41 U.S.C. § 109
Section 109 · Advance or partial payments to subcontractors; excessive payments, interest, liability of war contractor
Amended 1 time on record
Applied in 2 court decisions — leading case Commercial Credit Corp. v. California Shipbuilding Corp. (1947)
Most recently applied in Agustawestland North America, Inc. v. United States (August 2016)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
(a) In General.—In this subtitle, the term “major system” means a combination of elements that will function together to produce the capabilities required to fulfill a mission need. These elements may include hardware, equipment, software, or a combination of hardware, equipment, and software, but do not include construction or other improvements to real property.
(b) System Deemed To Be Major System.—A system is deemed to be a major system if—
(1) the Department of Defense is responsible for the system and the total expenditures for research, development, testing, and evaluation for the system are estimated to exceed $75,000,000 (based on fiscal year 1980 constant dollars) or the eventual total expenditure for procurement exceeds $300,000,000 (based on fiscal year 1980 constant dollars);
(2) a civilian agency is responsible for the system and total expenditures for the system are estimated to exceed the greater of $750,000 (based on fiscal year 1980 constant dollars) or the dollar threshold for a major system established by the agency pursuant to Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A–109, entitled “Major Systems Acquisitions”; or
(3) the head of the agency responsible for the system designates the system a major system.