Some one brought up a "force account clause" at a meeting and in 30 years of Government I have never heard of it. I Googled it and came up with very little but there was one court case who also used the term with quotes around it and seemed to indicate it had something to do with added materials at a construction site.

It's probably a clause providing for agreement about charges for extra work.

I don't know what it is, either -- but in the Forest Forest, district rangers make decisions regarding whether certain work is done by contract or by force account (meaning with Government employees).

Well I have never heard of it either but was intrigued. And here is what I found making Vern spot on again depending how the term was used in the context of your meeting. My overall reference is the internet.....

Reference in Handbook for Highway Engineers Wilson Gardner Harger, Edmund Arnold Bonney

McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1919, page 703

“Extra Work or force account – Clause pertaining to work for which no price is named in the proposal and which is to be paid for at a price to be agreed upon, or on a percentage basis, at prices to be agreed upon for labor, rentals, materials, etc. It should be shown to which items the percentage applies.”

The Most Important Questions a Surety Can Ask about the Surety's Environmental Risk, Donald G. Gavin, Robert M. Wright, American Bar Association, Jan 1, 1997

Page 112 stating in part “...change order or forced work (force account) clause.”

From 22 Wn. App. 265 (1978) 588 P.2d 1214 LESTER N. JOHNSON CO., INC., Respondent, v.
THE CITY OF SPOKANE, Appellant. The Court of Appeals of Washington, Division Three. December 27, 1978.

”The claim then allocated these extra expenses among three causes: poor weather conditions, ground water, and the City's pumping. In estimating the reasonable costs of the extra work, both Johnson and the trial court adopted the formula set out in the "force account clause" of the construction contract.”

Thanks all, I sometimes wonder how some of these phrases ever come about.