) Federal Supply Schedule contractors, if not inconsistent with 
the terms of the applicable schedule contract.
    (d) BPAs should be prepared without a purchase requisition and only 
after contacting suppliers to make the necessary arrangements for--
    (1) Securing maximum discounts;
    (2) Documenting individual purchase transactions;
    (3) Periodic billings; and
    (4) Incorporating other necessary details.