The CO may require: The contractor or subcontractor to submit to the Government (or cause submission of) subcontractor certified cost or pricing data below the thresholds and data other than certified cost or pricing data that the CO considers necessary for adequately pricing the prime contract.

• A. True
• B. False
• C. Only for high-risk programs
• D. Never

Answer: (A)

The key idea is that the contracting officer can require cost or pricing data to support negotiated pricing, and may extend that requirement to subcontractors even if the data would normally be below the standard threshold, as long as it’s necessary to adequately price the prime contract. In addition to certified cost or pricing data, the CO can request data other than certified cost or pricing data that are needed for pricing the contract. This means a prime contractor may be asked to obtain and submit certified data from subcontractors below the threshold, or provide non-certified data the CO deems necessary to develop a fair, accurate price. This authority helps ensure the government isn’t paying inflated prices and has enough information to determine price reasonableness.

Context: certified data are data the vendor certifies as accurate, complete, and current as of agreement, used when price isn’t adequately supported by other means. The rule allows flexibility to request additional or alternative data to achieve adequate pricing, not just data that would normally be required by the threshold.