Contract types and vehicles
What is the micro-purchase threshold?
The micro-purchase threshold is the level below which the government may buy without obtaining competitive quotations, set by FAR 2.101 at $15,000 generally, but at $2,000 for construction subject to the Davis-Bacon wage requirements and $2,500 for services subject to the Service Contract Labor Standards.
Also written as: micro purchase, government purchase card limit, MPT.
Micro-purchases are usually made on a government purchase card by the person who needs the item, with no contracting officer involved. FAR 13.202 allows them to be awarded without soliciting competitive quotations if the price is considered reasonable, and directs that they be distributed equitably among qualified suppliers.
The two lower thresholds are the ones that surprise people, and they exist because the wage statutes bite at those levels: construction subject to the Davis-Bacon requirements has a $2,000 micro-purchase threshold, and services subject to the Service Contract Labor Standards $2,500. A $9,000 painting job at a federal building is not a micro-purchase.
FAR 2.101 also sets higher figures — $25,000 inside the United States and $40,000 outside — for buys supporting a contingency operation, cyber, nuclear, biological, chemical or radiological defence or recovery, international disaster assistance, or an emergency or major disaster response, other than construction subject to the wage requirements.
What this means when you bid
Being easy to buy from below this threshold — registered, quick to quote, reliable — is how a lot of first federal relationships start.
Micro-purchase threshold: the published figures
Each figure below was read from the regulation cited beside it on 2026-08-04. Thresholds are adjusted for inflation and changed by statute — follow the citation and confirm the figure in effect on your solicitation's date before you rely on it.
Micro-purchase threshold compared with the terms it gets confused with
Micro-purchase threshold vs Simplified acquisition threshold
Below the micro-purchase threshold no competitive quotes are needed at all; between it and the SAT the buy uses simplified procedures and is reserved for small business.
What Simplified acquisition thresholdmeans →Where this definition comes from
Federal contracting is one of the few fields where the authoritative answer is free, public and one click away. These are the sources this page is built from — go and read them.
- FAR 2.101→
The FAR's own definitions section.
- FAR 13.202→
Purchase guidelines for micro-purchases.
This page explains a term in plain English and cites the authority it comes from. It is not legal advice, and the regulation governs where this page and the regulation differ.
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Micro-purchase threshold— common questions
- What is the micro-purchase threshold?
- The micro-purchase threshold is the level below which the government may buy without obtaining competitive quotations, set by FAR 2.101 at $15,000 generally, but at $2,000 for construction subject to the Davis-Bacon wage requirements and $2,500 for services subject to the Service Contract Labor Standards.
- What is the difference between Micro-purchase threshold and Simplified acquisition threshold?
- Below the micro-purchase threshold no competitive quotes are needed at all; between it and the SAT the buy uses simplified procedures and is reserved for small business.
- What is the micro-purchase threshold (general) for Micro-purchase threshold?
- $15,000, per FAR 2.101 This figure was read from that source on 2026-08-04; thresholds are revised, so check the citation before relying on it in a bid.
- Why does the micro-purchase threshold matter when you are bidding?
- Being easy to buy from below this threshold — registered, quick to quote, reliable — is how a lot of first federal relationships start.
Related terms
- Simplified acquisition threshold — Simplified Acquisition Threshold (SAT)
- Davis-Bacon Act — Wage Rate Requirements (Construction)
- Service Contract Act — Service Contract Labor Standards
- RFQ — Request for Quotation