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FAR and DFARS › FAR Part 25: Foreign Acquisition › Subpart 25.5

FAR 25.503 Group offers.

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 handle offers that are priced or awarded as a group of line items rather than item by item, in the context of Buy American and trade agreement rules. It tells them when to reject a group offer (for example, if any part would be a prohibited end product) and how to decide whether to apply an evaluation factor to the whole group. This matters because a contractor's pricing and grouping choices can affect whether its offer is evaluated as domestic or foreign and whether it wins.

Applies to: Contracting officers evaluating offers that specify award on a group of line items or all line items

What it requires

  • Reject an offer if award can only be made on a group and any part of the award would consist of prohibited end products
  • Reject an offer if the acquisition is covered by the WTO GPA and any part of the offer consists of items restricted under 25.403(c)
  • For an offer that restricts award to a group, determine for each line item whether to apply an evaluation factor
  • Compare the total evaluated price of the restricted offer against the tentative award pattern and award based on the tentative award pattern unless the restricted offer is less

Key terms: group of line items · prohibited end products · WTO GPA · evaluation factor · tentative award pattern

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

The text

(a) If the solicitation or an offer specifies that award can be made only on a group of line items or on all line items contained in the solicitation or offer, reject the offer—

(1) If any part of the award would consist of prohibited end products (see subpart 25.7); or

(2) If the acquisition is covered by the WTO GPA and any part of the offer consists of items restricted in accordance with 25.403(c).

(b) If an offer restricts award to a group of line items or to all line items contained in the offer, determine for each line item whether to apply an evaluation factor (see 25.504-4, Example 1).

(1) First, evaluate offers that do not specify an award restriction on a line item basis in accordance with 25.502, determining a tentative award pattern by selecting for each line item the offer with the lowest evaluated price.

(2) Evaluate an offer that specifies an award restriction against the offered prices of the tentative award pattern, applying the appropriate evaluation factor on a line item basis.

(3) Compute the total evaluated price for the tentative award pattern and the offer that specified an award restriction.

(4) Unless the total evaluated price of the offer that specified an award restriction is less than the total evaluated price of the tentative award pattern, award based on the tentative award pattern.

(c) If the solicitation specifies that award will be made only on a group of line items or all line items contained in the solicitation, determine the category of end products on the basis of each line item, but determine whether to apply an evaluation factor on the basis of the group of items (see 25.504-4, Example 2).

(1) If the proposed price of domestic end products exceeds 50 percent of the total proposed price of the group, evaluate the entire group as a domestic offer. Evaluate all other groups as foreign offers.

(2) For foreign offers, if the proposed price of domestic end products and eligible products exceeds 50 percent of the total proposed price of the group, evaluate the entire group as an eligible offer.

(3) Apply the evaluation factor to the entire group in accordance with 25.502.

(d) If no trade agreement applies to a solicitation and the solicitation specifies that award will be made only on a group of line items or all line items contained in the solicitation, determine the category of end products (i.e., domestic or foreign) on the basis of each line item, but determine whether to apply an evaluation factor on the basis of the group of items (see 25.504-4(c), Example 3).

(1) If the proposed price of domestic end products exceeds 50 percent of the total proposed price of the group, evaluate the entire group as a domestic offer. Evaluate all other groups as foreign offers.

(2) Apply the evaluation factor to the entire group in accordance with 25.502, except where 25.502(c)(4) applies and the evaluated price of the low offer remains less than the lowest domestic offer. Where the evaluated price of the low offer remains less than the lowest domestic offer, treat as a domestic offer any group where the proposed price of end products with a domestic content of at least 55 percent exceeds 50 percent of the total proposed price of the group.

(3) Apply the evaluation factor to the entire group in accordance with 25.502(c)(4).

Sections it refers to

  • 25.403 World Trade Organization Government Procurement Agreement and Free Trade Agreements.
  • 25.504-4 Group award basis.
  • 25.502 Application.

Sections that refer to it

← 25.502 Application. · 25.504 Evaluation Examples. →

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 25.503 Group offers · SpendQuery