UID and the DFARS 252.211-7003

Getting those DoD contracts can be really important for your business, but often there are clauses that are somewhat unclear.

One of these relates to the UID marking clause – DFARS 252.211-7003, which covers Item Identification and Valuation.

If this clause appears in your contract, there is a very good chance that you will need to comply with MIL-STD-130 the standard that shows how all UID items need to be marked.

One of the challenges contractors face has been deciding whether particular items need to be UID marked at all. The chances are that DFARS 252.211-7003 will be on the contract – the various DoD agencies are certainly being told to include it.

So what items need to be UID marked? The requirements are actually explained quite clearly in the Department of Defense Guide to Uniquely Identifying Items

The first requirement is that items with an acquisition value of more than $5,000 need to have a UID mark.

Items with an acquisition value that is less than $5,000.00 might still need to be marked. The UID Guide has a handy flowchart for determining this which I’ve reproduced here:

Note – you can click on the image to see a larger version.

Note that the Procurement Officer can (and often does) determine that an item needs to be UID marked, even if it doesn’t meet all the requirements of the flowchart. It is threfore really important to ensure you are in agreement with your customer on UID marking before shipping anything. If you work with the DCMA QA reps, get them involved too – the better the communication, the less chance of something going wrong.

Do you want to learn more or do you need to comply? A good place to start is by downloading our ebook on MIL-STD-130 including UID. For more indepth information, Winco ID offers live seminars on DoD labeling compliance here in New England and can also provide training by webinar.

Our services for contractors include consulting, UID and RFID compliance kits and we specialize in supplying certified compliant labels and tags.

Give me a call at 603-598-1553 x237 if I can help.