Service
Contract Act
Title 29, Code of Federal Regulations,
Part 4
Labor Standards for Federal Service Contracts
29 CFR 4.134 - Contracts
outside the Act's coverage.
(a) Contracts entered into
by agencies other than those of the
Federal Government or the District of Columbia as described in
Secs. 4.107-4.108 are not within the purview of the Act. Thus, the Act
does not cover service contracts entered into with any agencies of
Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, or Guam acting in
behalf of their respective local governments. Similarly, it does not
cover service contracts entered into by agencies of States or local
public bodies, not acting as agents for or on behalf of the United
States or the District of Columbia, even though Federal financial
assistance may be provided for such contracts under Federal law or the
terms and conditions specified in Federal law may govern the award and
operation of the contract.
(b) Further, as already noted
in Secs. 4.111 through 4.113, the Act
does not apply to Government contracts which do not have as their
principal purpose the furnishing of services, or which call for no services
to be furnished within the United States or through the use of service
employees as those terms are defined in the Act. Clearly outside the
Act's coverage for these reasons are such contracts as those for the
purchase of tangible products which the Government needs (e.g. vehicles,
office equipment, and supplies), for the logistic support of an air
base in a foreign country, or for the services of a lawyer to examine
the title to land. Similarly, where the Government contracts for a lease
of building space for Government occupancy and the building owner furnishes
general janitorial and other building services on an incidental basis
through the use of service employees, the leasing of the space rather
than the furnishing of the building services is the principal purpose
of the contract, and the Act does not apply. Another type of contract
which is outside the coverage of the Act because it is not for the principal
purpose of furnishing services may be illustrated by a contract for
the rental of parking space under which the Government agency is simply
given a lease or license to use the contractor's real property. Such
a contract is to be distinguished from contracts for the storage of
vehicles which are delivered into the possession or custody of the contractor,
who will provide the required services including the parking or retrieval
of the vehicles.
(c) There are a number of
types of contracts which, while outside
the Act's coverage in the usual case, may be subject to its provisions
under the conditions and circumstances of a particular procurement,
because these may be such as to require a different view of the
principal purpose of the contract. Thus, the ordinary contract for the
recapping of tires would have as its principal purpose the manufacture
and furnishing of rebuilt tires for the Government rather than the
furnishing of services through the use of service employees, and thus
would be outside the Act's coverage. Similarly, contracts calling for
printing, reproduction, and duplicating ordinarily would appear to have
as their principal purpose the furnishing in quantity of printed,
reproduced or duplicated written materials rather than the furnishing
of
reproduction services through the use of service employees. However,
in a particular case, the terms, conditions, and circumstances of the
procurement may be such that the facts would show its purpose to be
chiefly the furnishing of services (e.g. repair services, typesetting,
photocopying, editing, etc.), and where such services require the use
of
service employees the contract would be subject to the Act unless
excluded therefrom for some other reason.