A government contractor is a company (

privately owned A privately held company (or simply a private company) is a company whose shares and related rights or obligations are not offered for public subscription or publicly negotiated in their respective listed markets. Instead, the company's stock is ...

publicly traded A public company is a company whose ownership is organized via shares of share capital, stock which are intended to be freely traded on a stock exchange or in over-the-counter (finance), over-the-counter markets. A public (publicly traded) co ...

or a

state-owned enterprise A state-owned enterprise (SOE) is a business entity created or owned by a national or local government, either through an executive order or legislation. SOEs aim to generate profit for the government, prevent private sector monopolies, provide goo ...

)either

for profit Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or buying and selling products (such as goods and services). It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for profit." A business entity is not necessari ...

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

that produces

goods or services Goods are items that are usually (but not always) tangible, such as pens or apples. Services are activities provided by other people, such as teachers or barbers. Taken together, it is the production, distribution, and consumption of goods ...

under contract for the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

. Some communities are largely sustained by government contracting activity; for instance, much of the economy of

Northern Virginia Northern Virginia, locally referred to as NOVA or NoVA, comprises several County (United States), counties and independent city (United States), independent cities in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. ...

consists of government contractors employed directly or indirectly by the

federal government A federation (also called a federal state) is an entity characterized by a political union, union of partially federated state, self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a #Federal governments, federal government (federalism) ...

of the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

Terminology

Frequently a term public contractor is used to describe the government contractor. In

ancient Rome In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of Rome, founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, collapse of the Western Roman Em ...

, term publican was used for private individuals that performed work on public buildings, supplied Roman armies, or collected taxes.

United Kingdom

Section 12(2) and (3) of the Official Secrets Act 1989 define the expression "Government Contractor" for the purposes of that Act.

United States

The

United States federal government The Federal Government of the United States of America (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the Federation#Federal governments, national government of the United States. The U.S. federal government is composed of three distinct ...

seeks to select contractors in a way that is fair to all and promotes the

free market In economics, a free market is an economic market (economics), system in which the prices of goods and services are determined by supply and demand expressed by sellers and buyers. Such markets, as modeled, operate without the intervention of ...

system. Contractors are selected via

Federal Acquisition Regulations The Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) is the principal set of rules regarding Government procurement in the United States. The document describes the procedures executive branch agencies use for acquiring products and services. FAR is part o ...

which are intended by

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

to ensure that taxpayer money is used to benefit the public or nation as a whole. Contractors must learn how to operate within these regulations.

Prime contractor

Prime contractor is a term defined in the US law. Statutory definitions of prime contract, prime contractor, subcontract, and subcontractor are in . The prime contractor term was already defined before the 8 March 1946 passage of '' An Act To eliminate the practice by subcontractors, under cost-plus-a-fixed-fee or cost reimbursable contacts of the United States, of paying fees or kick-backs, or of granting gifts or gratuities to employees of a cost-plus-a-fixed-fee or cost reimbursable prime contractors or of higher tier subcontractors for the purpose of securing the award of subcontracts or orders.'' (Pub. L.Tooltip Public Law (United States) 79–319, 60 Stat. 37)

References

Sources