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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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332 sections with “contracting process”: the first 40

  • FAR 9.504 Contracting officer responsibilities.
    (a) Using the general rules, procedures, and examples in this subpart, contracting officers shall analyze planned acquisitions in order to— (1) Identify and evaluate potential organizational conflicts of interest as early in the acquisitio…
  • FAR 15.101-2 Lowest price technically acceptable source selection process.
    …f proposals meeting or exceeding the acceptability standards for non-cost factors. If the contracting officer documents the file pursuant to 15.304(c)(3)(iii), past performance need not be an evaluation factor in lowest price technically ac…
  • FAR 19.505 Limitations on subcontracting and nonmanufacturer rule.
    …ss concern unless the concern waived the evaluation preference. (b)(1) Limitations on subcontracting. A small business concern subject to the limitations on subcontracting is required to comply with the following: (i) For a contract or or…
  • FAR 19.705-2 Determining the need for a subcontracting plan.
    The contracting officer shall take the following actions to determine whether a proposed contractual action requires a subcontracting plan: (a)(1) Determine whether the proposed total contract-dollars will exceed the subcontracting plan th…
  • FAR 19.705-7 Compliance with the subcontracting plan.
    …conomic benefits. When a contractor fails to make a good faith effort to comply with a subcontracting plan, these objectives are not achieved, and 15 U.S.C. 637(d)(4)(F) directs that liquidated damages shall be paid by the contractor. (b) …
  • FAR 35.006 Contracting methods and contract type.
    … not available, thus making negotiation necessary. However, the use of negotiation in R&D contracting does not change the obligation to comply with part 6. (b) Selecting the appropriate contract type is the responsibility of the contractin…
  • FAR 42.705-1 Contracting officer determination procedure.
    (a) Applicability and responsibility. Contracting officer determination shall be used for the following, with the indicated cognizant contracting officer (or cognizant Federal agency official) responsible for establishing the final indirect…
  • FAR 42.1203 Processing agreements.
    …ntracts or a name change, the contractor must submit a written request to the responsible contracting officer (see 42.1202). If the contractor received its contract under subpart 8.7 under 41 U.S.C. chapter 85, Committee for Purchase from P…
  • FAR 48.103 Processing value engineering change proposals.
    …) of the value engineering clauses prescribed in subpart 48.2. Upon receiving a VECP, the contracting officer or other designated official shall promptly process and objectively evaluate the VECP in accordance with agency precedures and sha…
  • DFARS 215.101-71 Tradeoff process when acquiring fuel for overseas contingency operations.
    …contingency operation and is expected to exceed the simplified acquisition threshold, the contracting officer shall consider using a tradeoff process in accordance with FAR 15.101-1 (section 843 of the National Defense Authorization Act for…
  • FAR 19.201 General policy.
    …ll Business Administration (SBA) counsels and assists small business concerns and assists contracting personnel to ensure that a fair proportion of contracts for supplies and services is placed with small business. (b) Heads of contracting…
  • FAR 36.602-5 Short selection process for contracts not to exceed the simplified acquisition threshold.
    …tion report shall serve as the final selection list and shall be provided directly to the contracting officer. The report shall serve as an authorization for the contracting officer to commence negotiations in accordance with 36.606. (b) S…
  • FAR 1.102-3 Evaluating agency acquisition processes.
    …andards at 1.102-2 or postaward contract administration responsibilities at 42.302). (b) Contracting officers are encouraged to insert the provision 52.201-1, Acquisition 360: Voluntary Survey, in accordance with agency procedures. (c) Co…
  • FAR 1.602-3 Ratification of unauthorized commitments.
    …nel. (2) Subject to the limitations in paragraph (c) of this subsection, the head of the contracting activity, unless a higher level official is designated by the agency, may ratify an unauthorized commitment. (3) The ratification authori…
  • FAR 2.101 Definitions.
    …rights and obligations of the parties. Change order means a written order, signed by the contracting officer, directing the contractor to make a change that the Changes clause authorizes the contracting officer to order without the contrac…
  • FAR 4.604 Responsibilities.
    (a) The Senior Procurement Executive in coordination with the head of the contracting activity is responsible for developing and monitoring a process to ensure timely and accurate reporting of contractual actions to FPDS. (b)(1) The respon…
  • FAR 4.605 Procedures.
    …r FPDS reporting can be found at https://www.fpds.gov. (b) Unique entity identifier. The contracting officer shall identify and report a unique entity identifier for the successful offeror on a contract action. The unique entity identifier…
  • FAR 4.804-5 Procedures for closing out contract files.
    …, the contract administration office must review the contract funds status and notify the contracting office of any excess funds the contract administration office might deobligate. When complete, the administrative closeout procedures must…
  • FAR 5.102 Availability of solicitations.
    (a)(1) Except as provided in paragraph (a)(5) of this section, the contracting officer must make available through the GPE solicitations synopsized through the GPE, including specifications, technical data, and other pertinent information d…
  • FAR 8.402 General.
    …t. Additionally, the Department of Defense (DoD) manages similar systems of schedule-type contracting for military items; however, DoD systems are not covered by this subpart. (b) GSA schedule contracts require all schedule contractors to …
  • FAR 8.405-6 Limiting sources.
    …(A) of this section, the justification shall be posted within 30 days after award. (iii) Contracting officers shall carefully screen all justifications for contractor proprietary data and remove all such data, and such references and citat…
  • FAR 12.203 Procedures for solicitation, evaluation, and award.
    (a) Contracting officers shall use the policies unique to the acquisition of commercial products and commercial services prescribed in this part in conjunction with the policies and procedures for solicitation, evaluation and award prescrib…
  • FAR 13.106-1 Soliciting competition.
    (a) Considerations. In soliciting competition, the contracting officer shall consider the guidance in 13.104 and the following before requesting quotations or offers: (1)(i) The nature of the article or service to be purchased and whether …
  • FAR 13.106-3 Award and documentation.
    (a) Basis for award. Before making award, the contracting officer must determine that the proposed price is fair and reasonable. (1) Whenever possible, base price reasonableness on competitive quotations or offers. (2) If only one respons…
  • FAR 14.407-3 Other mistakes disclosed before award.
    …upports the existence of a mistake but is not clear and convincing, an official above the contracting officer, unless otherwise provided by agency procedures, may make a determination permitting the bidder to withdraw the bid. (d) If the e…
  • FAR 14.407-4 Mistakes after award.
    …mutual, or (2) if unilaterally made by the contractor, so apparent as to have charged the contracting officer with notice of the probability of the mistake. (d) Each proposed determination shall be coordinated with legal counsel in accorda…
  • FAR 15.203 Requests for proposals.
    …l specify the electronic commerce method(s) that offerors may use (see subpart 4.5). (d) Contracting officers may issue RFPs and/or authorize receipt of proposals, modifications, or revisions by facsimile. (1) In deciding whether or not t…
  • FAR 15.306 Exchanges with offerors after receipt of proposals.
    …etitive range. Based on the ratings of each proposal against all evaluation criteria, the contracting officer shall establish a competitive range comprised of all of the most highly rated proposals, unless the range is further reduced for p…
  • FAR 15.404-1 Proposal analysis techniques.
    …sal analysis is to ensure that the final agreed-to price is fair and reasonable. (1) The contracting officer is responsible for evaluating the reasonableness of the offered prices. The analytical techniques and procedures described in this…
  • FAR 15.404-2 Data to support proposal analysis.
    (a) Field pricing assistance. (1) The contracting officer should request field pricing assistance when the information available at the buying activity is inadequate to determine a fair and reasonable price. The contracting officer shall ta…
  • FAR 15.407-2 Make-or-buy programs.
    …liates, subsidiaries, or divisions. (c) Acquisitions requiring make-or-buy programs. (1) Contracting officers may require prospective contractors to submit make-or-buy program plans for negotiated acquisitions requiring certified cost or p…
  • FAR 15.408 Solicitation provisions and contract clauses.
    (a) Changes or Additions to Make-or-Buy Program. The contracting officer shall insert the clause at 52.215-9, Changes or Additions to Make-or-Buy Program, in solicitations and contracts when it is contemplated that a make-or- buy program wi…
  • 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 15.505 Preaward debriefing of offerors.
    …r may request a preaward debriefing by submitting a written request for debriefing to the contracting officer within 3 days after receipt of the notice of exclusion from the competition. (2) At the offeror's request, this debriefing may be…
  • FAR 16.203-4 Contract clauses.
    (a) Adjustment based on established prices—standard supplies. (1) The contracting officer shall, when contracting by negotiation, insert the clause at 52.216-2, Economic Price Adjustment—Standard Supplies, or an agency-prescribed clause as …
  • FAR 16.505 Ordering.
    (a) General. (1) In general, the contracting officer does not synopsize orders under indefinite-delivery contracts; except see 16.505(a)(4) and (11), and 16.505(b)(2)(ii)(D). (2) Individual orders shall clearly describe all services to be …
  • FAR 17.802 Policy.
    …ess is used to obtain pricing for an acquisition. When using the reverse auction process, contracting officers are still required to follow the acquisition policies and procedures (e.g., those prescribed in subpart 8.4 or 16.5, or part 13 o…
  • FAR 19.301-1 Representation by the offeror.
    …) An offeror is required to represent its size and socioeconomic status in writing to the contracting officer at the time of initial offer, (whether or not the offer includes price or the price is evaluated), including offers for— (1) Basi…
  • FAR 19.306 Protesting a firm's status as a HUBZone small business concern.
    …has the meaning given in 13 CFR 126.103. (b)(1) For sole-source procurements, SBA or the contracting officer may protest the prospective contractor's certified HUBZone status; for all other procurements, SBA, the contracting officer, or an…
  • FAR 19.402 Small Business Administration procurement center representatives.
    (a)(1) The SBA may assign one or more procurement center representatives (PCRs) to any contracting activity or contract administration office to carry out SBA policies and programs. Assigned SBA PCRs are required to comply with the contract…

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.