FAR and DFARS › FAR Part 26: Other Socioeconomic Programs › Subpart 26.5
FAR 26.505 Suspension of payments, termination of contract, and debarment and suspension actions.
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 lets the contracting officer suspend payments or terminate a contract for default if there is adequate evidence that the contractor failed to meet Drug-Free Workplace requirements or that employee drug convictions show a lack of good faith effort. The officer must then refer the matter to the agency's suspending and debarring official. A waiver is possible only to prevent severe disruption of agency operations, and that authority cannot be delegated.
Applies to: Contractors subject to the Drug-Free Workplace clause at 52.226-7
What it requires
- Comply with the requirements of the clause at 52.226-7, Drug-Free Workplace
- Make a good faith effort to provide a drug-free workplace
Key terms: suspension of contract payments · termination for default · suspending and debarring official · Drug-Free Workplace · waiver
Written by AI from this section's text. A guide, not legal advice: the text below rules.
The text
(a) After determining in writing that adequate evidence to suspect any of the causes at paragraph (d) of this section exists, the contracting officer may suspend contract payments in accordance with the procedures at 32.503-6(a)(1).
(b) After determining in writing that any of the causes at paragraph (d) of this section exists, the contracting officer may terminate the contract for default.
(c) Upon initiating action under paragraph (a) or (b) of this section, the contracting officer shall refer the case to the agency suspending and debarring official, in accordance with agency procedures, pursuant to subpart 9.4.
(d) The specific causes for suspension of contract payments, termination of a contract for default, or suspension and debarment are—
(1) The contractor has failed to comply with the requirements of the clause at 52.226-7, Drug-Free Workplace; or
(2) The number of contractor employees convicted of violations of criminal drug statutes occurring in the workplace indicates that the contractor has failed to make a good faith effort to provide a drug-free workplace.
(e) A determination under this section to suspend contract payments, terminate a contract for default, or debar or suspend a contractor may be waived by the agency head for a particular contract, in accordance with agency procedures, only if such waiver is necessary to prevent a severe disruption of the agency operation to the detriment of the Federal Government or the general public (see subpart 9.4). The waiver authority of the agency head cannot be delegated.
← 26.504 Policy. · 26.506 Contract clause. →
Rule changes for FAR Part 26
- Federal Acquisition Regulation: Revolutionary Federal Acquisition Regulation Overhaul Parts 6, 7, 10, 18, 26, 37, and 41 ↗ · proposed 2026-06-23 · comments due 2026-07-23
- Federal Acquisition Regulation: Inflation Adjustment of Acquisition-Related Thresholds ↗ · final rule 2025-08-27 · effective 2025-10-01
- 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: Inflation Adjustment of Acquisition-Related Thresholds ↗ · proposed 2024-11-29 · comments due 2025-01-28
- Federal Acquisition Regulation: Sustainable Procurement ↗ · final rule 2024-04-22 · effective 2024-05-22
Source: eCFR, 48 CFR chapters 1 and 2 (GPO GovInfo bulk data) ↗. Plain words for the terms: glossary.