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FAR and DFARS › FAR Part 9: Contractor Qualifications › Subpart 9.1

FAR 9.104-1 General standards.

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 lists the general standards a prospective contractor must meet to be considered responsible for a federal contract. It covers financial resources, delivery schedule, performance record, integrity, organization and skills, equipment, and legal eligibility. Contractors should understand these criteria because they are used to evaluate whether they can be awarded a contract.

Applies to: Prospective contractors

What it requires

  • Have adequate financial resources or the ability to obtain them
  • Be able to comply with the delivery or performance schedule
  • Have a satisfactory performance record
  • Have a satisfactory record of integrity and business ethics

Key terms: responsible · financial resources · performance schedule · performance record · integrity and business ethics

Written by AI from this section's text. A guide, not legal advice: the text below rules.

The text

To be determined responsible, a prospective contractor must—

(a) Have adequate financial resources to perform the contract, or the ability to obtain them (see 9.104-3(a));

(b) Be able to comply with the required or proposed delivery or performance schedule, taking into consideration all existing commercial and governmental business commitments;

(c) Have a satisfactory performance record (see 9.104-3(b) and subpart 42.15). A prospective contractor shall not be determined responsible or nonresponsible solely on the basis of a lack of relevant performance history, except as provided in 9.104-2;

(d) Have a satisfactory record of integrity and business ethics (for example, see subpart 42.15);

(e) Have the necessary organization, experience, accounting and operational controls, and technical skills, or the ability to obtain them (including, as appropriate, such elements as production control procedures, property control systems, quality assurance measures, and safety programs applicable to materials to be produced or services to be performed by the prospective contractor and subcontractors) (see 9.104-3(a));

(f) Have the necessary production, construction, and technical equipment and facilities, or the ability to obtain them (see 9.104-3(a)); and

(g) Be otherwise qualified and eligible to receive an award under applicable laws and regulations (see also inverted domestic corporation prohibition at 9.108).

Sections it refers to

  • 9.104-3 Application of standards.
  • 9.104-2 Special standards.
  • 9.108 Prohibition on contracting with inverted domestic corporations.

Sections that refer to it

← 9.104 Standards. · 9.104-2 Special standards. →

Rule changes for FAR Part 9

Source: eCFR, 48 CFR chapters 1 and 2 (GPO GovInfo bulk data) ↗. Plain words for the terms: glossary.

FAR 9.104-1 General standards · SpendQuery