---
kind: "section"
citation: "41 U.S.C. § 3305"
title: "41"
title_heading: "Public Contracts"
number: "3305"
heading: "Simplified procedures for small purchases"
release: "119-102"
url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/41/3305"
units:
  - "Subtitle I — Federal Procurement Policy"
  - "Division C — Procurement"
  - "Chapter 33 — Planning and Solicitation"
---

# §3305. Simplified procedures for small purchases

- (a) **Authorization.—** To promote efficiency and economy in contracting and to avoid unnecessary burdens for agencies and contractors, the [Federal Acquisition Regulation](/usc/41/106.md) shall provide for special simplified procedures for purchases of property and services for amounts—
  - (1) not greater than the [simplified acquisition threshold](/usc/41/153.md?p=1); and
  - (2) greater than the [simplified acquisition threshold](/usc/41/153.md?p=1) but not greater than $5,000,000 for which the contracting officer reasonably expects, based on the nature of the property or services sought and on market research, that offers will include only [commercial products](/usc/41/103.md) or [commercial services](/usc/41/103a.md).
- (b) **Leasehold Interests in Real Property.—** The [Administrator](/usc/41/101.md) of General Services shall prescribe regulations that provide special simplified procedures for acquisitions of leasehold interests in real property at rental rates that do not exceed the [simplified acquisition threshold](/usc/41/153.md?p=1). The rental rate under a multiyear lease does not exceed the [simplified acquisition threshold](/usc/41/153.md?p=1) if the average annual amount of the rent payable for the period of the lease does not exceed the [simplified acquisition threshold](/usc/41/153.md?p=1).
- (c) **Prohibition on Dividing Contracts.—** A proposed purchase or contract for an amount above the [simplified acquisition threshold](/usc/41/153.md?p=1) may not be divided into several purchases or contracts for lesser amounts to use the simplified procedures required by [subsection (a)](#a).
- (d) **Promotion of Competition.—** In using the simplified procedures, an [executive agency](/usc/41/3302.md?p=a-1) shall promote competition to the maximum extent practicable.
- (e) **Compliance With Special Requirements of Federal Acquisition Regulation.—** An [executive agency](/usc/41/3302.md?p=a-1) shall comply with the [Federal Acquisition Regulation](/usc/41/106.md) provisions referred to in [section 1901(e) of this title](/usc/41/1901.md?p=e).

## Source credit

(Pub. L. 111–350, § 3, Jan. 4, 2011, 124 Stat. 3752; Pub. L. 115–232, div. A, title VIII, § 836(b)(8), Aug. 13, 2018, 132 Stat. 1861.)

## Notes

| Historical and Revision Notes |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Revised<br>Section | Source (U.S. Code) | Source (Statutes at Large) |
| 3305 | 41:253(g). | June 30, 1949, ch. 288, title III, § 303(g), 63 Stat. 395; July 12, 1952, ch. 703, § 1(m), 66 Stat. 594; Pub. L. 90–268, § 2, Mar. 16, 1968, 82 Stat. 49; Pub. L. 98–369, title VII, § 2711(a)(1), July 18, 1984, 98 Stat. 1178; Pub. L. 99–145, title XIII, § 1304(c)(3), Nov. 8, 1985, 99 Stat. 742; Pub. L. 101–510, title VIII, § 806(c), Nov. 5, 1990, 104 Stat. 1592; Pub. L. 103–355, title I, § 1051(2), title IV, § 4402(a), Oct. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 3260, 3348; Pub. L. 104–106, title XLII, § 4202(b)(1), Feb. 10, 1996, 110 Stat. 653; Pub. L. 105–85, title VIII, § 850(f)(4)(B), Nov. 18, 1997, 111 Stat. 1850. |

### Editorial Notes

### Amendments

2018—Subsec. (a)(2). Pub. L. 115–232 substituted “commercial products or commercial services” for “commercial items”.

### Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

### Effective Date of 2018 Amendment

Amendment by Pub. L. 115–232 effective Jan. 1, 2020, subject to a savings provision, see section 836(h) of Pub. L. 115–232, set out as an Effective Date of 2018 Amendment; Savings Provision note under section 453b of Title 6, Domestic Security.