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FAR and DFARS › DFARS Part 236: Construction and Architect-engineer Contracts › Subpart 236.6

DFARS 236.606-70 Statutory fee limitation.

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 DFARS section applies a statutory 10 percent limit on the contract price or fee for architect-engineer services that involve preparing designs, plans, drawings, and specifications, measured against the project's estimated construction cost. The limit also applies to contract modifications, including new work and redesign work, using the calculation methods described. It matters because it caps how much a contractor can be paid for those design-related services.

Applies to: Architect-engineer services contracts for the Departments of the Army, Navy, and Air Force

What it requires

  • Keep the price or fee for design, plan, drawing, and specification preparation at or below 10 percent of the project's estimated construction cost
  • Apply the 10 percent limit to contract modifications, including work not initially included and redesign work
  • For redesign work, calculate the percentage by dividing total contract design cost by total estimated construction cost and ensure it does not exceed 10 percent

Key terms: architect-engineer services · estimated construction cost · contract modification · redesign work · statutory fee limitation

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

The text

(a) The statutes at 10 U.S.C. 7540, 8612, and 9540, for the Departments of the Army, Navy, and Air Force, respectively, limit the contract price (or fee) for architect-engineer services for the preparation of designs, plans, drawings, and specifications to 10 percent of the project's estimated construction cost.

(b) The 10 percent limit also applies to contract modifications, including modifications involving—

(1) Work not initially included in the contract; apply the 10 percent limit to the revised total estimated construction cost; and

(2) Redesign work; apply the 10 percent limit by—

(i) Adding the estimated construction cost of the redesign features to the original estimated construction cost;

(ii) Adding the contract cost for the original design to the contract cost for redesign; and

(iii) Dividing the total contract design cost by the total estimated construction cost. The resulting percentage may not exceed the 10 percent statutory limitation.

(c) The 10 percent limit applies only to that portion of the contract (or modification) price attributable to the preparation of designs, plans, drawings, and specifications. If a contract or modification also includes other services, the part of the price attributable to the other services is not subject to the 10 percent limit.

← 236.606 Negotiations. · 236.609 Contract clauses. →

Rule changes for DFARS Part 236

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

DFARS 236.606-70 Statutory fee limitation · SpendQuery