Commercial Item and Commercially Available

Not sure if this helps.

To be a commercial item, the item need only meet the definition of "commercial item" at FAR 2.101. That definition includes items of a type "customarily used by the general public..." and having been sold... or offered for sale to the general public.  Inherently, that means the item needs to be available to the public to meet the definition of a commercial item at paragraph (1), unless one of the other types of commercial items described in the other paragraphs within the definition is being acquired and doesn't require availability (e.g. paragraph (3)(ii)).  The term COTS is not used in the definition.

The definition of "COTS item" not only requires the supply item be a commercial item (as defined at FAR 2.101), but it also must meet two other elements of the definition.  One of these elements requires it to be "sold in substantial quantities in the commercial marketplace," meaning it would need to be commercially available.  The term "commercially available" is even part of the acronym "COTS."

Whynot,

The FAR provides two separate definitions for each term (though the term you use of "commercially available" is used in the FAR as "commercially available off the shelf" (COTS))...see FAR 2.101 and FAR 12.103.  Are you asking about the distinction between those two definitions in the FAR or someone/somewehere else's attempted distinction?

I would like to know the definition of “commercially available” as a standalone requirement without the reference to COTS. Imagine an RFP specification that says:

All items must be commercially available at time of award.

What does that mean?

Why not ask the contracting officer who issued the RFP?

Don't assume just because the term was used in an RFP that it was proper - I second Retreadfed's recommendation.  Ask the drafter and reference the individual to the two definitions that the FAR actually contains while noting that the standalone term "commercially available" is not one of them.

Commercially available means available from more than one source that is not a government entity.

Vern,

Just out of curiousity, where is your definition from?

Vern Edwards said:

Commercially available means available from more than one source that is not a government entity.

Interesting. I never thought of it as concerning the source of supply. I thought commercially available meant sold or available to other than government entities (e.g. available in the commercial market place vs government marketplace).

Matthew Fleharty said:

Vern,

Just out of curiousity, where is your definition from?

My head. I found no official definition, so I defined it.

If we use Vern's definition, from the vendor's perspective, the vendor need only be a non-government source, and make the item available.

Available to whom?