About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

B-183915 1 (1975-06-27)

handle is hein.gao/gaobadcgy0001 and id is 1 raw text is: I. 0 LElt~. THE C MPT,1OLLER GENERAL a7~ .OF THE UNITED STATES WASHINGTON, D. C. 20548 ?7/ 5c, FILE: B-183915 DATE: June 25, 1975 MATTER OF: Defense Mapping Agency DIGEST: Where Government has received and retained benefit of repair parts ordered by its employee who lacked authority to do so, contractor, having acted in good faith, may be paid on guan- -tum valebant basis in accordance with agency recommendation. This decision to the Accounting and Finance Officer, Defense / Mapping Agency, is in response to a request for a decision pur- suant to 31 U.S.C. 74 as to the legality of payment for items to be used with survey equipment of the Defense Mapping School. These items were ordered during the period of October 23 through November 11, 1974, without an authorizing purchase order from Sur- veying and Engineering Supply Company, in a total amount of $6,599.01. The Defense Mapping Agency has indicated that there was an immediate requirement for the items ordered which the noncommis- sioned officer who placed the orders perceived as sufficiently urgent to justify proceeding informally. In addition, the officer believed that he had received permission to purchase the items because the items were to be purchased on a sole source basis and purchasing orders, he believed, were forthcoming. Although no purchase orders were in fact forthcoming, it is reported that an authorized procurement was in the process of being finalized. This situation was discovered during an internal audit and all outstanding orders with the vendor were cancelled. It is reported that internal controls have been established to prevent a recurrence of such unauthorized procurement actions. All items received have been distributed to various divisions where they have been or are in the process of being used for repairs. The account- ing and finance officer has recommended that full payment be made. Although the United States cannot be bound beyond the actual authority conferred upon its agents by statute or regulation, see United States v. Crance, 341 F. 2d 161, 166 (1965), the courts and our Office have recognized that in appropriate circumstances payment - 1 -

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most