govcon24-7

There is limited guidance on where to draw the line - and the fact that certain definitions of subcontractor make clear that such "general suppliers" are excluded from the definition only further supports the breadth of the definitions which don't include such carve-outs. Just looking for best practices for commercial item subs that are flowing down requirements to even lower tiers.

Thank you for your input. The impractical aspect is when your supplier is supporting 100's of customers (some of which may be government end users). Under the FAR's broad definition of subcontractor (for most purposes the definition is very broad - there are more specific definitions with respect to certain parts/clauses), such a supplier may be deemed a subcontractor. If the terms of purchase simply say "to the extent a purchase order is in support of a federal acquisition contract, supplier must comply with [certain FAR clauses]" and the purchase order is silent on whether it is supporting a federal contract, there needs to be a way for supplier to know the breadth of its compliance obligations and there is risk for the buyer because it could be liable for the subcontractor's failure to comply.

It is common practice for terms of service to indicate that to the extent the supplier is supporting a federal contract, certain FAR (etc) clauses shall be incorporated into the purchase order; and if it is in support of a grant, certain other requirements are incorporated. What is not typically addressed in the terms of service, however, is how a supplier will know if a PO is in support of a federal contract/grant. It is not practical for many contractors to include this information on the PO - especially when a supplier is supporting numerous customers, some of which may be federal. When it is not practical to id each and every PO that may be considered a subk, what are best practices for putting supplier on notice - or is notice even required?