Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 198 / Tuesday, October 14, 2014 / Rules and Regulations 61739 

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE 

GENERAL SERVICES 

ADMINISTRATION 

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND 

SPACE ADMINISTRATION 

48 CFR Parts 2 and 4 

[FAC 2005–77; FAR Case 2012–023; Item 

III; Docket 2012–0023, Sequence 1] 

RIN 9000–AM60 

Federal Acquisition Regulation; 

Uniform Procurement Identification 

AGENCIES: Department of Defense (DoD), 

General Services Administration (GSA), 

and National Aeronautics and Space 

Administration (NASA). 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: DoD, GSA, and NASA are 

issuing a final rule amending the 

Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to 

implement a uniform Procurement 

Instrument Identification (PIID) 

numbering system, which will require 

the use of Activity Address Codes 

(AACs) as the unique identifier for 

contracting offices and other offices, in 

order to standardize procurement 

transactions across the Federal 

Government. 

DATES: Effective: November 13, 2014. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. 

Edward Loeb, Procurement Analyst, at 

202–501–0650, for clarification of 

content. For information pertaining to 

status or publication schedules, contact 

the Regulatory Secretariat at 202–501– 

4755. Please cite FAC 2005–77, FAR 

Case 2012–023. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background 

DoD, GSA, and NASA published a 

proposed rule in the Federal Register at 

78 FR 34020 on June 6, 2013, to 

implement recommendation number 3 

of the Government Accountability and 

Transparency Board (GAT Board). 

Recommendation number 3 was to 

implement a uniform award 

identification system among various 

financial transactions conducted across 

the Federal Government by a number of 

communities, e.g., procurement, grants, 

and finance. This final FAR rule is 

consistent with the goals of GAT Board 

recommendation 3 for the procurement 

community. Application of the GAT 

Board recommendation for the other 

communities is not the subject of this 

rule. Four respondents submitted 

comments on the proposed rule. Three 

of these respondents were 

representatives of Federal agencies. 

II. Discussion and Analysis 

The Civilian Agency Acquisition 

Council and the Defense Acquisition 

Regulations Council (the Councils) 

reviewed the public comments in the 

development of the final rule. A 

discussion of the comments and the 

changes made to the rule as a result of 

those comments are provided as 

follows: 

A. Summary of Significant Changes 

From the Proposed Rule 

1. At FAR 4.1601 the implementation 

deadline for new unique procurement 

instrument identifiers has been 

rescheduled and will now be no later 

than October 1, 2017. In the proposed 

rule there was a FAR multistep 

transition process being proposed, but 

the Councils have delayed the 

implementation date and deleted what 

was identified at FAR 4.1601 as the 

‘‘transition’’ requirement, so that all 

agencies will be responsible for 

completing the transition to the PIID 

procedures of this rule by October 1, 

2017. 

2. At FAR 4.1601 the ‘‘End state’’ 

requirement is modified to read ‘‘No 

later than October 1, 2017, agencies 

shall comply with paragraph (a) of this 

section and use the requirements in 

4.1602 and 4.1603 for all new 

solicitations and awards.’’ This clarifies 

that the rule does not intend to modify 

the identifiers for existing solicitations 

or contracts. 

B. Analysis of Public Comments 

1. System Compatibility 

Comment: One respondent expressed 

concern that this rule will require 

expensive modifications to agency 

contracting writing software and 

financial systems. The respondent also 

indicated that the changes required by 

the rule could cause problems 

interacting with other Government 

systems. The respondent also expressed 

concern about the requirement to 

convert all contract actions already in 

effect to the new structure by October 1, 

2016, and the effects this will have 

across other enterprise systems as well 

as effects on maintaining historical and 

legacy information. 

Response: The final rule has been 

changed so it only applies to new 

solicitations and contracts, and with a 

modified implementation deadline of 

October 1, 2017 (see FAR 4.1601(b)(2)). 

This does not preclude agencies from 

implementing the changes in advance 

(see FAR 4.1601(b)(2)). Agencies are 

being provided additional time to 

comply with the new requirements to be 

sure that all systems compatibility 

issues can be resolved. 

2. Applicability 

Comment: One respondent 

recommended not applying the new 

requirements to historical documents 

due to the major system changes and 

cross referencing issues that would 

result. Another respondent considered 

the prospect of modifying existing 

awards to be infeasible due to the 

changes that would be necessary across 

other systems such as SAM, FPDS–NG, 

FAADS Plus/USASpending.gov, 

FedBizOpps, and Grants.gov. 

Response: The final rule only applies 

the new requirements to new 

solicitations and contracts, with an 

implementation deadline of October 1, 

2017 (see FAR 4.1601(b)(2)). 

3. Contract Modifications 

Comment: One respondent raised 

concerns regarding how systems would 

be able to handle modifying current 

actions to the new paradigm and how 

this would affect historical data on these 

actions. The respondent was also 

concerned with the number of contract 

modifications being limited to 1,000. 

Another respondent noted that moving 

from a two character modification 

number to a four character modification 

number would not be possible due to 

system constraints. 

Response: The prescribed numbering 

format for supplementary PIIDs, at FAR 

4.1603(b), allows for up to 9,999 

solicitation amendments and 99,999 

contract modifications. In addition, the 

final rule has been modified to allow 

agencies until October 1, 2017, to 

comply with the new requirements, 

giving agencies additional time to 

modify existing systems. 

4. Implementation 

Comment: One respondent detailed a 

number of specific, significant, and 

costly changes to current systems to 

comply with the proposed changes. The 

respondent also noted that there would 

be costs associated with necessary 

training of staff to use the new system. 

The respondent projected the cost of 

this rule to their agency as $4,155,000 

for labor and systems and an additional 

$80,000 for training. Another 

respondent asked what mitigation 

strategies are in place in the event that 

one or several of the integration 

partner’s systems are not ready to 

support the proposed changes. 

Response: It is understood that this 

rule may have a significant cost for 

implementation; however, the GAT 

Board, Office of Management and 

Budget (OMB) and the FAR Council 

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61740 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 198 / Tuesday, October 14, 2014 / Rules and Regulations 

have determined that in order to achieve 

the noted accountability and 

transparency goals of the rule, the 

changes must be made. Office of Federal 

Procurement Policy (OFPP) will monitor 

agency progress in implementing this 

rule to ascertain if any changes are 

required. 

5. FAR 4.1602(c), Clarification 

Concerning ‘‘Additional Agency 

Information’’ 

Comment: One respondent requested 

clarification of what is meant by the 

language at FAR 4.1602(c) regarding 

‘‘Additional agency specific 

identification information.’’ 

Response: This language is included 

in the rule to make it clear that agencies 

will likely establish additional 

requirements at their FAR supplement 

level. 

6. FAR 4.1603, Clarification Concerning 

‘‘Until It Has Been Determined’’ 

Comment: One respondent requested 

clarification of what is meant by the 

language at FAR 4.1603(b)(2)(iii) 

regarding ‘‘until it has been 

determined.’’ 

Response: This language is included 

in the rule to make it clear that 

modification numbers should not be 

created in advance of the need for the 

modification. 

7. Impact on Contractor Systems 

Comment: One respondent noted that 

many contractors have structured their 

award numbering system to mirror the 

Government’s, and will need to make 

associated revisions to their systems, 

which could have associated cost 

implications. 

Response: If a contractor chose to 

structure their contract management 

system to mirror an agency’s contract 

writing system, then they may find it 

necessary to modify their system 

capabilities to match the new contract 

identification requirements. 

8. Impacts on Assistance Awards 

Comment: One respondent stated that 

assistance actions are not covered by the 

FAR, but should this proposed rule 

become final, for consistency purposes, 

it will be critical that parallel efforts be 

taken to ensure that assistance actions 

follow a similar numbering format. 

Response: Assistance actions are 

outside of the scope of this rule. 

However, this comment has been 

provided to OMB for consideration. 

9. Address Activity Codes 

Comment: One respondent noted that 

for Address Activity Codes (AAC), DoD 

agencies begin with an alpha character 

and non-DoD agencies begin with a twodigit number. The respondent asked if 

there is a consistent hierarchy for the 

remaining positions. 

Response: The FAR does not prescribe 

a hierarchy for the remaining positions 

in an AAC, as this is left to agency 

procedures in accordance with the 

Federal supply program. Information on 

locating an existing AAC or obtaining a 

new AAC is located at FAR 4.1603(a)(1). 

III. Executive Orders 12866 and 13563 

Executive Orders (E.O.s) 12866 and 

13563 direct agencies to assess all costs 

and benefits of available regulatory 

alternatives and, if regulation is 

necessary, to select regulatory 

approaches that maximize net benefits 

(including potential economic, 

environmental, public health and safety 

effects, distributive impacts, and 

equity). E.O. 13563 emphasizes the 

importance of quantifying both costs 

and benefits, of reducing costs, of 

harmonizing rules, and of promoting 

flexibility. This is not a significant 

regulatory action and, therefore, was not 

subject to review under section 6(b) of 

E.O. 12866, Regulatory Planning and 

Review, dated September 30, 1993. This 

rule is not a major rule under 5 U.S.C. 

804. 

IV. Regulatory Flexibility Act 

DoD, GSA, and NASA have prepared 

a Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis 

(FRFA) consistent with the Regulatory 

Flexibility Act, 5 U.S.C. 601, et seq. The 

FRFA is summarized as follows: 

This rule is needed to further the 

President’s commitment to make the Federal 

Government transparent and accountable to 

the American people. The rule requires use 

of a standardized procurement instrument 

identification (PIID) number configuration 

across the federal procurement community. 

The numbering configuration will contain an 

Activity Address Code unique to each 

contracting office. This change will lead to 

increases in data traceability and 

transparency, thereby broadening the 

Government’s ability to report procurement 

data accurately and to provide more effective 

oversight of reporting responsibilities. 

The final rule is internal to the 

Government procedures and does not 

directly impose any requirements on the 

vendor community. However, the rule may 

affect certain entities if those entities have 

arranged any of their business systems to 

utilize, accept, or otherwise recognize the 

PIID of agencies they interact with, if those 

agencies do not currently use the PIID 

configuration of this rule. 

In FY11 awards were made to 67,280 

unique vendors, of which 48,281 were small 

businesses. These small businesses likely 

interact with agencies that do not currently 

use the proposed uniform procurement 

identification configuration. 

One respondent stated that small 

businesses that do the majority of their 

business with the Government will be 

adversely affected by changes to the 

Government systems as they have structured 

their systems to mirror the Government. The 

final rule extends the implementation 

deadline for agencies to allow for a more 

efficient transition; however, contractors 

with system limitations may incur some cost 

to adapt to the changes. 

Interested parties may obtain a copy 

of the FRFA from the Regulatory 

Secretariat. The Regulatory Secretariat 

has submitted a copy of the FRFA to the 

Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small 

Business Administration. 

V. Paperwork Reduction Act 

The rule does not contain any 

information collection requirements that 

require the approval of the Office of 

Management and Budget under the 

Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 

chapter 35). 

List of Subjects in 48 CFR Parts 2 and 

4 

Government procurement. 

Dated: September 30, 2014. 

William Clark, 

Acting Director, Office of Government-wide 

Acquisition Policy, Office of Acquisition 

Policy, Office of Government-wide Policy. 

Therefore, DoD, GSA, and NASA 

amend 48 CFR parts 2 and 4 as set forth 

below: 

■ 1. The authority citation for 48 CFR 

parts 2 and 4 continues to read as 

follows: 

Authority: 40 U.S.C. 121(c); 10 U.S.C. 

chapter 137; and 51 U.S.C. 20113. 

PART 2—DEFINITIONS OF WORDS 

AND TERMS 

■ 2. Amend section 2.101 in paragraph 

(b)(2) by adding, in alphabetical order, 

the definition ‘‘Activity Address Code 

(AAC)’’ to read as follows: 

2.101 Definitions. 

* * * * * 

(b) * * * 

(2) * * * 

Activity Address Code (AAC) means a 

distinct six-position code consisting of a 

combination of alpha and/or numeric 

characters assigned to identify specific 

agency offices, units, activities, or 

organizations by the General Services 

Administration for civilian agencies and 

by the Department of Defense for 

defense agencies. 

* * * * * 

PART 4—ADMINISTRATIVE MATTERS 

■ 3. Amend section 4.605 by— 

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Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 198 / Tuesday, October 14, 2014 / Rules and Regulations 61741 

■ a. Removing from paragraph (a) 

‘‘4.1601,’’ and adding ‘‘4.601 to 4.1603,’’ 

in its place; and 

■ b. Adding paragraph (e). 

The addition reads as follows: 

4.605 Procedures. 

* * * * * 

(e) Office codes. Agencies shall by 

October 1, 2015— 

(1) Use the Activity Address Code 

(AAC), as defined in 2.101, assigned to 

the issuing contracting office as the 

contracting office code, and 

(2) Use the AAC assigned to the 

program/funding office providing the 

predominance of funding for the 

contract action as the program/funding 

office code. 

■ 4. Revise section 4.1601 to read as 

follows: 

4.1601 Policy. 

(a) Establishment of a Procurement 

Instrument Identifier (PIID). Agencies 

shall have in place a process that 

ensures that each PIID used to identify 

a solicitation or contract action is 

unique Governmentwide, and will 

remain so for at least 20 years from the 

date of contract award. The PIID shall be 

used to identify all solicitation and 

contract actions. The PIID shall also be 

used to identify solicitation and contract 

actions in designated support and 

reporting systems (e.g., Federal 

Procurement Data System, System for 

Award Management), in accordance 

with regulations, applicable authorities, 

and agency policies and procedures.) 

(b) Transition of PIID numbering. No 

later than October 1, 2017, agencies 

shall comply with paragraph (a) of this 

section and use the requirements in 

4.1602 and 4.1603 for all new 

solicitations and contract awards. Until 

an agency’s transition is complete, it 

shall maintain its 2013 PIID format that 

is on record with the General Services 

Administration’s Integrated Award 

Environment Program Office (which 

maintains a registry of the agency 

unique identifier scheme). The 2013 

PIID format consisted of alpha 

characters in the first positions to 

indicate the agency, followed by alphanumeric characters; the 2017 format 

instead has the AAC in the beginning 6 

positions. 

(c) Change in the Procurement 

Instrument Identifier after its 

assignment. (1) Agencies shall not 

change the PIID unless one of the 

following two circumstances apply: 

(i) The PIID serial numbering system 

is exhausted. In this instance, the 

contracting officer may assign a new 

PIID by issuing a contract modification. 

(ii) Continued use of a PIID is 

administratively burdensome (e.g., for 

implementations of new agency contract 

writing systems). In this instance, the 

contracting officer may assign a new 

PIID by issuing a contract modification. 

(2) The modification shall clearly 

identify both the original and the newly 

assigned PIID. Issuance of a new PIID is 

an administrative change (see 43.101). 

■ 5. Amend section 4.1602 by revising 

paragraph (c) to read as follows: 

4.1602 Identifying the PIID and 

supplementary PIID. 

* * * * * 

(c) Additional agency specific 

identification information. If agency 

procedures require additional 

identification information in 

solicitations, contracts, or other related 

procurement instruments for 

administrative purposes, separate and 

clearly identify the additional 

information from the PIID. 

■ 6. Add section 4.1603 to read as 

follows: 

4.1603 Procedures. 

(a) Elements of a PIID. The PIID 

consists of a combination of thirteen to 

seventeen alpha and/or numeric 

characters sequenced to convey certain 

information. Do not use special 

characters (such as hyphens, dashes, or 

spaces). 

(1) Positions 1 through 6. The first six 

positions identify the department/

agency and office issuing the 

instrument. Use the AAC assigned to the 

issuing office for positions 1 through 6. 

Civilian agency points of contact for 

obtaining an AAC are on the AAC 

Contact list maintained by the General 

Services Administration and can be 

found at http://www.gsa.gov/graphics/

fas/Civilian_contacts.pdf. For 

Department of Defense (DoD) inquiries, 

contact the service/agency Central 

Service Point or DoDAAC Monitor, or if 

unknown, email DODAADHQ@DLA.MIL 

for assistance. 

(2) Positions 7 through 8. The seventh 

and eighth positions are the last two 

digits of the fiscal year in which the 

procurement instrument is issued or 

awarded. This is the date the action is 

signed, not the effective date if the 

effective date is different. 

(3) Position 9. Indicate the type of 

instrument by entering one of the 

following upper case letters in position 

nine. Departments and independent 

agencies may assign those letters 

identified for department use below in 

accordance with their agency policy; 

however, any use must be applied to the 

entire department or agency. 

Instrument Letter 

designation 

(i) Blanket purchase agreements ........................................................................................................................................................ A 

(ii) Invitations for bids .......................................................................................................................................................................... B 

(iii) Contracts of all types except indefinite-delivery contracts (see subpart 16.5) ............................................................................. C 

(iv) Indefinite-delivery contracts (including Federal Supply Schedules, Governmentwide acquisition contracts (GWACs), and 

multi-agency contracts) .................................................................................................................................................................... D 

(v) Reserved for future Federal Governmentwide use ........................................................................................................................ E 

(vi) Task orders, delivery orders or calls under— ............................................................................................................................... F 

• Indefinite-delivery contracts (including Federal Supply Schedules, Governmentwide acquisition contracts (GWACs), and 

multi-agency contracts); 

• Blanket purchase agreements; or 

• Basic ordering agreements. 

(vii) Basic ordering agreements ........................................................................................................................................................... G 

(viii) Agreements, including basic agreements and loan agreements, but excluding blanket purchase agreements, basic ordering 

agreements, and leases. Do not use this code for contracts or agreements with provisions for orders or calls .......................... H 

(ix) Do not use this letter ..................................................................................................................................................................... I 

(x) Reserved for future Federal Governmentwide use ........................................................................................................................ J 

(xi) Reserved for departmental or agency use .................................................................................................................................... K 

(xii) Lease agreements ........................................................................................................................................................................ L 

(xiii) Reserved for departmental or agency use .................................................................................................................................. M 

(xiv) Reserved for departmental or agency use .................................................................................................................................. N 

(xv) Do not use this letter .................................................................................................................................................................... O 

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61742 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 198 / Tuesday, October 14, 2014 / Rules and Regulations 

Instrument Letter 

designation 

(xvi) Purchase orders (assign V if numbering capacity of P is exhausted during a fiscal year) ........................................................ P 

(xvii) Requests for quotations (assign U if numbering capacity of Q is exhausted during a fiscal year) ........................................... Q 

(xviii) Requests for proposals .............................................................................................................................................................. R 

(xix) Reserved for departmental or agency use .................................................................................................................................. S 

(xx) Reserved for departmental or agency use ................................................................................................................................... T 

(xxi) See Q, requests for quotations ................................................................................................................................................... U 

(xxii) See P, purchase orders .............................................................................................................................................................. V 

(xxiii) Reserved for future Federal Governmentwide use ................................................................................................................... W 

(xxiv) Reserved for future Federal Governmentwide use ................................................................................................................... X 

(xxv) Imprest fund ................................................................................................................................................................................ Y 

(xxvi) Reserved for future Federal Governmentwide use ................................................................................................................... Z 

(4) Positions 10 through 17. Enter the 

number assigned by the issuing agency 

in these positions. Agencies may choose 

a minimum of four characters up to a 

maximum of eight characters to be used, 

but the same number of characters must 

be used agency-wide. If a number less 

than the maximum is used, do not use 

leading or trailing zeroes to make it 

equal the maximum in any system or 

data transmission. A separate series of 

numbers may be used for any type of 

instrument listed in paragraph (a)(3) of 

this section. An agency may reserve 

blocks of numbers or alpha-numeric 

numbers for use by its various 

components. 

(5) Illustration of PIID. The following 

illustrates a properly configured PIID 

using four characters in the final 

positions: 

(b) Elements of a supplementary PIID. 

Use the supplementary PIID to identify 

amendments to solicitations and 

modifications to contracts, orders, and 

agreements. 

(1) Amendments to solicitations. 

Number amendments to solicitations 

sequentially using a four position 

numeric serial number added to the 13– 

17 character PIID beginning with 0001. 

(2) Modifications to contracts, orders, 

and agreements. Number modifications 

to contracts, orders, and agreements 

using a six position alpha or numeric, 

or a combination thereof, added to the 

13–17 character PIID. For example, a 

modification could be numbered 

P00001. This would be added to the end 

of the 13–17 character PIID illustrated in 

(a)(5) of this section. 

(i) Position 1. Identify the office 

issuing the modification. The letter P 

shall be designated for modifications 

issued by the procuring contracting 

office. The letter A shall be used for 

modifications issued by the contract 

administration office (if other than the 

procuring contracting office). 

(ii) Positions 2 through 6. These 

positions may be alpha, numeric, or a 

combination thereof, in accordance with 

agency procedures. 

(iii) Each office authorized to issue 

modifications shall assign the 

supplementary identification numbers 

in sequence (unless provided otherwise 

in agency procedures). Do not assign the 

numbers until it has been determined 

that a modification is to be issued. 

[FR Doc. 2014–24240 Filed 10–10–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6820–EP–P 


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