FAR Part 18: Emergency Acquisitions

In plain English

FAR Part 18 identifies acquisition flexibilities available for emergency acquisitions, including generally available flexibilities and those only under prescribed circumstances. It matters to contractors because it allows agencies to streamline the acquisition process during emergencies, which can affect competition, registration, and other requirements.

Key rules

• Contractors are not required to be registered in SAM at the time of offer submission for contracts awarded due to unusual and compelling urgency or by certain contracting officers deployed or outside the U.S. (18.102)
• Contracting officers need not submit a synopsis notice when there is unusual and compelling urgency and the Government would be seriously injured by complying with notice time periods. (18.103)
• Agencies may limit the number of sources and full and open competition need not be provided for contracting actions involving urgent requirements. (18.104)
• Purchase from Federal Prison Industries is not mandatory and a waiver is not required if public exigency requires immediate delivery or performance. (18.106)
• Contracts may be awarded on a sole source basis to HUBZone, SDVOSB, and certain women-owned small businesses under emergency conditions. (18.115, 18.116, 18.117)
• Overtime approvals may be retroactive if justified by emergency circumstances. (18.118)
• The chief of the contracting office may waive the requirement to obtain a bid guarantee for emergency acquisitions when a performance bond or performance and payment bond is required. (18.121)
• Micro-purchase and simplified acquisition thresholds increase when the head of the agency determines supplies or services are to be used to support a contingency operation, defense against certain attacks, or a humanitarian or peacekeeping operation. (18.201, 18.202, 18.204)

Who does what

In practice

• During emergencies, you may face less competition as agencies can limit sources or award sole source contracts.
• You may not need to be registered in SAM to submit an offer for certain emergency contracts, but you must still comply with other requirements.
• Agencies may use streamlined procedures like oral requests for proposals or letter contracts, so be prepared for faster timelines.
• Thresholds for micro-purchases and simplified acquisitions may be higher, allowing agencies to make larger purchases without full competition.

Common pitfalls

• Assuming that emergency flexibilities exempt you from FAR Part 3 requirements on improper business practices and conflicts of interest—they do not.
• Believing that SAM registration is always required at offer submission; for certain emergency contracts, it is not.
• Overlooking that some flexibilities, like sole source awards to small businesses, still require eligibility under the specific program.
• Forgetting that overtime approvals may be retroactive, so you might not get prior approval but still need to justify the overtime.

Written by AI from this part's codified text (2026-10-04); cited sections are checked against the part. A guide, not legal advice: the regulation text, the solicitation and your contract rule.