FAR and DFARS › FAR Part 5: Publicizing Contract Actions › Subpart 5.7
FAR 5.705 Publicizing postaward.
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 requires publicizing postaward notices for certain contract actions, especially those funded by the Recovery Act. It also requires explaining the rationale when a contract action is not both fixed-price and competitively awarded. Contractors should be aware that these notices become public, so proprietary information must not be included.
Applies to: Contracting officers publicizing contract awards
What it requires
- Publicize award notices for actions exceeding $500,000 funded by the Recovery Act.
- Identify Recovery Act actions by entering 'Recovery' as the first word in the title field and using the GPE instructions.
- Use clear, concise language in descriptions that the general public can understand, avoiding acronyms.
- For actions not both fixed-price and competitively awarded, publicize the award notice and include the rationale, noting if not competitive, not fixed-price, or neither.
Key terms: Recovery Act · Governmentwide Point of Entry (GPE) · task or delivery order contracts · fixed-price · competitively awarded
Written by AI from this section's text. A guide, not legal advice: the text below rules.
The text
Follow usual publication procedures at 5.301, except that the following supersede the exceptions at 5.301(b)(2) through (7):
(a)(1) Publicize the award notice for any action exceeding $500,000, funded in whole or in part by the Recovery Act, including—
(i) Contracts;
(ii) Modifications to existing contracts;
(iii) Orders which are issued under task or delivery order contracts; and
(iv) Modifications to orders under task or delivery order contracts.
(2) Contracting officers shall identify contract actions, funded in whole or in part by the Recovery Act, by using the following instructions which are also available in the Recovery FAQS under “Buyers/Engineers” at the Governmentwide Point of Entry (GPE) (https://www.sam.gov):
(i) If submitting notices electronically via ftp or email, enter the word “Recovery” as the first word in the title field.
(ii) If using the GPE directly, select the “yes” radio button for the “Is this a Recovery and Reinvestment Act action” field on the “Notice Details” form (Step 2) located below the “NAICS Code” field. In addition, enter the word “Recovery” as the first word in the title field.
(3) In preparing the description required by 5.207(a)(16), use clear and concise language to describe the planned procurement. Use descriptions of the goods and services (including construction), that can be understood by the general public. Avoid the use of acronyms or terminology that is not widely understood by the general public.
(b) Regardless of dollar value, if the contract action, including all modifications and orders under task or delivery order contracts, is not both fixed-price and competitively awarded, publicize the award notice and include in the description the rationale for using other than a fixed-priced and/or competitive approach. Include in the description a statement specifically noting if the contract action was not awarded competitively, or was not fixed-price, or was neither competitive nor fixed-price. These notices and the rationale will be available to the public at the GPE, so do not include any proprietary information or information that would compromise national security. The following table provides examples for when a rationale is required.
Posting of Rationale—Examples
(c) Contracting officers shall use the instructions available in the Recovery FAQs under “Buyers/Engineers” at the GPE (https://www.sam.gov) to identify actions funded in whole or in part by the Recovery Act.
Rule changes for FAR Part 5
- Federal Acquisition Regulation: Revolutionary Federal Acquisition Regulation Overhaul Parts 5, 24, and 29 ↗ · 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: Controlled Unclassified Information ↗ · proposed 2025-01-15 · comments due 2025-03-17
- Federal Acquisition Regulation: Inflation Adjustment of Acquisition-Related Thresholds ↗ · proposed 2024-11-29 · comments due 2025-01-28
- Federal Acquisition Regulation; Technical Amendments ↗ · final rule 2024-04-22 · effective 2024-05-22
- 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.