Does buying additional warranty violate the Bona Fide Needs rule?

[NewbieFed]

If I am buying a piece of sensitive/fragile scientific equipment that has a 1 year manufacturer warranty, can I buy an additional 1 year of warranty as a part of the same package now with FY2021 year funds...as opposed to waiting until using FY2022 funds?

Does the fact that there is a discount on the +1 year of warranty if it was bought as a part of the package (no discount if bought later, and we know we absolutely need multiple years of warranties) have any weight?

Or does this all violate the Bona Fide Need rule without exceptions?

[Vern Edwards]

What's the expected service life of the equipment? How long does the user plan to use it?

[NewbieFed]

13 minutes ago, Vern Edwards said:

What's the expected service life of the equipment? How long does the user plan to use it?

Let's say, used for at least 4-6 years before it becomes outdated?

[Vern Edwards]

Then the second-year warranty is a bona fide need of this fiscal year. Buy it if you think it's worth it.

[NewbieFed]

51 minutes ago, Vern Edwards said:

Then the second-year warranty is a bona fide need of this fiscal year. Buy it if you think it's worth it.

Got it, thank you.

[joel hoffman]

13 hours ago, NewbieFed said:

Got it, thank you.

Did you read FAR subpart 46.7 Warranties? The length of a warranty is not necessarily limited to one year. Unless otherwise prohibited by an agency, the organization may determine a reasonable warranty period.

[joel hoffman]

For instance, in addition to the standard one year warranty of construction, including any design furnished, the Army Corps of Engineers has adopted an extended warranty of design for design-build contracts. The period is based upon the Statute of Repose (length of design liability under the warranty) and Statute of Limitations (for informing the contractor) for the state or territory where the D-B project is located.

This includes correcting any associated construction.

The standard of care for design is similar to that for an AE contract, except that, for performance based design criteria, the design and resulting construction must meet the specified performance.

These periods coincide with liability laws applicable to designers in each state or Territory, which apply to both their non-government and government design products.

Of course, liability for latent design defects  or construction are not limited by these time periods.

The government generally remains responsible/liable for adequacy of the government furnished design criteria, with certain exceptions, such as patently obvious errors or omissions- which the design-builder should detect and bring to the government’s attention during design development or if only discoverable during construction, as applicable. 

The need for the extended design warranty is based upon the premise that the D-B contractor is the designer of record (DOR) not the government. The government may not have the intimate, full knowledge of the all details involved in the fully integrated design. The design-builder represents itself as a highly qualified and integrated design and construction team.

And, importantly, the facilities and their various systems and components might not experience conditions that comprise the basis of design, (e.g., wind loads, snow loads, live loads, design max/min temperatures for HVAC systems, fire alarm and protection systems, etc.) during the first year of ownership and occupancy.

The government is the DOR for design-bid-build projects, thus an extended design warranty isn’t applicable or justifiable and the government assumes responsibility for design errors, omissions and design performance guaranties.