FAR and DFARS › FAR Part 14: Sealed Bidding › Subpart 14.2
FAR 14.201-1 Uniform contract format.
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 tells contracting officers to use the uniform contract format for invitations for bids and contracts whenever practical, because it makes those documents easier to prepare and use. It lists certain acquisitions, such as construction, shipbuilding, subsistence items, and some simplified or special-form acquisitions, where the format need not be used. It also explains how the format's parts are handled in solicitations and awards.
Applies to: Contracting officers preparing invitations for bids and contracts
What it requires
- Prepare invitations for bids and contracts using the uniform contract format to the maximum practicable extent
- Include Parts I, II, III, and IV in solicitations to which the uniform contract format applies
- Mark any section of the uniform contract format that does not apply in the solicitation
- Upon award, retain Part IV in the contract file but do not physically include it in the resulting contract
Key terms: uniform contract format · invitations for bids · simplified contract format · Part IV · Section K
Written by AI from this section's text. A guide, not legal advice: the text below rules.
The text
(a) Contracting officers shall prepare invitations for bids and contracts using the uniform contract format outlined in Table 14-1 to the maximum practicable extent. The use of the format facilitates preparation of the solicitation and contract as well as reference to, and use of, those documents by bidders and contractors. It need not be used for acquisition of the following:
(1) Construction (see part 36).
(2) Shipbuilding (including design, construction, and conversion), ship overhaul, and ship repair.
(3) Subsistence items.
(4) Supplies or services requiring special contract forms prescribed elsewhere in this regulation that are inconsistent with the uniform contract format.
(5) Firm-fixed-price or fixed-price with economic price adjustment acquisitions that use the simplified contract format (see 14.201-9).
(b) Information suitable for inclusion in invitations for bids under the uniform contract format shall also be included in invitations for bids not subject to that format if applicable.
(c) Solicitations to which the uniform contract format applies shall include Parts I, II, III, and IV. If any section of the uniform contract format does not apply, the contracting officer should so mark that section in the solicitation. Upon award, the contracting officer shall not physically include Part IV in the resulting contract, but shall retain it in the contract file. (See 4.1201(c).) Award by acceptance of a bid on the award portion of Standard Form 33, Solicitation Offer and Award (SF 33), Standard Form 26, Award/Contract (SF 26), or Standard Form 1447, Solicitation/Contract (SF 1447), incorporates Section K, Representations, certifications, and other statements of bidders, in the resultant contract even though not physically attached. The representations and certifications shall be incorporated by reference in the contract by using 52.204-19 (see 4.1202(b)), or for acquisitions of commercial products and commercial services see 52.212-4(v).
Table 14-1
Uniform Contract Format
Sections it refers to
Sections that refer to it
- 14.201-9 Simplified contract format.
← 14.201 Preparation of invitations for bids. · 14.201-2 Part I—The Schedule. →
Rule changes for FAR Part 14
- Federal Acquisition Regulation: Revolutionary Federal Acquisition Regulation Overhaul Parts 14, 28, 36, and 52 ↗ · proposed 2026-09-18 · comments due 2026-10-19
Source: eCFR, 48 CFR chapters 1 and 2 (GPO GovInfo bulk data) ↗. Plain words for the terms: glossary.