FAR and DFARS › FAR Part 9: Contractor Qualifications › Subpart 9.5
FAR 9.505-1 Providing systems engineering and technical direction.
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 bars a contractor that performs systems engineering and technical direction for a system from later supplying that system or its major components, or from being a subcontractor or consultant to such a supplier. It matters because taking on these advisory roles can disqualify a contractor from follow-on supply work on the same system.
Applies to: Contractors providing systems engineering and technical direction for a system without overall contractual responsibility for its development, integration, assembly and checkout, or production
Key terms: systems engineering · technical direction · major components · subcontractor · consultant
Written by AI from this section's text. A guide, not legal advice: the text below rules.
The text
(a) A contractor that provides systems engineering and technical direction for a system but does not have overall contractual responsibility for its development, its integration, assembly, and checkout, or its production shall not—
(1) Be awarded a contract to supply the system or any of its major components; or
(2) Be a subcontractor or consultant to a supplier of the system or any of its major components.
(b) Systems engineering includes a combination of substantially all of the following activities: determining specifications, identifying and resolving interface problems, developing test requirements, evaluating test data, and supervising design. Technical direction includes a combination of substantially all of the following activities: developing work statements, determining parameters, directing other contractors' operations, and resolving technical controversies. In performing these activities, a contractor occupies a highly influential and responsible position in determining a system's basic concepts and supervising their execution by other contractors. Therefore this contractor should not be in a position to make decisions favoring its own products or capabilities.
← 9.505 General rules. · 9.505-2 Preparing specifications or work statements. →
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.