FAR and DFARS › FAR Part 3: Improper Business Practices and Personal Conflicts of Interest › Subpart 3.9
FAR 3.904-1 Procedures for filing complaints.
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 a contractor or subcontractor employee who believes they were retaliated against for whistleblowing can file a complaint with the relevant agency's Inspector General. It also sets a three-year deadline for bringing a complaint under 41 U.S.C. 4712, measured from the date of the alleged reprisal.
Applies to: Contractor or subcontractor employees who believe they were discharged, demoted, or discriminated against contrary to FAR 3.903
What it requires
- Submit the complaint with the Inspector General of the agency concerned
- File the complaint no more than three years after the date the alleged reprisal took place
Key terms: Inspector General · complaint · reprisal · 41 U.S.C. 4712 · Office of Inspector General hotline
Written by AI from this section's text. A guide, not legal advice: the text below rules.
The text
A contractor or subcontractor employee who believes that he or she has been discharged, demoted, or otherwise discriminated against contrary to the policy in 3.903 may submit a complaint with the Inspector General of the agency concerned. Procedures for submitting fraud, waste, abuse, and whistleblower complaints are generally accessible on agency Office of Inspector General hotline or whistleblower internet sites or the complainant may directly contact the cognizant Office of the Inspector General for submission instructions. A complaint by the employee may not be brought under 41 U.S.C. 4712 more than three years after the date on which the alleged reprisal took place.
Sections it refers to
- 3.903 Policy.
← 3.904 Complaints. · 3.904-2 Procedures for investigating complaints. →
Rule changes for FAR Part 3
- Federal Acquisition Regulation: Revolutionary Federal Acquisition Regulation Overhaul Parts 3 and 49 ↗ · 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: Preventing Organizational Conflicts of Interest in Federal Acquisition ↗ · proposed 2025-01-15 · comments due 2025-03-17
- Federal Acquisition Regulation: Controlled Unclassified Information ↗ · proposed 2025-01-15 · comments due 2025-03-17
- 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: Reverse Auction Guidance ↗ · final rule 2024-07-30 · effective 2024-08-29
- Federal Acquisition Regulation: Improving Consistency Between Procurement and Nonprocurement Procedures on Suspension and Debarment ↗ · proposed 2024-01-09 · comments due 2024-03-11
Source: eCFR, 48 CFR chapters 1 and 2 (GPO GovInfo bulk data) ↗. Plain words for the terms: glossary.