Packaging and Marking
Also known as: Packaging, packing, and marking requirements
Your role here: Where you read how deliverables must be packed and labeled
At a Glance
- Part
- Part I — The Schedule
- What it contains
- Packaging, preservation, packing, and marking requirements
- Matters most on
- Supply, product, and construction-material contracts
- You…
- Read and price it — special packaging adds real cost
- Governing authority
- FAR 15.204-2(d)
What It Is
Section D specifies how the things the government is buying must be packaged, preserved, packed, and marked before they are shipped or delivered. Under FAR 15.204-2(d) it captures any requirements for protective packaging, military or commercial packing standards, preservation against moisture or shock, and the marking and labeling that let the receiving activity identify and route the goods. On a supply, manufacturing, or construction-material contract these requirements can be substantial — think MIL-STD packaging, bar-coding, hazardous-material labeling, or unique item identification (IUID) — and they carry real cost that has to be reflected in your Section B pricing. On a pure services contract, Section D is often short, marked 'not applicable,' or reserved. It is easy to skim past, but when it applies, ignoring it leads to rejected deliveries and disputes over who pays to re-package.
What’s In It
- Packaging and preservation requirements (e.g., protection against moisture, shock, or corrosion).
- Packing standards — commercial best practice or military packing specifications.
- Marking and labeling requirements, including bar codes and hazardous-material labels.
- Any unique item identification (IUID) or serialization requirements.
- On services buys, often 'not applicable' or reserved.
What Goes Here
| Component | What It Means |
|---|---|
| Packaging vs packing vs marking | Packaging protects the item, packing prepares it for shipment, and marking labels it for handling and routing. Section D may impose specific standards for each — and each can add cost. |
| Military vs commercial standards | A DoD buy may require military packaging specifications that are far more demanding (and expensive) than commercial packing. Price to the standard actually required, not the one you usually use. |
| Marking and IUID | Requirements like Unique Item Identification (IUID) marking or bar-coding must be built into your production process and your price; missing them can cause the government to reject delivery. |
What It Means for an SDVOSB
For an SDVOSB on a supply or product contract, Section D is a quiet source of cost and risk that small firms routinely under-price. If the section calls for military-grade packaging, special preservation, or IUID marking, those are real dollars that belong in your Section B unit prices — bidding them at your ordinary commercial packing rate can turn a winning price into a losing contract. If you plan to have a supplier or subcontractor handle packaging and marking, flow the exact Section D requirements down to them in writing, because the government will reject a nonconforming delivery regardless of who packed it. On a services contract, confirm Section D is 'not applicable' rather than assuming it — an overlooked deliverable-media or labeling requirement occasionally hides here.
Watch Out For
- Pricing packaging at your normal commercial rate when the section requires military packaging specifications.
- Overlooking marking requirements like IUID or bar-coding that must be designed into production.
- Failing to flow Section D down to the supplier or subcontractor who actually packs the goods.
- Assuming Section D is 'not applicable' on a services buy without reading it.
Run the Numbers
Frequently Asked
What is Section D of a solicitation?
Section D, under FAR 15.204-2(d), states how the supplies being bought must be packaged, preserved, packed, and marked for delivery. It can include protective packaging, military or commercial packing standards, moisture and shock preservation, labeling, bar-coding, and unique item identification (IUID) marking. Section D matters most on supply, manufacturing, and construction-material contracts, where these requirements add real cost that must be built into your Section B pricing. On pure services contracts it is often short, reserved, or marked 'not applicable.'
Primary Sources
Plain-English reference, not legal advice. The Uniform Contract Format is tailored by agencies, and the FAR sections that define it are amended from time to time — always read the actual solicitation and confirm each section against the official source before relying on it, and consult qualified counsel for your specific situation.
Change log (1)
- LaunchedPublished the federal solicitation sections reference covering the thirteen sections of the Uniform Contract Format under FAR 15.204 — Section A (the SF 33 / SF 1449 cover form), B (prices and CLINs), C (the statement of work / PWS / SOO), D (packaging and marking), E (inspection and acceptance), F (deliveries and period of performance), G (contract administration data and invoicing), H (special contract requirements), I (the FAR clauses, including the SDVOSB set-aside and limitations on subcontracting), J (the list of attachments and wage determinations), K (representations and certifications, where SDVOSB status is certified), L (instructions to offerors), and M (evaluation factors for award) — each with an at-a-glance quick-facts card, a what's-in-it list, a what-goes-here table, an SDVOSB-specific angle, watch-outs, FAQPage, Article, Dataset, and BreadcrumbList structured data, primary-source FAR citations, and cross-links into the glossary, how-to guides, forms, clauses, solicitation types, source-selection methods, FAQ, and the set-aside eligibility, win-probability, price-to-win, and limitations-on-subcontracting calculators.