A shipment arrives at a federal dock. Something is wrong: the wrong model, a short count, a crushed carton, a missing certificate. Now two things have to happen quickly. The government has to record what it found, and the supplier has to fix it.
This article walks through how receiving and acceptance work for government supplies, what a rejection record should contain, and what a supplier should do in the first business day. It is written for the receiving office and the contracting officer, and it shows how we handle the supplier side.
Receiving, inspection and acceptance are different steps
People use the words interchangeably, and that causes trouble. They are separate.
- Receiving is the dock confirming that a delivery arrived, matching it to the order, and counting it.
- Inspection is checking the goods against the contract: right item, right quantity, right condition, right markings.
- Acceptance is the Government's formal acknowledgment that the supplies conform to the contract. It is usually recorded by whoever the contract designates, in the receiving report or a similar document.
A signature on a carrier's delivery slip proves a box arrived. It does not by itself prove the contents conform. That is why receiving staff are encouraged to note exceptions on the delivery document and why a careful supplier does not read a signed slip as acceptance. Who bears the risk of loss during transit is a separate question, covered in FOB destination for receiving staff.
What the clauses say
Most commercial supply contracts include FAR 52.212-4. Paragraph (a), Inspection/Acceptance, makes four points that matter at the dock:
- The supplier may tender for acceptance only items that conform to the contract.
- The Government may inspect or test anything tendered.
- The Government may require repair or replacement of nonconforming supplies at no increase in contract price.
- Rights after acceptance must be used within a reasonable time after the defect was discovered or should have been discovered, and before any substantial change occurs in the condition of the item, unless the defect caused the change.
If repair or replacement will not fix the problem, or is not possible, the clause lets the Government seek an equitable price reduction or adequate consideration for accepting the nonconforming supplies.
Some non-commercial fixed-price supply contracts use FAR 52.246-2, Inspection of Supplies, Fixed-Price, instead. It says the Government may reject supplies that are defective or do not conform, that the supplier must remove rejected supplies unless the contracting officer allows correction in place, that the Government must accept or reject as promptly as practicable after delivery, and that acceptance is conclusive except for latent defects, fraud, gross mistakes amounting to fraud, or as the contract otherwise provides. It also gives the supplier a period to cure after notice, generally 10 days unless the contracting officer authorizes more. Which clause applies depends on the contract, so check the clause list in yours.
Contracting officers also work from FAR 46.407, Nonconforming supplies or services. In plain terms: the contracting officer should reject supplies that do not conform in all respects, generally lets the supplier correct or replace when the delivery schedule allows, and may accept a nonconforming item only through a documented process with an adjustment. The rejection notice has to state the reasons and go out promptly, and it must be in writing in certain cases, such as when items are rejected away from the supplier's plant or the supplier keeps offering nonconforming items. The same section warns that delayed notice matters, because acceptance may be implied as a matter of law.
The takeaway for the buyer is practical: reject in writing, soon, and say why.
How to document a rejection
A good rejection record lets the supplier act without a phone call. If you are at the dock, capture these:
- The order. Contract or order number, delivery date, and the carrier's tracking or pro number.
- Which line. The line item number or numbers from the order, and what was supposed to be on each.
- What was wrong. One plain sentence per problem: wrong model, short quantity, damaged, wrong country of origin marking, missing paperwork.
- Quantity. How many were ordered, how many arrived, how many are affected. Count units, not boxes, unless the order is by the box.
- Photos. The shipping label, the outer carton, the damage, the product label or serial number, and the packing slip. Take photos before opening more than you need to.
- The delivery receipt notation. If you signed for it, note on the carrier's document what you found, such as "carton damaged" or "count not verified."
- Storage. Where the rejected goods are being held and who to contact to arrange pickup.
- Who is rejecting. The name and role of the person making the notice, and the date.
Send it to the contact named in the order, with the contracting officer copied. One email with the facts is better than three phone calls.
What a supplier should do within one business day
A supplier that has done this before treats the first business day as the window. Here is the sequence we follow:
- Acknowledge in writing. Confirm receipt of the notice, repeat the line and the problem back, and name who owns the fix. No arguing about fault at this stage.
- Check our records. Compare the notice to the order, the acknowledgment and the shipping record. If the packing slip printed the wrong numbers, or the source shipped the wrong item, we find out which.
- Offer a remedy with a date. A replacement, a corrected shipment or a pickup and credit, at no cost to the government. If the goods must be sourced again, say when they will ship.
- Arrange the return. Send a return label or schedule a carrier pickup, so the dock is not storing someone else's goods. The notice should say where the rejected items are, so we do not guess.
- Update the order report. Mark the line as rejected, the replacement as in progress, and the new tracking when it exists.
- Ask before changing anything. If the replacement is not the same item, that is a substitution question for the contracting officer, not a decision for us. See substitutions and discontinued items.
If the damage happened in transit, the carrier claim is the supplier's to manage under the delivery terms of the order, and the government should not have to chase it.
Returns
A return should be simple for the receiving office. Ask the supplier for a prepaid label or a scheduled pickup, in writing, with a reference number. Keep the original packaging where you can. If the government will not release goods to a courier without authorization, say so in the notice, so the supplier can send the right paperwork.
If goods are rejected and left sitting, the supplier is the one that must remove them under the clause, unless the contracting officer says otherwise. That is not an invitation to ignore a rejection notice: unanswered notices are how small problems become formal ones.
Acceptance timing and the invoice
Acceptance matters beyond the dock because payment follows from it. We explain the full payment sequence in what to expect from a government supplier. The short version: under the Prompt Payment rules at 5 CFR 1315.4, for most deliveries the invoice is treated as received no earlier than the seventh day after delivery, or the date of acceptance if the agency accepts sooner.
For a rejection, that means a quick, written decision helps everyone. The supplier should not invoice for a rejected line. If part of an order is accepted and part is rejected, the supplier should invoice only for what was accepted and make the rejection visible in the order report. A supplier that invoices for goods the receiving office rejected creates a correction cycle for the paying office.
How Lunula Supply handles it
We acknowledge a rejection notice within one business day, confirm which line and what went wrong, and give a replacement date and a return plan at no cost to the government. We verify availability of the exact item before any replacement ships, we ask before any substitution, and we keep the running order report current so the rejection, the correction and the tracking are in one place. One contact handles it from the first notice through the replacement.
If you receive supplies and want a vendor that works this way, contact us or see what we supply.
Frequently asked questions
Can the government reject a shipment after signing for it?
Signing a carrier's delivery slip confirms a box arrived, not that the contents conform. Acceptance is the Government's formal step under the contract. Rejection should still be prompt and in writing, because delay can undercut it.
What should a rejection notice include?
The order number, the line item, what was wrong, the quantities affected, photos, the location of the goods and the name of the person rejecting. That lets the supplier correct the problem without back and forth.
Who pays for the replacement?
Under FAR 52.212-4(a), the Government may require repair or replacement of nonconforming supplies at no increase in contract price. The supplier carries the cost of the replacement and the return.
Should the supplier invoice for a rejected line?
No. The supplier should invoice for accepted supplies only, and wait to invoice the corrected line until the replacement is delivered and accepted.
General information, not legal advice. References were checked against acquisition.gov and ecfr.gov on the publish date. Your contract's terms control.