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48 CFR · Federal Acquisition Regulation and Defense supplement

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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.

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115 sections with “competitive service”: the first 40

  • FAR 6.102 Use of competitive procedures.
    The competitive procedures available for use in fulfilling the requirement for full and open competition are as follows: (a) Sealed bids. (See 6.401(a).) (b) Competitive proposals. (See 6.401(b).) If sealed bids are not appropriate under …
  • FAR 7.106 Additional requirements for major systems.
    …le from more than one source; and (2) Items which the Government will be able to acquire competitively in the future if they are likely to be needed in substantial quantities during the system's service life. (b) In planning for the solic…
  • FAR 15.306 Exchanges with offerors after receipt of proposals.
    … and 41 U.S.C. 3703(a)(2)). (b) Communications with offerors before establishment of the competitive range. Communications are exchanges, between the Government and offerors, after receipt of proposals, leading to establishment of the comp…
  • FAR 15.404-1 Proposal analysis techniques.
    …ignificant inconsistencies that warrant additional pricing inquiry. (iv) Comparison with competitive published price lists, published market prices of commodities, similar indexes, and discount or rebate arrangements. (v) Comparison of pr…
  • DFARS 201.170 Peer reviews.
    …citations and contracts as follows: (i) DPCAP will conduct the preaward peer reviews for competitive procurements prior to the three phases of the acquisition (see PGI 201.170-2(a)) for all procurements with an estimated value of $1 billio…
  • DFARS 207.106 Additional requirements for major systems.
    … or production of major systems that would enable the Government to use technical data to competitively reprocure identical items or components of the system if the item or component were developed exclusively at private expense, unless the…
  • FAR 2.101 Definitions.
    …uct was developed exclusively at private expense and sold in substantial quantities, on a competitive basis, to multiple State and local governments or to multiple foreign governments. Commercial service means— (1) Installation services, …
  • FAR 5.705 Publicizing postaward.
    …ifications 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 …
  • FAR 6.302-1 Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements.
    …erwise available to the Government; and (C) Does not resemble the substance of a pending competitive acquisition. (See 10 U.S.C. 3204(b)(A)and 41 U.S.C. 3304(b)(1).) (ii) Supplies may be deemed to be available only from the original sourc…
  • FAR 8.405-1 Ordering procedures for supplies, and services not requiring a statement of work.
    …rders exceeding the simplified acquisition threshold. (1) Each order shall be placed on a competitive basis in accordance with (d)(2) and (3) of this section, unless this requirement is waived on the basis of a justification that is prepare…
  • FAR 8.405-2 Ordering procedures for services requiring a statement of work.
    …(c)(2)(i) and (iii), the following procedures apply: (i) Each order shall be placed on a competitive basis in accordance with (c)(3)(ii) and (iii) of this section, unless this requirement is waived on the basis of a justification that is p…
  • FAR 15.503 Notifications to unsuccessful offerors.
    (a) Preaward notices—(1) Preaward notices of exclusion from competitive range. The contracting officer shall notify offerors promptly in writing when their proposals are excluded from the competitive range or otherwise eliminated from the c…
  • FAR 37.104 Personal services contracts.
    …rsonnel. The Government is normally required to obtain its employees by direct hire under competitive appointment or other procedures required by the civil service laws. Obtaining personal services by contract, rather than by direct hire, c…
  • DFARS 252.225-7023 Preference for Products or Services from Afghanistan.
    … Afghanistan or services from Afghanistan: (d) Evaluation. For the purpose of evaluating competitive offers, the Contracting Officer will increase by 50 percent the prices of offers of products or services that are not products or services…
  • DFARS 252.227-7013 Rights in Technical Data—Other Than Commercial Products and Commercial Services.
    …rnment to foreign governments or international organizations. Government purposes include competitive procurement, but do not include the rights to use, modify, reproduce, release, perform, display, or disclose technical data for commercial…
  • DFARS 252.239-7004 Orders for Facilities and Services.
    …ilities. If the Contractor acquires the equipment or facilities, the acquisition shall be competitive, if practicable. (i) If at any time the Government defers or changes its orders for any of the services but does not cancel or terminate …
  • FAR 5.205 Special situations.
    …nt service providers, number of Government personnel performing the activity, name of the Competitive Sourcing Official, name of the contracting officer, name of the Agency Tender Official, and projected end date of the competition. (2) Th…
  • FAR 9.505-2 Preparing specifications or work statements.
    …es and furnishes complete specifications covering nondevelopmental items, to be used in a competitive acquisition, that contractor shall not be allowed to furnish these items, either as a prime contractor or as a subcontractor, for a reason…
  • FAR 9.505-4 Obtaining access to proprietary information.
    … and can use the leverage of the contract to obtain it, the contractor may gain an unfair competitive advantage unless restrictions are imposed. These restrictions protect the information and encourage companies to provide it when necessary…
  • FAR 13.203 Purchase guidelines.
    …uitably among qualified suppliers. (2) Micro-purchases may be awarded without soliciting competitive quotations if the contracting officer or individual appointed in accordance with 1.603-3(b) considers the price to be reasonable. (3) The…
  • FAR 15.209 Solicitation provisions and contract clauses.
    … The contracting officer shall insert the provision at 52.215-1, Instructions to Offerors—Competitive Acquisition, in all competitive solicitations where the Government intends to award a contract without discussions. (1) If the Government…
  • FAR 19.804-2 Agency offering.
    … if appropriate, that a requirement with an estimated contract value under the applicable competitive threshold be awarded as an 8(a) competitive contract (see 19.805-1(d)). (15) A request, if appropriate, that a requirement with a contrac…
  • FAR 19.813 Protesting an 8(a) participant's eligibility or size status.
    (a) The eligibility of an 8(a) participant for a sole source or competitive 8(a) requirement may not be challenged by another 8(a) participant or any other party, either to SBA or any administrative forum as part of a bid or other contract …
  • FAR 22.1003-4 Administrative limitations, variations, tolerances, and exemptions.
    …contract award. (i) For source selections where the contracting officer has established a competitive range, if the contracting officer determines that one or more of the conditions in paragraphs 22.1003-4 (c)(2)(i) through (iii) of an offe…
  • FAR 37.201 Definition.
    …A person assigned to a Federal agency who has been transferred to another position in the competitive service in another agency.
  • DFARS 215.408 Solicitation provisions and contract clauses.
    …uired at 225.870-4(c)(2)(ii); and (B) Do not use 252.225-7003 in lieu of 252.215-7010 in competitive acquisitions; and (ii)(A) Use the clause at 252.215-7004, Requirement for Submission of Data Other Than Certified Cost or Pricing Data—Mo…
  • DFARS 227.7103-13 Government right to review, verify, challenge, and validate asserted restrictions.
    …rtion and continued adherence to the assertion would make it impractical to later procure competitively the item to which the data pertain. (b) Pre-award considerations. The challenge procedures required by 10 U.S.C. 3782 could significant…
  • FAR 8.405-3 Blanket purchase agreements (BPAs).
    …A (see (a)(3)(iv)); (vii) Evidence of compliance with paragraph (b) of this section, for competitively awarded BPAs, if applicable; and (viii) Basis for the award decision. This should include the evaluation methodology used in selecting …
  • FAR 8.602 Policy.
    …e of the areas of price, quality, and time of delivery— (i) Acquire the item using— (A) Competitive procedures (e.g., the procedures in 6.102, the set-aside procedures in subpart 19.5, or competition conducted in accordance with part 13);…
  • FAR 13.106-1 Soliciting competition.
    …rs: (1)(i) The nature of the article or service to be purchased and whether it is highly competitive and readily available in several makes or brands, or is relatively noncompetitive. (ii) Information obtained in making recent purchases o…
  • FAR 15.403-1 Prohibition on obtaining certified cost or pricing data (10 U.S.C. chapter 271 and 41 U.S.C. chapter 35).
    … with section 41 U.S.C. 3501: (A) When purchasing services that are not offered and sold competitively in substantial quantities in the commercial marketplace, but are of a type offered and sold competitively in substantial quantities in t…
  • FAR 15.403-3 Requiring data other than certified cost or pricing data.
    …dom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. 552(b)). (3) For services that are not offered and sold competitively in substantial quantities in the commercial marketplace, but are of a type offered and sold competitively in substantial quantities in t…
  • FAR 16.601 Time-and-materials contracts.
    …contractor under a common control. (iii) For contract actions that are not awarded using competitive procedures, unless exempt under paragraph (c)(2)(iv) of this section, the fixed hourly rates for services transferred between divisions, s…
  • FAR 17.802 Policy.
    …he use of reverse auctions may be appropriate when market research indicates that— (1) A competitive marketplace exists for the supplies and/or services being acquired; (2) Multiple offerors can satisfy the agency's requirement; and (3) …
  • FAR 41.202 Procedures.
    … service is not available, the market survey may be used to determine the availability of competitive sources for certain portions of the requirement. The scope of the term “entire utility service” includes the provision of the utility serv…
  • FAR 44.302 Requirements.
    …ty and dollar value of subcontracts. If a contractor's sales to the Government (excluding competitively awarded firm-fixed-price and competitively awarded fixed-price with economic price adjustment contracts and sales of commercial products…
  • FAR 44.303 Extent of review.
    …ntracts awarded by the contractor exclusively in support of Government contracts that are competitively awarded firm-fixed-price, competitively awarded fixed-price with economic price adjustment, or awarded for commercial products and comme…
  • DFARS 213.501 Special documentation requirements.
    (a)(i) Sole source (including brand name) acquisitions. For noncompetitive follow-on acquisitions of supplies or services previously awarded on a noncompetitive basis, include the additional documentation required by PGI 206.303-2(b)(i) and…
  • DFARS 225.870-4 Contracting procedures.
    …lion. (B) If the Canadian Commercial Corporation submits the only offer in response to a competitive solicitation that meets the thresholds specified in paragraph (c)(2)(i)(A) of this section. (C) For modifications that exceed $150,000 in…
  • DFARS 225.7703-1 Acquisition procedures.
    …competition to products or services from Afghanistan; or (3) Using procedures other than competitive procedures to award a contract to a particular source or sources from Afghanistan. When other than competitive procedures are used, the co…

FAR (chapter 1)

DFARS (chapter 2, Defense)

Source: eCFR, 48 CFR chapters 1 and 2 (GPO GovInfo bulk data) ↗. Rule changes in progress: FAR, DFARS. Terms: glossary.