§ 513.203-1 - General.

(a) Document preparation. Blanket purchase agreements (BPA's) must be prepared on a purchase order form or on a GSA Form 3521, Blanket Purchase Agreement.

(b) Terms and conditions. Each blanket purchase agreement should, when appropriate, specify the geographic area to be served under the BPA.

(c) Placing orders under the BPA. Only the contracting officer (CO) or officials authorized by a CO and designated in the BPA are authorized to place orders under the BPA. The GSA Form 2877, Non-Depot Item Requisition / Order / Receiving / Payment Record, is authorized for use by the Federal Supply Service in placing orders against BPA's for customer supply center items that are not available from Government supply depots. Before placing orders against the BPA, each requirement must be screened for availability from mandatory sources of supply. Necessary controls must be maintained by the person placing orders under the BPA to ensure that any limitation stated therein is not exceeded. The BPA number and purchase number should be specified each time an order is placed.

(d) Delivery or service tickets. Each delivery ticket, in addition to the requirements of FAR 13.203-1(j)(6), must contain the name of the person placing the order. The delivery ticket must be signed and dated by the individual receiving the items or services. The supplier and the receiving office must retain a copy of the delivery ticket.

(e) Invoicing. If a supplier will not accept one of the invoicing statements outlined in FAR 13.203-1(j)(7), the contracting officer is authorized to deviate from FAR 13.203(j)(7) in order to permit the submission and payment of invoices for each delivery under the BPA. Before authorizing submission and payment of invoices for individual deliveries, the contracting officer must make every effort to get the supplier to accept one of the FAR invoicing statements. The BPA file must document the contracting officer's efforts and the supplier's refusal to accept the FAR invoicing statements.

(f) Processing invoices. Invoices must be time-stamped by the designated billing office to indicate the date of receipt. Invoices received by ordering offices must be forwarded to the appropriate Finance Division for payment within 5 workdays of receipt of the invoice or acceptance of the supplies or services, whichever is later, unless the BPA provides for the accumulation of invoices as outlined in FAR 13.203-1(j)(7)(iii). If the BPA provides for accumulation of invoices by the ordering office for a specified period, the ordering office must forward the accumulated invoices to the appropriate Finance Division for payment within 5 workdays after the specified period for accumulation. All invoices should be marked to indicate that purchases were made under a BPA.