FAR Part 8 - Required Sources of Supplies and Services (Mandatory Source Priority Order, Federal Prison Industries / UNICOR, AbilityOne Procurement List, Federal Supply Schedules / GSA MAS, BPA Limitations)

What FAR Part 8 - Required Sources of Supplies and Services (Mandatory Source Priority Order, Federal Prison Industries / UNICOR, AbilityOne Procurement List, Federal Supply Schedules / GSA MAS, BPA Limitations) requires

Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 8 establishes a hierarchical priority order of mandatory and preferred sources of supplies and services for federal acquisitions. FAR 8.002(a)(1) sets the mandatory priority for supplies in descending order: (i) agency inventories; (ii) excess from other agencies via the GSAXcess surplus property system; (iii) Federal Prison Industries (FPI / UNICOR) for comparable items; (iv) Procurement List items from AbilityOne nonprofit agencies serving blind and severely disabled workers; (v) wholesale supply sources including GSA Stock Programs, Defense Logistics Agency, VA, and military inventory control points. For services under 8.002(a)(2), only the AbilityOne Procurement List qualifies as a mandatory source; other sources are discretionary. Subpart 8.6 governs Federal Prison Industries acquisitions under 18 USC 4124 - FAR 8.602 requires market research to determine whether the FPI item is comparable to private-sector supplies in price, quality, and time of delivery; if comparable, the agency must purchase from FPI unless a waiver is obtained; if not comparable, the agency must include FPI in the competitive solicitation and consider a timely FPI offer. Subpart 8.7 governs AbilityOne acquisitions under 41 USC chapter 85 (the Javits-Wagner-O'Day Act) - the Committee for Purchase from People Who Are Blind or Severely Disabled maintains the Procurement List and items on the list are mandatory sources for federal agencies. Subpart 8.4 governs Federal Supply Schedules (also known as GSA Schedules or Multiple Award Schedule / MAS): under 8.404(a) BPAs and orders placed against a MAS are considered to be issued using full and open competition; under 8.404(d) GSA has already determined that schedule prices for supplies and fixed-price services are fair and reasonable. FAR 8.405 ordering procedures: at or below micro-purchase threshold, the ordering activity may purchase from any qualified schedule contractor; between micro-purchase and the simplified acquisition threshold, the ordering activity must consider at least three schedule contractors; above the simplified acquisition threshold, a competitive RFQ posted on GSA eBuy is required with consideration of at least three contractors. FAR 8.405-2 requires Statements of Work for schedule services with performance-based requirements to the maximum extent practicable and a stated preference for firm-fixed-price orders. FAR 8.405-3 governs Blanket Purchase Agreements (BPAs) with a multiple-award preference; single-award BPAs exceeding USD 150 million require agency head written determination; multiple-award BPAs are generally limited to 5 years and single-award BPAs to a 1-year base plus four 1-year options; annual review is required under 8.405-3(e)(1). FAR 8.405-6 limits sources only on a written justification of an urgent and compelling need, sole-source capability for unique or highly specialised supplies, or a logical follow-on to a properly-competed original schedule order; justifications above the simplified acquisition threshold must be posted at SAM.gov within 14 days (or 30 days for urgent situations) for a minimum 30-day period, with approval authority graduated by dollar value up to a non-delegable senior procurement executive determination above USD 90 million.

Pillar: Public Sector & Government Procurement · Authority: Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council (DOD, GSA, NASA) issuing the Federal Acquisition Regulation under 41 USC 1303 and 48 CFR Chapter 1; General Services Administration (GSA) administering Federal Supply Schedules and the Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) program; Committee for Purchase from People Who Are Blind or Severely Disabled (US AbilityOne Commission) under 41 USC chapter 85; Federal Prison Industries Inc (UNICOR) under 18 USC chapter 307 (sections 4121-4129) as a self-supporting wholly owned Government corporation · Version: 1.0.0 · Last updated: 2026-06-02

Primary source: https://www.acquisition.gov/far/part-8

SHA-256 integrity: 46661f0f23f33981ce593d1fe5cc4451272d7dd5afcbdbc1bfc20d32c91b49f0

Primary Citations — 7 traced to source

• FAR Part 8 Section 8.002(a) (Mandatory supplies priority): 'Except as required by 8.003, or as otherwise provided by law, agencies shall satisfy requirements for supplies and services from or through the sources and publications listed below in descending order of priority: (1) Supplies. (i) Agency inventories; (ii) Excess from other agencies (see Subpart 8.1); (iii) Federal Prison Industries, Inc. (see Subpart 8.6); (iv) Supplies which are on the Procurement List maintained by the Committee for Purchase From People Who Are Blind or Severely Disabled (see Subpart 8.7); (v) Wholesale supply sources, such as stock programs of the General Services Administration (GSA), the Defense Logistics Agency, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and military inventory control points.'
• FAR Part 8 Section 8.002(a)(2) (Mandatory services priority): 'Services. (i) Services which are on the Procurement List maintained by the Committee for Purchase From People Who Are Blind or Severely Disabled (see Subpart 8.7).' Only AbilityOne Procurement List items are mandatory; other services sources under 8.004 are discretionary and considered in the order: Federal Supply Schedules, governmentwide contracts, multi-agency contracts, then open-market commercial sources.

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