FAR and DFARS › FAR Part 12: Acquisition of Commercial Products and Commercial Services › Subpart 12.2

FAR 12.216 Unenforceability of unauthorized obligations.

The codified text (eCFR, as of 2026-10-02). Under the Revolutionary FAR Overhaul ↗, agencies follow class deviations with new text for many parts while the formal rules go through the Federal Register: check the solicitation and your contract's clauses, which rule.

In plain English

This section explains that many supplies and services, especially information technology, come with supplier license agreements such as EULAs or Terms of Service. Some of these agreements contain indemnification clauses that conflict with Federal law and are unenforceable, and agreeing to them could violate the Anti-Deficiency Act. Paragraph (u) of the clause at 52.212-4 prevents such violations.

Applies to: Acquisitions of supplies or services subject to supplier license agreements

Key terms: End User License Agreement (EULA) · Terms of Service (TOS) · indemnification clauses · Anti-Deficiency Act · 52.212-4

Written by AI from this section's text. A guide, not legal advice: the text below rules.

The text

Many supplies or services are acquired subject to supplier license agreements. These are particularly common in information technology acquisitions, but they may apply to any supply or service. For example, computer software and services delivered through the internet (web services) are often subject to license agreements, referred to as End User License Agreements (EULA), Terms of Service (TOS), or other similar legal instruments or agreements. Many of these agreements contain indemnification clauses that are inconsistent with Federal law and unenforceable, but which could create a violation of the Anti-Deficiency Act (31 U.S.C. 1341) if agreed to by the Government. Paragraph (u) of the clause at 52.212-4 prevents any such violations.

Sections it refers to

  • 52.212-4 Contract Terms and Conditions—Commercial Products and Commercial Services.

← 12.215 Notification of overpayment. · 12.300 Scope of subpart. →

Rule changes for FAR Part 12

Source: eCFR, 48 CFR chapters 1 and 2 (GPO GovInfo bulk data) ↗. Plain words for the terms: glossary.

FAR 12.216 Unenforceability of unauthorized obligations · SpendQuery