Commercial Products & Services Simplified-Procedures Ceiling
$7.5 million
Also known as: Commercial item test program, SAP for commercial items
At a Glance
- Current amount
- $7.5 million (up to $15 million for certain contingency/emergency/defense buys)
- Where it is set
- FAR 13.500, used with FAR Part 12 commercial-item procedures
- What changes at the line
- Below it, agencies may buy commercial products/services with simplified procedures instead of full Part 15 negotiation
- Inflation-adjusted?
- Yes — re-indexed periodically under FAR 1.109
- Applies to
- Acquisitions of commercial products and commercial services under FAR Part 12
What It Is
FAR 13.500 raises the ceiling for simplified acquisition procedures far above the ordinary simplified acquisition threshold when the government is buying commercial products or commercial services. Under this authority, a contracting officer may use the streamlined procedures of FAR Part 13 — combined with the commercial-item rules of FAR Part 12 — for commercial buys valued up to $7.5 million, and up to $15 million for acquisitions that support a contingency operation, facilitate defense against or recovery from certain attacks, or meet other special statutory categories. The rationale is that commercial products and services already trade in the marketplace at established prices, so the government can rely on commercial terms and market pricing rather than the full apparatus of negotiated procurement. This authority does not change the set-aside rules — an acquisition made under FAR 13.500 is still subject to the rule of two and can be set aside for small business or SDVOSBs — but it lets much larger commercial buys move on the faster simplified track.
What Changes at This Dollar Level
- Commercial products and services can be bought with FAR Part 13 simplified procedures up to $7.5 million, well above the ordinary $250,000 SAT.
- The ceiling rises to $15 million for acquisitions supporting contingency operations or defense/recovery against certain attacks.
- The buy uses FAR Part 12 commercial terms and market-based pricing rather than certified cost or pricing data.
- Set-aside obligations still apply — the higher ceiling speeds the process, it does not remove the small-business or SDVOSB reserve analysis.
Key Features
| Feature | What It Means |
|---|---|
| A much higher ceiling for commercial buys | Commercial products and services can ride the simplified-procedures track up to $7.5 million — roughly thirty times the ordinary simplified acquisition threshold. |
| $15 million for special categories | For contingency, emergency, and certain defense/recovery acquisitions, the ceiling doubles to $15 million. |
| Commercial terms and market pricing | Because the items already trade commercially, the government relies on commercial terms and market prices rather than certified cost or pricing data. |
| Set-asides still apply | The higher ceiling speeds the mechanics but does not waive the rule of two — commercial simplified buys can still be set aside for SDVOSBs. |
What It Means for an SDVOSB
This authority is a quiet advantage for a service-disabled veteran-owned small business that sells a commercial product or service, because it lets an agency reserve a multi-million-dollar commercial requirement for SDVOSBs and still move it on the fast simplified track. The set-aside analysis does not disappear at $7.5 million — the rule of two applies just as it does at $200,000 — so an SDVOSB with a commercial offering (especially one on a GSA Schedule) can compete for sizeable commercial buys that award far faster than a full FAR Part 15 negotiation. The keys are commerciality and price reasonableness: because these buys rely on market pricing rather than certified cost data, a clean commercial price history and a Schedule rate make an SDVOSB an easy, low-risk award for a contracting officer.
Watch Out For
- Assuming the higher ceiling waives set-asides — the rule of two and the SDVOSB reserve analysis still apply to commercial simplified buys.
- Confusing the $7.5 million commercial ceiling with the ordinary $250,000 SAT — they are different authorities for different kinds of buys.
- Overlooking the $15 million special-category ceiling for contingency and defense/recovery acquisitions.
- Treating a non-commercial item as commercial to reach the higher ceiling — the item must genuinely meet the FAR Part 2 definition of a commercial product or service.
Run the Numbers
Frequently Asked
What is the simplified-procedures ceiling for commercial items?
Under FAR 13.500, agencies may use simplified acquisition procedures to buy commercial products and commercial services valued up to $7.5 million, and up to $15 million for acquisitions supporting a contingency operation or defense against or recovery from certain attacks. This is far above the ordinary $250,000 simplified acquisition threshold, and it lets much larger commercial buys move on the faster FAR Part 13 track combined with FAR Part 12 commercial-item procedures.
Can a commercial simplified acquisition be set aside for SDVOSBs?
Yes. The elevated FAR 13.500 ceiling speeds the mechanics of the buy but does not change the set-aside rules. The rule of two still applies, so a commercial acquisition under this authority can be — and often must be — set aside for small business or SDVOSBs when there is a reasonable expectation of two or more capable, competitively priced offerors.
How is this different from the regular simplified acquisition threshold?
The ordinary simplified acquisition threshold of $250,000 applies to most acquisitions. FAR 13.500 is a separate, much higher authority that applies only to commercial products and services, raising the simplified-procedures ceiling to $7.5 million (or $15 million for special categories). It exists because commercial items already trade at market prices, so the government can rely on commercial terms rather than the full negotiated-procurement apparatus.
Primary Sources
- FAR 13.500 — Simplified procedures for certain commercial products and services
- FAR Subpart 12.6 — Streamlined procedures for commercial acquisitions
- FAR 2.101 — Definitions (commercial product/service)
Plain-English reference, not legal advice. Acquisition-related dollar thresholds are periodically re-indexed for inflation and the underlying FAR sections and statutes are amended from time to time — always confirm the current figure and its exceptions against the FAR and the actual solicitation before relying on it, and consult qualified counsel for your specific situation.
Change log (1)
- LaunchedPublished the federal procurement dollar thresholds reference covering the dollar lines that shape an SDVOSB set-aside — the micro-purchase threshold (FAR 2.101), the simplified acquisition threshold and the automatic small-business reserve (FAR 2.101 / 19.203), the commercial simplified-procedures ceiling (FAR 13.500), the SDVOSB sole-source ceiling (FAR 19.1406), the subcontracting-plan threshold (FAR 52.219-9), the certified cost or pricing data / TINA threshold (FAR 15.403-4), the Cost Accounting Standards threshold (48 CFR 9903.201-1), the Service Contract Labor Standards (41 U.S.C. § 6702) and Davis-Bacon (40 U.S.C. § 3142) labor thresholds, and the FFATA subaward reporting threshold (FAR 52.204-10) — each with an at-a-glance quick-facts card showing the current dollar amount, a what-changes-at-the-line list, a key-features table, an SDVOSB-specific angle, watch-outs, FAQPage, Article, Dataset, and BreadcrumbList structured data, primary-source citations, and cross-links into the glossary, regulation explainers, clauses, how-to guides, FAQ, and the size-standard, set-aside eligibility, subcontracting, and price-to-win calculators.