UNALLOWABLE COST(S)

Indirect or Overhead costs deemed to be improper for purposes of computing the price and/or Cost of Government Contracts. See Allowable Cost.

UNAVOIDABLE DELAY

Any delay which cannot be prevented. See Avoidable Delay.

UNCERTAINTY

A state of knowledge where: (a) the extent, value, or consequence of a condition, event, outcome, or circumstance is not predictable; (b) the possible outcomes in a given scenario are such that it is not possible to assign probabilities in advance; and, (c) there is ignorance about the order or nature of things. Some techniques for coping with this problem are Uncertainty Analysis, fortiori analysis (making use of conclusions inferred from another reasoned conclusion or recognized fact), Contingency Analysis, and Sensitivity Analysis.

UNCERTAINTY ANALYSIS

A systematic Analysis of the range of probable Costs about a Point Estimate, based on considerations of Requirements, Cost Estimating, and technical Uncertainty. The intent of such an analysis is to provide the decision maker with additional information for use in making decisions. Such an analysis is not expected to improve the precision of the point Estimate, but rather to place it in perspective with respect to various contingencies.

UNDEFINITIZED CONTRACT ACTION (UCA)

New Procurement action entered into by an Agency for which contractual terms, specifications, or price are not agreed upon before performance is begun. UCAs, or Letter Contracts, are utilized where Negotiations are required to definitize prices, but performance of the task must be started before negotiations are finalized.

UNDELIVERED ORDERS

1) The amount of orders for goods and services outstanding and not delivered to a customer. This amount includes any orders for goods or services for which advance payment has been made, but which have not yet been received. 2) Any document, meeting the criteria of an Obligation, issued for material or services, that has not yet been received by the activity that ordered it. Undelivered orders include requisitions applicable to reimbursable orders issued for material to be delivered from a stock funded inventory, and purchase orders issued which cite annual Appropriations.

UNDER THE LIMIT CHANGES

A dollar amount or allowance added to a Contract to cover the Costs and profit for Out-of-Scope Changes that are too small in dollar value to process on an administrative economical basis. The limit (i.e., $5,000, $20,000, $50,000) for under the limit changes is set forth in the contract terms and conditions. The total amount is based on a forecast of the number of under the limit changes over the life of the contract multiplied by the under limit dollar amount for each change. Since these are out of scope changes, Fee or Profit is also applied.

UNDERRUN

See Contract Underrun.

UNDISTRIBUTED BUDGET

The Budget applicable to contract effort, which has not yet been allocated to Cost Account budgets, or to Management Reserve.

UNEXPENDED BALANCE

The amount of Budget Authority previously granted to an Agency, but still unspent and available for future spending. The unexpended balance is equal to the sum of the obligated and unobligated balances.

UNFILLED ORDER

Any document issued for goods or services, which meet the criteria of an obligation, but which have not yet been received.

UNIT

1) Any one part, or combination of parts, with a specific function. 2) A term usually used to identify individual End Items or major delivered items. 3) A measure of production.

UNIT COST

1) The Cost in money, or hours, of one unit. 2) A particular unit location on a Learning Curve.

UNIT (COST) CURVE

A plot of the Cost of each unit of a given quantity. The total cost Curve shows the sum of the cost of each individual unit.

UNIT FABRICATION COST

Those Elements of Recurring Cost directly associated with the manufacture of a specific item. The Costs include fabrication, Assembly, purchasing, functional and Acceptance Testing, inspecting (Quality Control), and packaging of the unit for delivery or shipment.

UNIT HOURS

The manufacturing hours for a specific item, at a particular unit location, on a Learning Curve.

UNIT OF ISSUE

The physical measurement, or count, of quantities of an item for procurement, storage, and issue (for example, dozen, gallon, or pound, etc).

UNIT PRICE

The Cost or price of an item of supply based on the Unit of Issue.

UNIT QUANTITY

The number of deliverable units in a contract.

UNIT TIME

The labor hours associated with producing a given unit.

UNITED STATES CODE (USC)

A consolidation and codification of the general and permanent laws of the United States, arranged according to subject matter under 50 title headings, in alphabetical order to a large degree. The USC sets out the current status of the laws, as amended, and presents the laws in a concise and usable form, without requiring recourse to the many volumes of the Statutes at Large containing the individual Amendments.

UNIVERSE

1) The entire group of items having stated similar Characteristics, which are to be measured, especially as to degree of variability. 2) The entire set of individual items or values, from which a Sample is drawn.

UNKNOWN-UNKNOWNS

Future situations or events impossible to plan, predict, or even know what to look for.

UNLIMITED (DATA) RIGHTS

The right to use, duplicate, release, or disclose Technical Data or Computer Software, in whole, or in part, in any manner, and for any purpose, and to have or permit others to do so. See also Rights in Data.

UNLIQUIDATED COMMITMENTS

Those Commitments which are outstanding on the "as of" date of a report.

UNLIQUIDATED OBLIGATION (ULO)

An Obligation incurred, for which payment has not been made. ULOs may consist of an Accounts Payable, or the obligation for goods and services ordered, but not yet received.

UNLIQUIDATED BALANCE

The amount of Budget Authority previously granted to an Agency, but not yet committed by that agency, that continues to be available for Commitment in the future.

UNSCHEDULED MAINTENANCE

Corrective Maintenance required by item conditions.

UNSOLICITED PROPOSAL

1) A Quotation or informal Bid, usually generated within a company and not related to a formal customer Request for Proposal. 2) A written Proposal submitted to an Agency on the submitter's initiative, for the purpose of obtaining a contract with the Government, and which is not in response to a formal or informal request.

UPKEEP

The preventive, restorative, or additive work performed on equipment or systems by operating units and by support equipment activities. The term applies to any method of processing the equipment, that is required to ensure the completion of standard operating periods or service tours, including, but not limited to, servicing, periodic inspections, functional and bench tests, replacement, preservation, modification, and repair. An upkeep process extends from the time some of the work is started, until all of the work is completed, including temporary interruptions in Direct Labor.

UPTIME

That Element of active time, during which an item is either alert, reacting, or performing a mission.

USAGE

1) The act or manner of using. 2) A customary practice. 3) A term used to denote the additional Cost to repair or replace items damaged in handling, assembling, installing, or testing. 4) The cost of material that must be purchased to manufacture a part over and above that specifically dimensioned in an engineering Bill of Material.

USER

1) That command, unit, or Element which will be the recipient of a production item, for use in accomplishing a designated Mission. 2) The operator and/or maintainer of a system. 3) The customer.

USER FRIENDLY

Primarily used to describe Automatic Data Processing equipment and software, user friendly implies that a machine and/or program is Compatible with a person's ability to operate them successfully and easily.

UTILITY

1) Usefulness. 2) The state or quality of being useful militarily or operationally. 3) An item is said to have greater utility if it is designed for, or possesses, a number of useful or practical purposes, rather than a single, specialized one.