FAR and DFARS › FAR Part 46: Quality Assurance › Subpart 46.2
FAR 46.201 General.
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 tells contracting officers to include appropriate quality requirements in solicitations and contracts, with the type and extent depending on the acquisition. It also explains that contractors are generally responsible for inspection before delivering supplies, though some specialized inspections are performed only by the Government.
Applies to: Contracting officers and contractors on contracts with quality or inspection requirements
What it requires
- Perform required inspection before tendering supplies to the Government, unless the contract specifies otherwise
- Perform required contractor testing in a laboratory or testing facility acceptable to the Government, unless the contract specifies otherwise
Key terms: quality requirements · inspection · first article approval · contractor testing · specialized inspections
Written by AI from this section's text. A guide, not legal advice: the text below rules.
The text
(a) The contracting officer shall include in the solicitation and contract the appropriate quality requirements. The type and extent of contract quality requirements needed depends on the particular acquisition and may range from inspection at time of acceptance to a requirement for the contractor's implementation of a comprehensive program for controlling quality.
(b) As feasible, solicitations and contracts may provide for alternative, but substantially equivalent, inspection methods to obtain wide competition and low cost. The contracting officer may also authorize contractor-recommended alternatives when in the Government's interest and approved by the activity responsible for technical requirements.
(c) Although contracts generally make contractors responsible for performing inspection before tendering supplies to the Government, there are situations in which contracts will provide for specialized inspections to be performed solely by the Government. Among situations of this kind are—
(1) Tests that require use of specialized test equipment or facilities not ordinarily available in suppliers' plants or commercial laboratories (e.g., ballistic testing of ammunition, unusual environmental tests, and simulated service tests); and
(2) Contracts that require Government testing for first article approval (see subpart 9.3).
(d) Except as otherwise specified by the contract, required contractor testing may be performed in the contractor's or subcontractor's laboratory or testing facility, or in any other laboratory or testing facility acceptable to the Government.
Sections that refer to it
- 46.105 Contractor responsibilities.
← 46.105 Contractor responsibilities. · 46.202 Types of contract quality requirements. →
Source: eCFR, 48 CFR chapters 1 and 2 (GPO GovInfo bulk data) ↗. Plain words for the terms: glossary.