FAR and DFARS › FAR Part 44: Subcontracting Policies and Procedures › Subpart 44.3
FAR 44.303 Extent of review.
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 describes what a Contractor Purchasing System Review (CPSR) must evaluate. It says the review generally excludes certain competitively awarded or commercial subcontracts, and it lists specific areas that must receive special attention, such as market research, price competition, and small business policies. Contractors with purchasing systems subject to CPSR should understand these evaluation criteria to ensure their policies and procedures meet them.
Applies to: Contractors with purchasing systems subject to a Contractor Purchasing System Review (CPSR)
What it requires
- Ensure the purchasing system is evaluated against the considerations in 44.202-2, including policies, procedures, and performance.
- Give special attention to the results of market research accomplished.
- Give special attention to the degree of price competition obtained.
- Give special attention to pricing policies and techniques, including methods of obtaining certified cost or pricing data and data other than certified cost or pricing data.
Key terms: CPSR · purchasing system · segregation of subcontracts · commercial products and commercial services · certified cost or pricing data
Written by AI from this section's text. A guide, not legal advice: the text below rules.
The text
A CPSR requires an evaluation of the contractor's purchasing system. Unless segregation of subcontracts is impracticable, this evaluation shall not include subcontracts awarded by the contractor exclusively in support of Government contracts that are competitively awarded firm-fixed-price, competitively awarded fixed-price with economic price adjustment, or awarded for commercial products and commercial services pursuant to part 12. The considerations listed in 44.202-2 for consent evaluation of particular subcontracts also shall be used to evaluate the contractor's purchasing system, including the contractor's policies, procedures, and performance under that system. Special attention shall be given to—
(a) The results of market research accomplished;
(b) The degree of price competition obtained;
(c) Pricing policies and techniques, including methods of obtaining certified cost or pricing data, and data other than certified cost or pricing data;
(d) Methods of evaluating subcontractor responsibility, including the contractor's use of the System for Award Management Exclusions (see 9.404) and, if the contractor has subcontracts with parties on the Exclusions list, the documentation, systems, and procedures the contractor has established to protect the Government's interests (see 9.405-2);
(e) Treatment accorded affiliates and other concerns having close working arrangements with the contractor;
(f) Policies and procedures pertaining to small business concerns, including small disadvantaged, women-owned, veteran-owned, HUBZone, and service-disabled veteran-owned small business concerns;
(g) Planning, award, and postaward management of major subcontract programs;
(h) Compliance with Cost Accounting Standards in awarding subcontracts;
(i) Appropriateness of types of contracts used (see 16.103);
(j) Management control systems, including internal audit procedures, to administer progress payments to subcontractors; and
(k) Implementation of higher-level quality standards.
← 44.302 Requirements. · 44.304 Surveillance. →
Rule changes for FAR Part 44
- Federal Acquisition Regulation: Revolutionary FAR Overhaul Parts 8, 12, 13, 15, 38, 44, and 51 ↗ · proposed 2026-09-18 · comments due 2026-10-19
Source: eCFR, 48 CFR chapters 1 and 2 (GPO GovInfo bulk data) ↗. Plain words for the terms: glossary.