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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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90 sections with “letter contracts”: the first 40

  • FAR 18.112 Letter contracts.
    Letter contracts may be used when contract performance must begin immediately. (See 16.603.)
  • FAR 16.603 Letter contracts.
  • DFARS 216.603 Letter contracts.
  • FAR 28.204-3 Irrevocable letter of credit.
    …son required to furnish a bond has the option to furnish a bond secured by an irrevocable letter of credit (ILC) in an amount equal to the penal sum required to be secured (see 28.204). A separate ILC is required for each bond. (b) The ILC…
  • FAR 32.406 Letters of credit.
    …nt of the Treasury (Treasury) prescribes regulations and instructions covering the use of letters of credit for advance payments under contracts. See Treasury Department Circular 1075 (31 CFR part 205), and the implementing instructions in …
  • FAR 52.228-14 Irrevocable Letter of Credit.
    As prescribed in 28.204-4, insert the following clause: Irrevocable Letter of Credit (NOV 2014) (a) “Irrevocable letter of credit” (ILC), as used in this clause, means a written commitment by a federally insured financial institution to p…
  • FAR 2.101 Definitions.
    …ntracts include (but are not limited to) awards and notices of awards; job orders or task letters issued under basic ordering agreements; letter contracts; orders, such as purchase orders, under which the contract becomes effective by writt…
  • FAR 16.603-3 Limitations.
    A letter contract may be used only after the head of the contracting activity or a designee determines in writing that no other contract is suitable. Letter contracts shall not— (a) Commit the Government to a definitive contract in excess …
  • FAR 16.603-4 Contract clauses.
    (a) The contracting officer shall include in each letter contract the clauses required by this regulation for the type of definitive contract contemplated and any additional clauses known to be appropriate for it. (b) In addition, the cont…
  • FAR 52.216-25 Contract Definitization.
    …uses required by the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) on the date of execution of the letter contract, (2) all clauses required by law on the date of execution of the definitive contract, and (3) any other mutually agreeable clauses, te…
  • FAR 15.408 Solicitation provisions and contract clauses.
    … of contract action (that is, new contract, change order, price revision/redetermination, letter contract, unpriced order, or other); (6) Proposed cost; profit or fee; and total; (7) Whether you will require the use of Government property…
  • FAR 49.604 Release of excess funds under terminated contracts.
    …_ [Contractor] Refs: (a) [Cite termination notice and effective date.] (b) [Cite prior letters releasing excess funds, if any.] 1. Referenced termination notice, ______ [insert “completely” or “partially”] terminated contract ______. 2…
  • FAR 52.216-23 Execution and Commencement of Work.
    …ibed in 16.603-4(b)(1), insert the following clause in solicitations and contracts when a letter contract is contemplated, except that it may be omitted from letter contracts awarded on SF 26: Execution and Commencement of Work (APR 1984) …
  • FAR 52.232-16 Progress Payments.
    …mall business concerns (see FAR 32.501-1). Alternate II (APR 2003). If the contract is a letter contract, add paragraphs (n) and (o). The amount specified in paragraph (o) shall not exceed 80 percent of the maximum liability of the Governm…
  • DFARS 204.1603 Procedures.
    …ly alpha-numeric characters, as prescribed in FAR 4.1603 and this subpart. Do not use the letter I or O in any part of the PIID. (3) Position 9. (A) DoD will use three of the letters reserved for departmental or agency use in FAR 4.1603(a…
  • DFARS 249.7000 Terminated contracts with Canadian Commercial Corporation.
    …Terminate contracts with the Canadian Commercial Corporation in accordance with— (1) The Letter of Agreement (LOA) between the Department of Defence Production (Canada) and the U.S. DoD, “Canadian Agreement” (for a copy of the LOA or for q…
  • DFARS 252.225-7040 Contractor Personnel Supporting U.S. Armed Forces Deployed Outside the United States.
    …y U.S. Armed Forces in applicable operations and have been afforded CAAF status through a letter of authorization. CAAF generally include all U.S. citizen and third-country national employees not normally residing within the operational are…
  • FAR 4.1603 Procedures.
    …) Position 9. Indicate the type of instrument by entering one of the following upper case letters in position nine. Departments and independent agencies may assign those letters identified for department use below in accordance with their a…
  • FAR 19.804-2 Agency offering.
    …that are reserved in accordance with 19.503. The notification, referred to as an offering letter, shall identify the time frames within which resulting 8(a) awards must be completed in order for the agency to meet its responsibilities. The …
  • FAR 19.804-3 SBA acceptance.
    (a) Upon receipt of the contracting office's offering letter, SBA will determine whether to accept the requirement for the 8(a) program. SBA's decision whether to accept the requirement will be transmitted to the contracting office in writi…
  • FAR 32.501-2 Unusual progress payments.
    …stances. (c) Progress payments will not be considered unusual merely because they are on letter contracts or the definitive contracts that supersede letter contracts.
  • FAR 49.601-2 Letter notice.
    The following letter notice of termination is suggested for use if a contract for supplies is being terminated for convenience. With appropriate modifications, it may be used in terminating contracts for other than supplies and in terminati…
  • FAR 52.232-12 Advance Payments.
    …, ____ [Insert the name of the office designated under agency procedures], or (2) under a letter of credit. The amount of the invoice or voucher submitted plus all advance payments previously approved shall not exceed $___ If a letter of cr…
  • DFARS 222.406-1 Policy.
    …s to ensure compliance with applicable regulations and instructions. (b) Preconstruction letters and conferences. (1) Promptly after award of the contract, the contracting officer shall provide a preconstruction letter to the prime contrac…
  • DFARS 252.211-7003 Item Unique Identification and Valuation.
    …ication, or optical memory cards. Original part number means a combination of numbers or letters assigned by the enterprise at item creation to a class of items with the same form, fit, function, and interface. Parent item means the item …
  • DFARS 252.215-7010 Requirements for Certified Cost or Pricing Data and Data Other Than Certified Cost or Pricing Data.
    … after agreement on price, but before contract award (except for unpriced actions such as letter contracts), the Offeror shall submit a Certificate of Current Cost or Pricing Data, as prescribed by FAR 15.406-2. (3) The Offeror is responsi…
  • FAR 9.403 Definitions.
    …ents. See 2 CFR part 180 and agency enacting regulations in 2 CFR subtitle B. Pre-notice letter means a written correspondence issued to a contractor in a suspension or debarment matter, which does not immediately result in an exclusion or…
  • FAR 15.403-4 Requiring certified cost or pricing data (10 U.S.C. chapter 271 and 41 U.S.C. chapter 35).
    …ract: (i) The award of any negotiated contract (except for undefinitized actions such as letter contracts). (ii) The award of a subcontract at any tier, if the contractor and each higher-tier subcontractor were required to furnish certifi…
  • FAR 16.102 Policies.
    …all not be used (see 10 U.S.C. 3322(a) and 41 U.S.C. 3905(a)). Prime contracts (including letter contracts) other than firm-fixed-price contracts shall, by an appropriate clause, prohibit cost- plus-a-percentage-of-cost subcontracts (see cl…
  • FAR 19.302 Protesting a small business representation or rerepresentation.
    …s not contain specific grounds for the protest. (3) The protest shall include a referral letter written by the contracting officer with information pertaining to the solicitation. The referral letter must include the following information …
  • FAR 19.705-5 Awards involving subcontracting plans.
    …at an acceptable plan is incorporated into and made a material part of the contract. (b) Letter contracts and similar undefinitized instruments, which would otherwise meet the requirements of 19.702(a)(1)(i) and (ii), shall contain at leas…
  • FAR 42.803 Disallowing costs after incurrence.
    Cost-reimbursement contracts, the cost-reimbursement portion of fixed-price contracts, letter contracts that provide for reimbursement of costs, and time-and-material and labor-hour contracts provide for disallowing costs during the course …
  • FAR 43.103 Types of contract modifications.
    …ated equitable adjustments resulting from the issuance of a change order; (2) Definitize letter contracts; and (3) Reflect other agreements of the parties modifying the terms of contracts. (b) Unilateral. A unilateral modification is a c…
  • FAR 44.201-1 Consent requirements.
    …ent to subcontract is required for cost-reimbursement, time-and-materials, labor-hour, or letter contracts, and also for unpriced actions (including unpriced modifications and unpriced delivery orders) under fixed-price contracts that excee…
  • FAR 52.215-20 Requirements for Certified Cost or Pricing Data and Data Other Than Certified Cost or Pricing Data.
    … after agreement on price, but before contract award (except for unpriced actions such as letter contracts), the offeror shall submit a Certificate of Current Cost or Pricing Data, as prescribed by FAR 15.406-2. (End of provision) Alterna…
  • DFARS 216.603-2 Application.
    (c)(3) In accordance with 10 U.S.C. 3372, establish definitization schedules for letter contracts following the requirements at 217.7404-3(a) instead of the requirements at FAR 16.603-2(c)(3).
  • DFARS 216.603-3 Limitations.
    See subpart 217.74 for additional limitations on the use of letter contracts.
  • DFARS 217.7401 Definitions.
    …, or price are not agreed upon before performance is begun under the action. Examples are letter contracts, orders under basic ordering agreements, and provisioned item orders, for which the price has not been agreed upon before performance…
  • DFARS 232.102-70 Provisional delivery payments.
    …nd accepted by the Government under the following contract actions if undefinitized: (1) Letter contracts contemplating a fixed-price contract. (2) Orders under basic ordering agreements. (3) Spares provisioning documents annexed to cont…
  • FAR 19.306 Protesting a firm's status as a HUBZone small business concern.
    …g officer or SBA. (f) The contracting officer shall forward all protests with a referral letter to the Director of SBA's Office of the HUBZone Program, by email to [email protected]. The referral letter shall include the following— (1) T…

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.