FAR and DFARS › FAR Part 9: Contractor Qualifications › Subpart 9.1
FAR 9.104-2 Special 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 lets a contracting officer set extra, special standards of responsibility when a particular acquisition needs unusual expertise or specialized facilities. Those special standards must be stated and identified in the solicitation and apply to every offeror. For subsistence contracts, awards go only to contractors that meet the general responsibility standards and are approved under agency sanitation standards and procedures.
Applies to: Contracting officers and offerors on acquisitions with special responsibility standards, including subsistence contracts
What it requires
- The contracting officer shall develop special standards of responsibility when necessary for a particular acquisition or class of acquisitions, with assistance from appropriate specialists.
- The special standards shall be set forth in the solicitation and identified as such.
- The special standards shall apply to all offerors.
- For subsistence contracts, award only to prospective contractors that meet the general standards in 9.104-1 and are approved in accordance with agency sanitation standards and procedures.
Key terms: special standards of responsibility · general standards · solicitation · subsistence · agency sanitation standards and procedures
Written by AI from this section's text. A guide, not legal advice: the text below rules.
The text
(a) When it is necessary for a particular acquisition or class of acquisitions, the contracting officer shall develop, with the assistance of appropriate specialists, special standards of responsibility. Special standards may be particularly desirable when experience has demonstrated that unusual expertise or specialized facilities are needed for adequate contract performance. The special standards shall be set forth in the solicitation (and so identified) and shall apply to all offerors.
(b) Contracting officers shall award contracts for subsistence only to those prospective contractors that meet the general standards in 9.104-1 and are approved in accordance with agency sanitation standards and procedures.
← 9.104-1 General standards. · 9.104-3 Application of standards. →
Rule changes for FAR Part 9
- Federal Acquisition Regulation: Revolutionary Federal Acquisition Regulation Overhaul Parts 9, 27, and 47 ↗ · proposed 2026-09-18 · comments due 2026-10-19
- Federal Acquisition Regulation: Prohibition on Certain Semiconductor Products and Services ↗ · proposed 2026-02-17 · comments due 2026-04-20
- 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: Disclosure of Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Climate-Related Financial Risk ↗ · proposed 2025-01-13
- 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: Certification of Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses ↗ · final rule 2024-12-16 · effective 2024-12-16
Source: eCFR, 48 CFR chapters 1 and 2 (GPO GovInfo bulk data) ↗. Plain words for the terms: glossary.