PSC W042

Overview

The Product Service Code (PSC) taxonomy is the government-wide classification system used to identify products and services in federal procurement records, enabling consistent FPDS/SAM reporting, spend analysis, category alignment, and program-level tracking. Agencies and vendors reference the PSC Manual and supporting files for active PSC values, descriptors, and change history to ensure consistent reporting across awards and actions.¹

PSC W042 designates lease or rental of equipment related to fire-fighting, rescue, safety, and environmental-protection equipment and materials. Contracting offices report actions under this PSC when the predominant requirement is lease or rental of those categories of equipment rather than purchase of supplies or performance of unrelated services.²

• See also on G2X:
  • PSC W042
  • PSC W043
  • PSC W039

What this PSC covers

• Lease or rental of fire‑fighting apparatus and related support equipment.
• Rental of rescue equipment and temporary rescue systems.
• Lease or short-term rental of safety equipment (for example, protective gear and monitoring devices).
• Rental of environmental‑protection equipment and materials used for containment, cleanup, or monitoring.
• Time-limited equipment support for incident response, exercises, or temporary operations.

Source: PSC descriptor and code listing for W042 in the official PSC files.²

Related NAICS and PSC codes

Not specified by official sources.¹

Typical procurements and reporting

Common contract actions reported under PSC W042 include short‑term equipment leases for emergency response, rentals supporting contingency operations or training exercises, and time‑limited environmental remediation equipment leases. When the leased equipment is the predominant element of the award, contracting officers record the PSC field in FPDS accordingly; FPDS policy requires the selected PSC to reflect the primary product or service procured.³

Frequently asked questions

• Q: What exactly does PSC W042 represent?
  A: PSC W042 represents lease or rental of equipment for fire‑fighting, rescue, safety, and environmental protection; use it to report procurements where lease/rental of those equipment categories is the primary requirement.²

• Q: When should a contracting officer choose W042 in FPDS?
  A: Choose PSC W042 when the predominant deliverable is lease or rental of fire‑fighting, rescue, safety, or environmental‑protection equipment; if supplies or services are predominant, select the appropriate supply or service PSC instead. FPDS guidance requires the PSC to reflect the primary product or service procured.³

• Q: Is W042 used for purchases of equipment or only leases/rentals?
  A: PSC W042 is intended for lease or rental actions; purchases of identical equipment are reported using the applicable supply PSCs rather than W042. For definitive PSC classifications, consult the PSC Manual and the current PSC spreadsheet.²

• Q: Where is the authoritative PSC list and change history maintained?
  A: The Product and Service Code Manual and its supporting files on Acquisition.gov are the official sources for active PSC codes, descriptors, and change records; those pages and published spreadsheets document updates and historical changes.¹

Useful resources

• PSC W042 — G2X overview page for this PSC.
• Product and Service Code Manual (Acquisition.gov landing and archives).¹
• PSC April 2025 (official PSC spreadsheet; contains W042 descriptor).²
• Federal Procurement Data System (FPDS) — official awards reporting system (reference for how PSCs are recorded).³

References

1. Product and Service Code Manual — Acquisition.gov PSC Manual landing and archives. https://www.acquisition.gov/psc-manual/all
2. PSC April 2025 (official PSC spreadsheet and manual page) — Acquisition.gov. https://www.acquisition.gov/content/psc-april-2025.xlsx
3. Federal Procurement Data System (FPDS) — FPDS homepage. https://www.fpds.gov