§ 345.370 - Providing Government property (in general).

(a) A contractor may be provided Government property or allowed to acquire such property at Government expense upon determination that:

(1) No practicable or economical alternative exists; e.g., acquisition from other sources, utilization of subcontractors, rental of property, or modification of program project requirements, etc.;

(2) The Government receives adequate consideration for providing the property; or

(3) Furnishing Government property is likely to result in substantially lower cost to the Government for the items produced or services rendered when all costs involved (e.g., transportation, installation, modification, maintenance, etc.) are compared with the cost to the Government of the contractor's use of privately-owned property.

(b) The determination that it is necessary to provide a contractor or subcontractor with property will be made by the contracting officer with the advice of the agency property official.

(c) If the program office is aware, prior to the submission of the request for contract, that it will be necessary to provide prospective contractors with property, a written justification must accompany the request for contract to the contracting activity.