FAR 52.241-6—Service Provisions.
Plain-English Summary
FAR 52.241-6, Service Provisions, is a utility-service clause that sets the operating rules for how service is measured, billed, tested, adjusted, and maintained under a federal utility contract. It covers metering equipment requirements, who furnishes and pays for meters, how multiple meters may be billed, what happens when a meter fails or reads inaccurately, how often meters must be read, prorating of short billing periods, periodic meter inspection and testing, government participation in tests, who pays for additional tests, acceptable meter accuracy tolerances, notice of anticipated changes in service volume or character, and the contractor’s duty to provide continuous service. It also addresses the contractor’s limited liability for service interruptions caused by events beyond its control, such as acts of God, strikes, or facility failures, and provides for equitable billing adjustments when interruptions exceed a specified duration in a billing period. In practice, this clause is designed to prevent disputes over utility quantities, meter accuracy, and billing fairness while protecting the Government’s ability to monitor service and obtain credits when service is interrupted or metering is wrong. It is especially important in utility procurements where service quality, continuity, and accurate measurement directly affect cost and mission support.
Key Rules
Contractor supplies meters
All service must be measured with suitable standard-manufacture metering equipment furnished, installed, maintained, repaired, calibrated, and read by the contractor at its expense. If more than one meter is used at a location, the contractor may bill them together when appropriate.
Faulty meter adjustments
If a meter fails or registers incorrectly, the parties must agree on the malfunction period and the amount of service delivered during that time, and the contractor must correct the error on the next invoice. The clause also sets a tolerance band for meters that are slightly fast or slow, beyond which the meter is not deemed correct.
Regular meter reading and proration
The contractor must read meters at roughly 30-day intervals, or according to the applicable regulatory body or bylaws. If billing is based on fewer than the stated number of days, the charges must be prorated.
Periodic meter testing
The contractor must inspect and test its installed meters at intervals not exceeding the stated number of years, at its own expense, and the Government may have a representative present. This ensures ongoing accuracy and gives the Government visibility into the testing process.
Government-requested additional tests
If the Contracting Officer requests extra tests, the contractor must perform them in the presence of Government representatives. The Government pays for the additional test only if the meter error is within the stated tolerance; otherwise the contractor bears the cost.
Accuracy standard for service meters
No meter may be placed in service or remain in service if its registration error exceeds the stated percentage under normal operating conditions. This creates a hard accuracy limit for acceptable metering performance.
Notice of service changes
The Contracting Officer must give reasonable notice of any material anticipated change in the volume or character of utility service needed at a location. This allows the contractor to plan capacity, operations, and billing impacts.
Continuity of service and billing relief
The contractor must use reasonable diligence to provide regular, uninterrupted service, but is not liable for interruptions caused by events beyond its control, including natural disasters, public enemy acts, fires, floods, earthquakes, strikes, or facility breakdowns. If interruptions exceed the stated number of hours in a billing period, the monthly bill, including any minimum charge, must be equitably adjusted.
Responsibilities
Contractor
Provide suitable metering equipment; furnish, install, maintain, repair, calibrate, and read meters at its own expense; bill multiple meters conjunctively when appropriate; investigate and agree on meter malfunctions; correct billing errors on the next invoice; read meters on the required schedule; prorate short billing periods; inspect and test meters at required intervals; allow Government representation during tests; perform additional tests when requested; keep meters within allowable accuracy limits; use reasonable diligence to provide continuous service; and apply billing adjustments when service interruptions exceed the contract threshold.
Contracting Officer
Give reasonable notice of anticipated material changes in service volume or character; request additional meter tests when needed; participate in resolving meter malfunction periods and service quantities when a meter fails; and ensure equitable billing adjustments are made when service interruptions exceed the stated duration.
Government Representatives
Attend meter inspections and tests when desired or when additional tests are conducted, observe the testing process, and support verification of meter accuracy and service measurements.
Cognizant Regulatory Body or Applicable Bylaws
Provide the governing policy for meter-reading intervals when local utility regulation or bylaws require a schedule different from the default approximately 30-day reading cycle.
Practical Implications
This clause is mainly about preventing billing disputes, so contractors should keep strong meter maintenance, calibration, and recordkeeping practices. Poor documentation makes it hard to prove how much service was delivered during a meter failure or interruption.
The blank spaces in the clause are critical because they set the tolerance for meter error, the minimum billing period for proration, the inspection interval, the tolerance for cost-shifting on extra tests, and the interruption threshold for billing credits. Those blanks must be filled in carefully during contract formation.
Contractors should expect Government scrutiny of meter accuracy and should be prepared to support test results, calibration records, and billing calculations. If a meter is outside the allowed error range, the contractor may have to absorb correction costs and billing adjustments.
The continuity-of-service language protects the contractor from liability for uncontrollable events, but it does not eliminate the obligation to provide reasonable diligence or to give billing relief when outages are prolonged. Contractors should not assume that force majeure-type events excuse all consequences.
Contracting officers should watch for mismatches between the clause’s default assumptions and the actual utility environment, especially where local regulation, utility bylaws, or service conditions require different reading intervals, testing practices, or outage treatment.
Official Regulatory Text
As prescribed in 41.501 (c)(5) , insert a clause substantially the same as the following: Service Provisions (Feb 1995) (a) Measurement of service. (1) All service furnished by the Contractor shall be measured by suitable metering equipment of standard manufacture, to be furnished, installed, maintained, repaired, calibrated, and read by the Contractor at its expense. When more than a single meter is installed at a service location, the readings thereof may be billed conjunctively, if appropriate. In the event any meter fails to register (or registers incorrectly) the service furnished, the parties shall agree upon the length of time of meter malfunction and the quantity of service delivered during such period of time. An appropriate adjustment shall be made to the next invoice for the purpose of correcting such errors. However, any meter which registers not more than ___ percent slow or fast shall be deemed correct. (2) The Contractor shall read all meters at periodic intervals of approximately 30 days or in accordance with the policy of the cognizant regulatory body or applicable bylaws. All billings based on meter readings of less than ___ days shall be prorated accordingly. (b) Meter test. (1) The Contractor, at its expense, shall periodically inspect and test Contractor-installed meters at intervals not exceeding _____ year(s). The Government has the right to have representation during the inspection and test. (2) At the written request of the Contracting Officer, the Contractor shall make additional tests of any or all such meters in the presence of Government representatives. The cost of such additional tests shall be borne by the Government if the percentage of errors is found to be not more than ___ percent slow or fast. (3) No meter shall be placed in service or allowed to remain in service which has an error in registration in excess of ___ percent under normal operating conditions. (c) Change in volume or character. Reasonable notice shall be given by the Contracting Officer to the Contractor regarding any material changes anticipated in the volume or characteristics of the utility service required at each location. (d) Continuity of service and consumption. The Contractor shall use reasonable diligence to provide a regular and uninterrupted supply of service at each service location, but shall not be liable for damages, breach of contract or otherwise, to the Government for failure, suspension, diminution, or other variations of service occasioned by or in consequence of any cause beyond the control of the Contractor, including but not limited to acts of God or of the public enemy, fires, floods, earthquakes, or other catastrophe, strikes, or failure or breakdown of transmission or other facilities. If any such failure, suspension, diminution, or other variation of service shall aggregate more than _______ hour(s) during any billing period hereunder, an equitable adjustment shall be made in the monthly billing specified in this contract (including the minimum monthly charge). (End of clause)