FAR and DFARS › FAR Part 25: Foreign Acquisition › Subpart 25.10
FAR 25.1001 Waiver of right to examination of records.
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 how the government may waive its right to examine a contractor's records in certain foreign contracts. It requires contracting officers to first try to include the standard audit clause, and if that fails, to use an alternate clause only after a formal determination and findings, sometimes with the Comptroller General's concurrence. This matters to foreign contractors because it sets the conditions under which they might avoid full record examination.
Applies to: Negotiated contracts with foreign contractors
What it requires
- Insert the appropriate basic clause whenever possible in negotiated contracts with foreign contractors.
- Before using an alternate clause, exhaust all reasonable efforts to include the basic clause.
- Consider factors such as alternate sources of supply, additional cost, and time of delivery.
- Ensure the head of the agency executes a determination and findings with the required concurrence.
Key terms: basic clause · Alternate III · Alternate I · determination and findings · Comptroller General
Written by AI from this section's text. A guide, not legal advice: the text below rules.
The text
(a) Policy. The clause at 52.215-2, Audit and Records—Negotiation, prescribed at 15.209(b), and paragraph (d) of the clause at 52.212-5, Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive Orders—Commercial Products and Commercial Services, prescribed at 12.301(b)(4), implement 10 U.S.C. 3841 and 41 U.S.C. 4706. The basic clauses authorize examination of records by the Comptroller General.
(1) Insert the appropriate basic clause, whenever possible, in negotiated contracts with foreign contractors.
(2) The contracting officer may use 52.215-2 with its Alternate III or 52.212-5 with its Alternate I after—
(i) Exhausting all reasonable efforts to include the basic clause;
(ii) Considering factors such as alternate sources of supply, additional cost, and time of delivery; and
(iii) The head of the agency has executed a determination and findings in accordance with paragraph (b) of this section, with the concurrence of the Comptroller General. However, concurrence of the Comptroller General is not required if the contractor is a foreign government or agency thereof or is precluded by the laws of the country involved from making its records available for examination.
(b) Determination and findings. The determination and findings must—
(1) Identify the contract and its purpose, and identify if the contract is with a foreign contractor or with a foreign government or an agency of a foreign government;
(2) Describe the efforts to include the basic clause;
(3) State the reasons for the contractor's refusal to include the basic clause;
(4) Describe the price and availability of the supplies or services from the United States and other sources; and
(5) Determine that it will best serve the interest of the United States to use the appropriate alternate clause in paragraph (a)(2) of this section.
Sections it refers to
- 52.215-2 Audit and Records—Negotiation.
- 15.209 Solicitation provisions and contract clauses.
- 52.212-5 Contract Terms and Conditions Required To Implement Statutes or Executive Orders—Commercial Products and Commercial Services.
- 12.301 Solicitation provisions and contract clauses for the acquisition of commercial products and commercial services.
← 25.903 Exempted supplies. · 25.1002 Use of foreign currency. →
Rule changes for FAR Part 25
- Federal Acquisition Regulation: Trade Agreements Thresholds ↗ · final rule 2026-03-13 · effective 2026-03-13
- Federal Acquisition Regulation: Inflation Adjustment of Acquisition-Related Thresholds ↗ · final rule 2025-08-27 · effective 2025-10-01
- Federal Acquisition Regulation: List of Domestically Nonavailable Articles ↗ · final rule 2025-05-12 · effective 2025-06-11
- Federal Acquisition Regulation: Improving Consistency Between Procurement and Nonprocurement Procedures on Suspension and Debarment ↗ · final rule 2025-01-03 · effective 2025-01-17
- Federal Acquisition Regulation; Technical Amendments ↗ · final rule 2024-12-16 · effective 2025-01-03
- Federal Acquisition Regulation: Inflation Adjustment of Acquisition-Related Thresholds ↗ · proposed 2024-11-29 · comments due 2025-01-28
- Federal Acquisition Regulation: List of Domestically Nonavailable Articles ↗ · proposed 2024-10-23 · comments due 2024-12-23
- Federal Acquisition Regulation; Technical Amendments ↗ · final rule 2024-07-30 · effective 2024-08-29
Source: eCFR, 48 CFR chapters 1 and 2 (GPO GovInfo bulk data) ↗. Plain words for the terms: glossary.