PSC AK13

Overview

The Product Service Code (PSC) is a federal taxonomy that classifies what the U.S. government buys, supporting consistent procurement reporting and analysis. PSCs are recorded on contract actions in FPDS and, for certain reporting, appear in SAM. ³

PSC AK13 denotes “Commerce and Housing Credit R&D Services; Commerce and Housing Credit; Experimental Development.” It applies when the principal purpose is experimental development within the commerce and housing credit domain (for example, federal credit, mortgage, or related economic credit programs) rather than basic or applied research, administrative expenses, or facilities/equipment. ¹

What this PSC covers

• Experimental development activities in the Commerce and Housing Credit area, as defined in the PSC Manual’s R&D stage 3 (“experimental development”). ¹
• Design, construction, and testing of experimental prototypes for materials, devices, systems, or methods relevant to commerce and housing credit missions. ¹
• First-of-a-kind technology demonstrations at scale when additional refinements (feedback R&D) are realistically expected after the initial demonstration. ¹
• R&D service efforts coded under the “A” series (two letters plus two digits), where the fourth position “3” indicates experimental development for the AK major area. ¹
• Work that is predominantly labor-based R&D services under AK (commerce and housing credit) rather than the purchase of products supporting R&D, which must use product PSCs. ¹
• Excludes user demonstrations conducted solely to validate costs/benefits for a specific use case (e.g., low-rate initial production). ¹
• Excludes non-experimental pre-production development (e.g., tooling or production-facility development); such efforts are not R&D services. ¹

Related NAICS and PSC codes

Code structure and stage mapping (R&D “A” series)

• R&D PSCs use two letters plus two digits: the first letter “A” marks R&D; the second letter indicates the major area (here “K” for Commerce and Housing Credit); the third digit identifies a sub-area within that major area; the fourth digit is the R&D stage. ¹
• R&D stages in the fourth position are standardized: 1 = Basic Research, 2 = Applied Research, 3 = Experimental Development, 4 = Administrative Expenses for R&D, 5 = Expenses for R&D Facilities and Major Equipment. ¹

Frequently asked questions

• What does PSC AK13 represent?
  PSC AK13 is “Commerce and Housing Credit R&D Services; Commerce and Housing Credit; Experimental Development.” It covers experimental development work in this mission area, distinct from basic (AK11) and applied (AK12) research stages. ¹

• How is experimental development different from basic or applied research?
  The PSC Manual defines experimental development as creative, systematic work using prior research and practical experience to produce new or improved products or processes. Basic research seeks new knowledge, while applied research targets a specific practical aim or objective. ¹

• When should AK13 not be used?
  Do not use AK13 for user demonstrations focused solely on validating costs/benefits for a specific use case or for pre-production work such as tooling or production-facility build-out; those activities are outside the scope of R&D services. ¹

• Where is AK13 recorded on a federal award?
  PSCs are captured on contract actions in FPDS, and the PSC selected should reflect the predominant service being purchased according to the PSC Manual’s guidance. ²

• Does SAM use PSCs?
  Yes. For DoD, specific PSC families require service contract information to be reported in SAM as part of the Service Contract Inventory; these requirements are set out in PGI 204.1703 under PGI 204.17. ³

Useful resources

• G2X — PSC AK13 overview: https://app.g2xchange.com/psc/AK13
• Product and Service Code Manual (index and downloads). ²
• PSC Manual, April 2025 edition (current official manual). ¹
• DoD PGI 204.17 Service Contract Inventory (PSC patterns requiring SAM reporting). ³

References

1. PSC Manual April 2025 (current), U.S. General Services Administration. https://www.acquisition.gov/sites/default/files/manual/PSC%20Manual%20April%202025.pdf
2. Product and Service Code Manual (Acquisition.gov index). https://www.acquisition.gov/psc-manual
3. PGI 204.17 – Service Contract Inventory. https://www.acquisition.gov/dfars/pgi/PGI-204.17-Service-Contract-Inventory