[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 29, Volume 1]
[Revised as of July 1, 2005]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 29CFR4.111]

[Page 59-60]
 
                             TITLE 29--LABOR
 
PART 4_LABOR STANDARDS FOR FEDERAL SERVICE CONTRACTS--Table of Contents
 
    Subpart C_Application of the McNamara-O'Hara Service Contract Act
 
Sec. 4.111  Contracts ``to furnish services.''

    (a) ``Principal purpose'' as criterion. Under its terms, the Act 
applies to a ``contract * * * the principal purpose of which is to 
furnish services * * *.'' If the principal purpose is to provide 
something other than services of the character contemplated by the Act 
and any such services which may be performed are only incidental to the 
performance of a contract for another purpose, the Act does not apply. 
However, as will be seen by examining the illustrative examples of 
covered contracts in Sec. Sec. 4.130 et seq., no hard and fast rule can 
be laid down as to the precise meaning of the term principal purpose. 
This remedial Act is intended to be applied to a wide variety of 
contracts, and the Act does not define or limit the types of services 
which may be contracted for under a contract the principal purpose of 
which is to furnish services. Further, the nomenclature, type, or 
particular form of contract used by procurement agencies is not 
determinative of coverage. Whether the principal purpose of a particular 
contract is the furnishing of services through the use of service 
employees is largely a question to be determined on the basis of all the 
facts in each particular case. Even where tangible items of substantial 
value are important elements of the subject matter of the contract, the 
facts may show that they are of secondary import to the furnishing of 
services in the particular case. This principle is illustrated by the 
examples set forth in Sec. 4.131.
    (b) Determining whether a contract is for ``services'', generally. 
Except indirectly through the definition of service employee the Act 
does not define, or limit, the types of services which may be contracted 
for under a contract ``the principal purpose of which is to furnish

[[Page 60]]

services''. As stated in the congressional committee reports on the 
legislation, the types of service contracts covered by its provisions 
are varied. Among the examples cited are contracts for laundry and dry 
cleaning, for transportation of the mail, for custodial, janitorial, or 
guard service, for packing and crating, for food service, and for 
miscellaneous housekeeping services. Covered contracts for services 
would also include those for other types of services which may be 
performed through the use of the various classes of service employees 
included in the definition in section 8(b) of the Act (see Sec. 4.113). 
Examples of some such contracts are set forth in Sec. Sec. 4.130 et 
seq. In determining questions of contract coverage, due regard must be 
given to the apparent legislative intent to include generally as 
contracts for services those contracts which have as their principal 
purpose the procurement of something other than the construction 
activity described in the Davis-Bacon Act or the materials, 
supplies,articles, and equipment described in the Walsh-Healey Act. The 
Committee reports in both the House and Senate, and statements made on 
the floor of the House, took note of the labor standards protections 
afforded by these two Acts to employees engaged in the performance of 
construction and supply contracts and observed: ``The service contract 
is now the only remaining category of Federal contracts to which no 
labor standards protections apply'' (H. Rept. 948, 89th Cong., 1st 
Sess., p. 1; see also S. Rept. 798, 89th Cong., 1st Sess., p. 1; daily 
Congressional Record, Sept. 20, 1965, p. 23497). A similar understanding 
of contracts principally for services as embracing contracts other than 
those for construction or supplies is reflected in the statement of 
President Johnson upon signing the Act (1 Weekly Compilation of 
Presidential Documents, p. 428).