FAR Part 13 is the government's fast lane, the rules that let agencies buy below certain dollar thresholds without the full machinery of open competition. A recent class deviation made that lane wider and faster, pushing more commercial buys into simplified procedures and expanding fast payment. If you sell to the government, this is one of the most accessible parts of the market, and the rules just shifted in your favor. Here is the current state of Part 13.
Quick answer: FAR Part 13 covers simplified acquisitions, generally up to the $250,000 Simplified Acquisition Threshold, with the $10,000 micro-purchase threshold below it and a $7.5 million ceiling for commercial items under Subpart 13.5. A recent class deviation expanded commercial-item flexibility and fast payment. Competition still applies (usually three quotes), most buys in the range are set aside for small business, and documentation is lighter but not gone.
Three numbers frame everything. Below $10,000 is the micro-purchase threshold, where a cardholder can buy on a government purchase card with almost no paperwork. Up to $250,000 is the Simplified Acquisition Threshold, the main simplified lane. And for commercial products and services under Subpart 13.5, agencies can use simplified procedures all the way to $7.5 million. Above those lines, you are back in full and open competition.
The point of all this is proportionality: the government should not spend more administering a purchase than the purchase is worth. So below the SAT, the documentation is lighter, the timelines shorter, and the evaluation more flexible, while competition, fairness, and accountability stay intact. For the bigger context, see our guide to the government procurement cycle, and check Acquisition.gov for the current threshold figures.
A class deviation is a temporary authorization that lets agencies depart from specific FAR requirements across many contracts at once. Agencies use them when they spot an efficiency the existing rules do not allow but a full FAR rewrite would take years, and they often serve as a test bed for permanent change. An agency's senior procurement executive or the Office of Federal Procurement Policy signs off, and the deviation runs for a set period.
The recent Part 13 deviation pushed in one direction: more flexibility for commercial products and services, wider use of fast payment, and less burden on the contracting officer. For you, that is not abstract. Deviations change how agencies structure solicitations, evaluate quotes, and award, including the competition expectations, the terms and conditions, and the documentation, so they directly shape how you should respond. Subpart 13.5 is the clearest example: it blends Part 12 commercial-item rules with Part 13 simplicity, so an officer can buy a commercial product up to $7.5 million through streamlined solicitation and evaluation. If your offering qualifies as a commercial item under the FAR definitions, you get access to that whole range, so lead with your commercial status in your capability statements, and our guide to winning RFP responses applies even here.
Fast payment is exactly what it sounds like. Instead of waiting for the receiving office to verify receipt and acceptance, the government pays on your invoice and your certification that you delivered. That can compress payment from weeks to days.
An officer can authorize it when aggregate payment stays under the SAT and fast payment is advantageous to the government, typically for commercial buys from established suppliers where non-performance risk is low. The trade-off is responsibility: a false certification or a delivery failure can mean recoupment and even suspension or debarment. So when fast payment applies, keep accurate delivery records and invoice promptly and honestly. Used right, it is one of the cleaner cash-flow advantages in federal work.
Simplified does not mean uncompetitive. Above the micro-purchase threshold, the officer promotes competition to the maximum extent practicable, usually by soliciting at least three sources, and runs market research to find them, which is why staying visible through SAM registration, the right contract vehicles, and industry events pays off. The evaluation is lighter than a formal source selection, but the officer still weighs price, capability, and past performance and keeps a file supporting the decision.
For small businesses, this is prime territory. Acquisitions above $10,000 but not over the SAT are set aside for small business unless the officer cannot expect competitive offers from two or more small concerns, so on most of these buys you are not facing large primes at all. Socioeconomic set-asides, service-disabled veteran-owned, HUBZone, women-owned, narrow the field further, with order-of-precedence rules; the Small Business Administration details the eligibility. And at the bottom of the range, the government purchase card is the fastest path of all: under $10,000 a cardholder buys directly and the card transaction is the binding contract. Make yourself easy to buy from and steady card purchases add up.
The file is leaner under Part 13, but it is not gone. The officer still documents the decision, the competition, and price reasonableness, just in a simplified format. Price reasonableness is the key element: for commercial items, a comparison to recent purchases of similar items usually suffices, so you help yourself by giving clear pricing breakdowns and pointing to comparable commercial sales. You can make an officer's job easier, and that is worth more in simplified buys than it is in a formal source selection. Our guidance on government proposal writing translates straight to writing a clean quote.
Part 13 also runs through ordering vehicles. An officer can set up an indefinite-delivery indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract under Part 13 when the aggregate orders will stay under the SAT, then issue individual task or delivery orders against it. Orders against existing vehicles, including GSA Schedules, follow simplified ordering rules based on the order's value, sometimes direct, sometimes with competition among holders for best value. Know which vehicles you hold and keep your pricing and availability current so agencies can buy from you the moment a need appears. You can find these opportunities through SAM and other sourcing tools.
The class deviation is part of a longer trajectory. Broader FAR reform keeps eyeing Part 13, mostly to raise thresholds for inflation, which would pull more routine buys into the simplified lane, and to push digital tooling, electronic marketplaces, automated market research, online quotation, that cuts burden further. The policy direction is consistent: treat government buying more like commercial purchasing while keeping the competition and accountability public money requires. Watch the Federal Register for the changes that matter to your pipeline.
Part 13 buys move fast and shift with each deviation, so the edge goes to firms that catch the opportunity and know the current rules. Ask Oryon, OryonIQ's built-in AI assistant, answers FAR and Part 13 questions in plain language and cites its sources, and the Insights module flags the deviations and policy changes that affect how these acquisitions run. Talk to our team about working this part of the market.
Simplified acquisition procedures, the streamlined rules agencies use to buy supplies and services below the Simplified Acquisition Threshold (currently $250,000), with lighter documentation, faster timelines, and more flexible evaluation than full and open competition.
A temporary, agency-authorized departure from specific FAR requirements applied across many contracts. The recent one expanded flexibility for commercial products and services and widened the use of fast payment, often as a precursor to permanent FAR changes.
Up to $7.5 million under FAR Subpart 13.5, well above the standard $250,000 threshold, when the acquisition is for commercial products or services supported by market research.
A mechanism that lets the government pay on the contractor's invoice and certification of delivery, without waiting for the receiving office to verify receipt and acceptance, which compresses payment from weeks to days for qualifying low-risk commercial buys.
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