Also known as: FAR · Federal Acquisition Regulations
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A body of federal regulations that sets forth the policies, procedures, and requirements governing the procurement of goods and services by the federal government.
Fusion Power submitted a bid to supply generators to a federal agency after a hurricane. The agency invoked an emergency exception under the Federal Acquisition Regulation and awarded the contract without competitive bidding. Fusion Power began performance immediately under a letter contract that allowed work to start while final terms were negotiated.
Fidelity Trust responded to a solicitation for cybersecurity services. The agency chose a fixed-price contract under the Federal Acquisition Regulation to limit cost overruns rather than a cost-reimbursement vehicle. The award documents cited the regulation's preference for fixed-price arrangements when requirements were well defined.
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Freeman Engineering filed a protest in the Court of Federal Claims challenging an award to a competitor. Its complaint used numbered paragraphs limited to single sets of circumstances as required when invoking the Federal Acquisition Regulation in the underlying procurement. The court accepted the pleading because it satisfied the clarity standards tied to the regulation's procedures.
Foster Forge entered a pre-incorporation subscription agreement to supply components under a federal contract. After incorporation the board issued a uniform call for payment on all shares of the same class pursuant to the Federal Acquisition Regulation's cost principles. The subscriber paid on schedule and the shares were deemed fully paid and nonassessable.
Fusion Power financed equipment purchases through a lender that later assigned the mortgage and note together in the secondary market. The assignment kept the obligation and security interest united under the Federal Acquisition Regulation's financing rules for government contractors. The transferee could enforce the mortgage because the note and lien remained in the same hands.
Farah Fox held a nongeneral power of appointment over trust assets that included proceeds from a federal supply contract. When she failed to exercise the power the unappointed property passed to the permissible appointees under the Federal Acquisition Regulation's rules on contractor succession. The defined class of family members received the property because the donor had not limited the gift to appointed amounts only.
The Federal Acquisition Regulation appears in Title 48 of the Code of Federal Regulations, chapter 1. It supplies the uniform policies and procedures that federal agencies must follow when acquiring goods and services.
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The Federal Acquisition Regulation governs most executive-agency procurements of supplies and services. Certain agencies maintain supplemental regulations, but the core rules in 48 C.F.R. chapter 1 provide the baseline framework.
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The regulation permits agencies to use streamlined procedures, including exceptions to competitive bidding, when urgent circumstances such as natural disasters arise. These flexibilities still require documentation and are subject to later oversight.
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The regulation prefers fixed-price contracts when requirements are definite because they place cost risk on the contractor. Cost-reimbursement contracts are allowed only when uncertainties make fixed pricing impracticable and are subject to stricter oversight.
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…by something which looked like a door projecting from one of the moving cars. To enforce that claim he brought an action in the federal court for southern New York, which had jurisdiction because the company is a corporation of that State. It denied liability; and the case was tried by a jury. The Erie insisted that its…