§ 4.141 General criteria for measuring amount.

(a) In general, the contract amount is measured by the consideration agreed to be paid, whether in money or other valuable consideration, in return for the obligations assumed under the contract. Thus, even though a contractor, such as a wrecker entering into a contract with the Government to raze a building on a site which will remain vacant, may not be entitled to receive any money from the Government for such work under his contract or may even agree to pay the Government in return for the right to dispose of the salvaged materials, the contract will be deemed one in excess of $2,500 if the value of the property obtained by the contractor, less anything he might pay the Government, is in excess of such amount. In addition, concession contracts are considered to be contracts in excess of $2,500 if the contractor's gross receipts under the contract may exceed $2,500.

(b) All bids from the same person on the same invitation for bids will constitute a single offer, and the total award to such person will determine the amount involved for purposes of the Act. Where the procurement is made without formal advertising, in arriving at the aggregate amount involved, there must be included all property and services which would properly be grouped together in a single transaction and which would be included in a single advertisement for bids if the procurement were being effected by formal advertising. Therefore, if an agency procures continuing services through the issuance of monthly purchase orders, the amount of the contract for purposes of application of the Act is not measured by the amount of an individual purchase order. In such cases, if the continuing services were procured through formal advertising, the contract term would typically be for one year, and the monthly purchase orders must be grouped together to determine whether the yearly amount may exceed $2,500. However, a purchase order for services which are not continuing but are performed on a one-time or sporadic basis and which are not performed under a requirements contract or under the terms of a basic ordering agreement or similar agreement need not be equated to a yearly amount. (See § 4.142(b).) In addition, where an invitation is for services in an amount in excess of $2,500 and bidders are permitted to bid on a portion of the services not amounting to more than $2,500, the amounts of the contracts awarded separately to individual and unrelated bidders will be measured by the portions of the services covered by their respective contracts.

(c) Where a contract is issued in an amount in excess of $2,500 this amount will govern for purposes of application of the Act even though penalty deductions, deductions for prompt payment, and similar deductions may reduce the amount actually expended by the Government to $2,500 or less.