Simplified Acquisition Procedures
Simplified Acquisition Procedures (SAP) are a set of streamlined procedures for government procurement in the United States that reduce the administrative burden of awarding procurements below a threshold value, which, as of 2023, is $250,000.[1] The procedures are described in 48 CFR 13.
Procedure
SAP allows informal quoting and competition procedures for simple, small-dollar-value purchases. For example, quotes may be submitted in oral rather than written form, and quoted prices may be directly compared by
As of 2019, the threshold for SAP is $250,000; acquisitions under this amount must use SAP, with certain exceptions.[2] The procedures may also be used for certain commercially available items acquisitions that do not exceed a higher threshold of $7 million, although these purchases require extra scrutiny including performing market research.[2][3] For the Department of Defense the threshold is higher for acquisitions "to support a contingency operation or defense against or recovery from nuclear, biological, chemical, or radiological attack". Below the micro-purchase threshold, generally $10,000, purchases may be awarded in the absence of competitive quotes "if the contracting officer or designated official considers the price to be reasonable", and use of a Government Purchase Card is preferred.[6]
History
SAP was authorized by the Federal Acquisition Streamlining Act of 1994 (FASA), and expanded by the Federal Acquisition Reform Act of 1996.[2][5] The procedures were developed in the context of the National Partnership for Reinventing Government, an initiative of the Clinton administration to increase government efficiency that began in 1993.[5][7] This was part of a push to reduce costs and development time by favoring commercially available products instead of ones custom-designed to unique specifications. Vice President Al Gore had advocated for acquisition reform by appearing on the Late Show with David Letterman and smashed a government acquired ashtray to demonstrate a regulation that glass ashtrays must not break into more than 35 shards of glass when broken over a maple plank.[7]
SAP funding has grown even while total federal contracting expenditures have fallen, hitting a 10-year peak in 2016.[8] As part of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017, the Department of Defense's ability to use SAP was expanded.[9][10]
References
- ^ "Notice PIH 2023-01: Recent Changes to the Federal Micro-Purchase and Simplified Acquisition Thresholds". U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. January 19, 2023.
- ^ a b c d "Acquisition Guide Chapter 13.3" (PDF). U.S. Department of Energy. March 2014. Retrieved 2018-03-21.
- ^ a b "What Is "Simplified Acquisition"?". Georgia Institute of Technology. Retrieved 2018-03-22.
- ^ Pafe, Lisa (2018-01-10). "Behind the curtain: A look at the government's hidden market". Washington Technology. Retrieved 2018-03-22.
- ^ a b c Yoder, E. Cory (2006-12-30). "Getting the Most from Acquisition Reforms: FAR 13.5 for Simplified Acquisition Procedures, Commercial-item Acquisition". Defense Technical Information Center. U.S. Naval Postgraduate School. pp. 7–14. Archived from the original on November 20, 2017.
- ^ "Simplified Acquisition Procedures (SAP)". Defense Acquisition University. Retrieved 2018-03-22.
- ^ a b Serbu, Jared (2012-05-21). "Buying commercial in DoD: 15 years after acquisition reform". Federal News Radio. Retrieved 2018-04-12.
- ^ Thornton, David (2017-04-28). "8 trends to keep ahead of in federal contracting". Federal News Radio. Retrieved 2018-04-12.
- ^ Serbu, Jared (2017-06-07). "Air Force plans June summit to scrub acquisition regulations". Federal News Radio. Retrieved 2018-04-12.
- ^ Biagini, Ray; Fenster, Herb; Hoe, Sandy; Willauer, Michelle (2018-03-06). "Pilot Program Will Streamline Contracting". National Defense Magazine. Retrieved 2018-04-12.