---
kind: "section"
citation: "41 U.S.C. § 3503"
title: "41"
title_heading: "Public Contracts"
number: "3503"
heading: "Exceptions"
release: "119-102"
date: "2026-07-12"
url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/41/3503"
units:
  - "Subtitle I — Federal Procurement Policy"
  - "Division C — Procurement"
  - "Chapter 35 — Truthful Cost or Pricing Data"
---

# §3503. Exceptions

- (a) **In General.—** Submission of certified cost or pricing data shall not be required under [section 3502 of this title](/usc/41/3502.md) in the case of a contract, a subcontract, or a modification of a contract or subcontract—
  - (1) for which the price agreed on is based on—
    - (A) adequate price competition; or
    - (B) prices set by law or regulation;
  - (2) for the acquisition of a commercial product or a commercial service; or
  - (3) in an exceptional case when the head of the procuring activity, without delegation, determines that the requirements of this chapter may be waived and justifies in writing the reasons for the determination.
- (b) **Modifications of Contracts and Subcontracts for Commercial Products or Commercial Services.—** In the case of a modification of a contract or subcontract for a commercial product or a commercial service that is not covered by the exception to the submission of certified cost or pricing data in paragraph [(1)](#a-1) or [(2)](#a-2) of subsection (a), submission of certified cost or pricing data shall not be required under [section 3502 of this title](/usc/41/3502.md) if—
  - (1) the contract or subcontract being modified is a contract or subcontract for which submission of certified cost or pricing data may not be required by reason of paragraph [(1)](#a-1) or [(2)](#a-2) of subsection (a); and
  - (2) the modification would not change the contract or subcontract from a contract or subcontract for the acquisition of a commercial product or a commercial service to a contract or subcontract for the acquisition of an item other than a commercial product or a commercial service.

## Source credit

(Pub. L. 111–350, § 3, Jan. 4, 2011, 124 Stat. 3766; Pub. L. 115–232, div. A, title VIII, § 836(b)(12), Aug. 13, 2018, 132 Stat. 1863.)

## Notes

| Historical and Revision Notes |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Revised<br>Section | Source (U.S. Code) | Source (Statutes at Large) |
| 3503 | 41:254b(b). | June 30, 1949, ch. 288, title III, § 304A(b), as added Pub. L. 103–355, title I, § 1251(a)(2), Oct. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 3279; Pub. L. 104–106, title XLII, § 4201(b)(1), Feb. 10, 1996, 110 Stat. 651. |

In subsection (b)(2), the words “as the case may be” are omitted as unnecessary.

### Editorial Notes

### Amendments

2018—Subsec. (a)(2). Pub. L. 115–232, § 836(b)(12)(A), substituted “a commercial product or a commercial service” for “a commercial item”.

Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 115–232, § 836(b)(12)(B), in heading, substituted “Commercial Products or Commercial Services” for “Commercial Items” and, in text, substituted “a commercial product or a commercial service” for “a commercial item” wherever appearing.

### Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

### Effective Date of 2018 Amendment

Amendment by Pub. L. 115–232 effective Jan. 1, 2020, subject to a savings provision, see section 836(h) of Pub. L. 115–232, set out as an Effective Date of 2018 Amendment; Savings Provision note under section 453b of Title 6, Domestic Security.