for use in procurement but does not meet an agency's essential needs, exceptions to the product description to effect procurement may be authorized as follows:

(a) All exceptions to Federal telecommunications standards require prior approval by the Assistant Administrator for Information Resources Management, General Services Administration, Washington, DC 20405.

(b) Preparing activities may designate specific product descriptions that require approval of exceptions by the preparing activity before use.

(c) Exceptions to Federal product descriptions that do not require prior approval under paragraphs (a) and (b) of this section may be authorized by the acquiring agency if:

(1) Justifications for exceptions are subject to review before authorization and that such justification can be fully substantiated if post audit is required;

(2) Notification of exception or recommendation for change to the Federal product description is sent promptly to the preparing activity and the General Services Administration (FCO), Washington, DC 20406.

(A statement of the exception with a justification and, where applicable, recommendation for revision or amendment to the description)

§ 101-29.403-2 Agency responsibility relative to exceptions to Federal product descriptions.

Each agency taking exceptions shall establish procedures whereby a designated official having substantial procurement responsibility shall be responsible for assuring that Federal product descriptions are used and provisions for exceptions are complied with.

§ 101-29.403-3 Tailoring of Federal product descriptions.

Product descriptions prepared to define and impose performance characteristics, engineering disciplines, and manufacturing practices such as reliability, system safety, quality assurance, maintainability, configuration management, and the like shall be tailored in accordance with their specific application in acquisitions.

Subpart 101-29.5-Use of and Optional Use of Federal Product Descriptions and Agency Product Descriptions

§ 101-29.501 Optional use of interim Federal specifications.

Interim Federal specifications are for optional use. All agencies are urged to make maximum use of them and to submit suggested changes to the preparing activity for consideration in further development of the specifications for promulgation as Federal specifications or commercial item descriptions. Interim revisions or interim amendments to Federal specifications are for optional use as valid exceptions to the Federal specifications so revised or amended and must, therefore, be specifically identified by symbol and date in the invitation for bids or request for proposal.

§ 101-29.502 Use of Federal specifications and interim Federal specifications in Federal construction contracts.

When material, equipment, or services covered by an available Federal specification or interim Federal specification are specified in connection with Federal construction, the Federal specification or interim Federal specification shall be made part of the specification for the construction contract, subject to provisions in §§ 101-29.402, 101-29.403, and 101-29.501.

§ 101-29.503 Agency product descriptions.

When a Federal product description is not available, existing agency product descriptions should be used by all agencies consistent with each agency's procedures for establishing priority for use of such descriptions.

PART 101-30-FEDERAL CATALOG SYSTEM

Sec.

101-30.000 Scope of part. 101-30.001 Applicability.

Subpart 101-30.1-General

101-30.100 Scope of subpart. 101-30.101 Definitions.

101-30.101-1 Civil agency item.

§ 101-30.000 Scope of part.

This part provides for a Federal Catalog System by which items of supply under § 101-30.301 are uniformly named, described, classified, and assigned national stock numbers (NSN's) to aid in managing all logistical functions and operations from determination of requirements through disposal. This system provides a standard reference language or terminology to be used by personnel in managing these items of supply, a prerequisite for integrated item management under the Federal procurement system concept.

[46 FR 35644, July 10, 1981]

As used in this part 101-30, the following terms shall have the meanings set forth in this § 101-30.101.

§ 101-30.101-1 Civil agency item.

Civil agency item means an item of supply in the supply system of one or more civilian agencies, which is repetitively procured, stocked, or otherwise managed (includes direct delivery requirements as well as items stocked for issue).

[46 FR 35644, July 10, 1981]

§ 101-30.101-1a Item of production. Item-of-production means those arti

cles, equipment, materials, parts, pieces, or objects produced by a manufacturer which conform to the same engineering drawing, standard, or specification and receive the same quality control and inspection.

[46 FR 35644, July 10, 1981]

§ 101-30.101-2 Item of supply.

Item of supply means an item of production that is purchased, cataloged, and assigned a national stock number by the Government. The item of supply is determined by the requirements of each Government agency's supply system. The item of supply concept differentiates one item from another item

in the Federal Catalog System. Each item of supply is expressed in and fixed by a national item identification number. An item of supply may be:

(a) A single item of production;

(b) Two or more items of production that are functionally interchangeable;

(c) A more precise quality controlled item than the regular item of production, or

(d) A modification of a regular item of production.

[46 FR 35644, July 10, 1981]

§ 101-30.101-3 National stock number.

The national stock number (NSN) is the identifying number assigned to each item of supply. The NSN consists of the 4-digit Federal Supply Classification (FSC) code and the 9-digit national item identification number (NIIN). The written, printed, or typed NSN configuration is 1234-00-567-8901. The following terms are elements of the 13-digit national stock number:

(a) Federal Supply Classification (FSC) is a 4-digit number which groups similar items into classes.

(b) National Codification Bureau (NCB) code is a 2-digit number designating the central cataloging office of the NATO or other friendly country which assigned the national item identification number (NIIN) and is used as the first two digits of the NIIN.

(c) National item identification number (NIIN) is a 9-digit number composed of the NCB code number (2-digits) followed by 7 other nonsignificant digits. [41 FR 11308, Mar. 18, 1976]

§ 101-30.101-4 Federal item identification.

Federal item identification means the approved item identification for the item of supply, plus the national stock number assigned to that item identification. It consists of four basic elements: The name of the item, the identifying characteristics, the Federal Supply Classification code, and the national item identification number. [41 FR 11308, Mar. 18, 1976]

§ 101-30.101-5 Cataloging.

Cataloging means the process of uniformly identifying, describing, classifying, numbering, and publishing

in the Federal Catalog System all items of personal property (items of supply) repetitively procured, stored, issued, and/or used by Federal agencies. [41 FR 11308, Mar. 18, 1976]

§ 101-30.101-6 Cataloging activity.

Cataloging activity means the activity of a Federal agency having responsibility for performing cataloging operations in identifying and describing items of supply in the Federal Catalog System.

[41 FR 11308, Mar. 18, 1976]

§ 101-30.101-7 Federal Catalog System. Federal Catalog System means the single supply catalog system designed to uniformly identify, classify, name, describe, and number the items of personal property used by the Federal Government by providing only one classification, one name, one description, and one item identification number for each item of supply. It provides a standard reference language or terminology to be used by all persons engaged in the process of supply.

[41 FR 11308, Mar. 18, 1976]

§ 101-30.101-15 Data preparation.

Data preparation means the conversion of item identification and management data to the appropriate Automated Data Processing (ADP) format. [41 FR 11308, Mar. 18, 1976]

§ 101-30.101-16 Data transmission.

Data transmission means the operation of telecommunication equipment for the receipt and transmission of item identification and management data.

[41 FR 11308, Mar. 18, 1976]

§ 101-30.101-17 Supply support.

Supply support means the functions performed by the supply manager to provide requesting (using) activities with a Government source and method of supply for an item; e.g., GSA stock program, Federal supply schedule program, GSA's buy-on-demand program, or GSA's authorizing an agency to purchase locally.

[43 FR 42257, Sept. 20, 1978]

§ 101-30.101-18 Supply support request.

Supply support request means a request from an activity to a supply manager; e.g., a request to GSA to provide that activity with supply support for an item.

[43 FR 42257, Sept. 20, 1978]

§ 101-30.102 Objectives.

The objectives of the Federal cataloging program are:

(a) To provide for the maintenance of a uniform Federal supply catalog system and the conversion to and exclusive use of this system by all Federal agencies.

(b) To name, describe, identify, classify, and number each item of personal property to be included in the Federal Catalog System so that the same items will have a single Federal item identification within and among the organizational elements of all Federal agencies.

(c) To collect, maintain, and publish such Federal catalog data and related supply management data as may be determined necessary or desirable to re

flect such benefits to supply management as:

(1) Assistance in standardization of supplies and equipment;

(2) Disclosure of interchangeability and substitutability of items;

(3) Reduction in inventories of stock and increased rates of turnover;

(4) Increase in vendor competition and broader sources of supply;

(5) Provision of data for determining the most effective and economical method of item management on a Federal agency systemwide basis;

(6) Enhance item entry control;

(7) Facilitation of better interagency and intra-agency use of supplies, equipment, and excess stocks, and more exact identification of surplus personal property; and

(8) Assistance in providing precise statistics for budget and financial accounting purposes.

[29 FR 16004, Dec. 1, 1964, as amended at 36 FR 20292, Oct. 20, 1971; 41 FR 11308, Mar. 18, 1976]

§ 101-30.103 Responsibilities.

$101-30.103-1 General.

(a) The provisions of section 206 of the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 (40 U.S.C. 487) authorize the Administrator of General Services to establish and maintain a uniform Federal Catalog System to identify and classify personal property under the control of Federal agencies. Under this law each Federal agency is required to utilize the uniform Federal Catalog System, except as the Administrator of General Services shall otherwise provide, taking into consideration efficiency, economy, and other interests of the Government.

(b) The Defense Cataloging and Standardization Act (chapter 145, title 10, U.S. Code) authorizes the Secretary of Defense to develop a single supply catalog system for the Department of Defense.

(c) Both laws require that the Administrator of General Services and the Secretary of Defense shall coordinate the cataloging activities of GSA and the Department of Defense to avoid unnecessary duplication.

[29 FR 16004, Dec. 1, 1964, as amended at 41 FR 11309, Mar. 18, 1976]