Service
Contract Act
Title 29, Code of Federal Regulations,
Part 4
Labor Standards for Federal Service Contracts
29 CFR 4.111 - Contracts
``to furnish services.''
(a) ``Principal purpose''
as criterion. Under its terms, the Act
applies to a ``contract * * * the principal purpose of which is to
furnish services * * *.'' If the principal purpose is to provide something
other than services of the character contemplated by the Act and any
such services which may be performed are only incidental to the performance
of a contract for another purpose, the Act does not apply. However,
as will be seen by examining the illustrative examples of covered contracts
in Secs. 4.130 et seq., no hard and fast rule can be laid down as to
the precise meaning of the term principal purpose. This remedial Act
is intended to be applied to a wide variety of contracts, and the Act
does not define or limit the types of services which may be contracted
for under a contract the principal purpose of which is to furnish services.
Further, the nomenclature, type, or particular form of contract used
by procurement agencies is not determinative of coverage.
Whether the principal purpose
of a particular contract is the furnishing
of services through the use of service employees is largely a question
to be determined on the basis of all the facts in each particular case.
Even where tangible items of substantial value are important elements
of the subject matter of the contract, the facts may show that they
are of secondary import to the furnishing of services in the particular
case. This principle is illustrated by the examples set forth in Sec.
4.131.
(b) Determining whether a
contract is for ``services'', generally. Except indirectly through the
definition of service employee the Act does not define, or limit, the
types of services which may be contracted for under a contract ``the
principal purpose of which is to furnish services''. As stated in the
congressional committee reports on the legislation, the types of service
contracts covered by its provisions are varied. Among the examples cited
are contracts for laundry and dry cleaning, for transportation of the
mail, for custodial, janitorial, or guard service, for packing and crating,
for food service, and for miscellaneous housekeeping services. Covered
contracts for services would also include those for other types of services
which may be performed through the use of the various classes of service
employees
included in the definition in section 8(b) of the Act (see Sec. 4.113).
Examples of some such contracts
are set forth in Secs. 4.130 et seq. In
determining questions of contract coverage, due regard must be given
to
the apparent legislative intent to include generally as contracts for
services those contracts which have as their principal purpose the procurement
of something other than the construction activity described in the Davis-Bacon
Act or the materials, supplies, articles, and equipment described in
the Walsh-Healey Act. The Committee reports in both the House and Senate,
and statements made on the floor of the House, took note of the labor
standards protections afforded by these two Acts to employees engaged
in the performance of construction and supply contracts and observed:
``The service contract is now the only remaining category of Federal
contracts to which no labor standards protections apply'' (H. Rept.
948, 89th Cong., 1st Sess., p. 1; see also S. Rept. 798, 89th Cong.,
1st Sess., p. 1; daily Congressional Record, Sept. 20, 1965, p. 23497).
A similar understanding of contracts principally for services as embracing
contracts other than those for construction or supplies is reflected
in the statement of President
Johnson upon signing the Act (1 Weekly Compilation of Presidential
Documents, p. 428).