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FAR and DFARS › FAR Part 25: Foreign Acquisition › Subpart 25.2

FAR 25.204 Evaluating offers of foreign construction material.

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 contracting officers evaluate offers that propose using foreign construction material under the Buy American statute. It describes when offerors must submit certain information, how a price evaluation factor is added to offers using foreign material excepted for unreasonable cost, and how offers with high domestic content may be treated as domestic offers. It matters because it affects how a contractor's price is evaluated and whether its foreign material proposal can be accepted.

Applies to: Offerors proposing foreign construction material and contracting officers evaluating those offers

What it requires

  • Offerors proposing to use foreign construction material other than that listed by the Government in the applicable clause, or covered by the WTO GPA or a Free Trade Agreement, must provide the information required by paragraphs (c) and (d) of the respective clauses.
  • The contracting officer must add 20 percent of the cost of any foreign construction material proposed for exception based on unreasonable cost of domestic materials, unless the head of the agency specifies a higher percentage.
  • In a tie, the contracting officer must give preference to an offer that does not include foreign construction material excepted at the request of the offeror on the basis of unreasonable cost.
  • If the contracting officer awards a contract to an offeror that proposed foreign construction material not listed in the applicable clause in the solicitation, the contracting officer must add the excepted materials to the list in the contract clause.

Key terms: foreign construction material · Buy American statute · unreasonable cost · critical item · domestic content

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

The text

(a) Offerors proposing to use foreign construction material other than that listed by the Government in the applicable clause at 52.225-9, paragraph (b)(2), or 52.225-11, paragraph (b)(3), or covered by the WTO GPA or a Free Trade Agreement (paragraph (b)(2) of 52.225-11), must provide the information required by paragraphs (c) and (d) of the respective clauses.

(b)(1) For construction material that is not a critical item and does not contain critical components. (i) Unless the head of the agency specifies a higher percentage, the contracting officer shall add to the offered price 20 percent of the cost of any foreign construction material proposed for exception from the requirements of the Buy American statute based on the unreasonable cost of domestic construction materials. In the case of a tie, the contracting officer shall give preference to an offer that does not include foreign construction material excepted at the request of the offeror on the basis of unreasonable cost.

(ii) For construction material that is not a COTS item and does not consist wholly or predominantly of iron or steel or a combination of both, if the procedures in paragraph (b)(1)(i) of this section result in an unreasonable cost determination for the domestic construction material offer or there is no domestic construction material offer received, and the low offer is for foreign construction material that does not exceed 55 percent domestic content, the contracting officer shall—

(A) Treat the lowest offer of foreign construction material that is manufactured in the United States and exceeds 55 percent domestic content as a domestic offer; and

(B) Determine the reasonableness of the cost of this offer by applying the evaluation factor listed in paragraph (b)(1)(i) to the low offer.

(iii) The procedures in paragraph (b)(1)(ii) of this section will no longer apply as of January 1, 2030.

(2) For construction material that is a critical item or contains critical components. (i) The contracting officer shall add to the offered price 20 percent, plus the additional preference factor identified for the critical item or construction material containing critical components listed at section 25.105, of the cost of any foreign construction material proposed for exception from the requirements of the Buy American statute based on the unreasonable cost of domestic construction materials. In the case of a tie, the contracting officer shall give preference to an offer that does not include foreign construction material excepted at the request of the offeror on the basis of unreasonable cost. See 25.105 for the list of critical components and critical items.

(ii) For construction material that is not a COTS item and does not consist wholly or predominantly of iron or steel or a combination of both, if the procedures in paragraph (b)(2)(i) of this section result in an unreasonable cost determination for the domestic construction material offer or there is no domestic construction material offer received, and the low offer is for foreign construction material that does not exceed 55 percent domestic content, the contracting officer shall—

(A) Treat the lowest offer of foreign construction material that is manufactured in the United States and exceeds 55 percent domestic content as a domestic offer; and

(B) Determine the reasonableness of the cost of this offer by applying the evaluation factors listed in this paragraph (b)(2) to the low offer.

(iii) The procedures in paragraph (b)(2)(ii) of this section will no longer apply as of January 1, 2030.

(c) Offerors also may submit alternate offers based on use of equivalent domestic construction material to avoid possible rejection of the entire offer if the Government determines that an exception permitting use of a particular foreign construction material does not apply.

(d) If the contracting officer awards a contract to an offeror that proposed foreign construction material not listed in the applicable clause in the solicitation (paragraph (b)(2) of 52.225-9, or paragraph (b)(3) of 52.225-11), the contracting officer must add the excepted materials to the list in the contract clause.

Sections it refers to

  • 52.225-9 Buy American—Construction Materials.
  • 52.225-11 Buy American—Construction Materials Under Trade Agreements.
  • 25.105 Critical components and critical items.

Sections that refer to it

← 25.203 Preaward determinations. · 25.205 Postaward determinations. →

Rule changes for FAR Part 25

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

FAR 25.204 Evaluating offers of foreign construction material · SpendQuery