FAR (Federal Acquisition Regulation)

What is the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR)?

The Federal Acquisition Regulation, or FAR, is the primary rulebook for how the U.S. federal government buys goods and services. It is codified in Title 48 of the Code of Federal Regulations and applies to almost every executive-branch agency. Whether you are selling software to the Air Force or janitorial services to the Department of the Interior, the same baseline rules shape the process.

The FAR is maintained jointly by the Department of Defense, the General Services Administration, and NASA, and it is revised continuously through Federal Acquisition Circulars. For a contractor it is less a document to memorize than a map of how a deal is allowed to happen.

How the FAR is organized

The regulation is split into 53 parts grouped by the life of a contract: acquisition planning, competition and contractor qualifications, contract types, special categories such as small-business programs, and contract management and clauses. The parts small contractors meet most often are Part 12 (commercial products and services), Part 13 (simplified acquisition), Part 15 (negotiated procurement), and Part 19 (small business). Most contract clauses you will sign live in Part 52.

Agency supplements

Agencies layer their own rules on top of the FAR. Defense adds the DFARS; other departments publish their own supplements. When a clause number does not begin with 52, it usually comes from one of these.

Why it matters for small businesses

Your contract clauses, your protest rights, how invoices get paid, and whether a requirement must be set aside for small business all trace back to the FAR. Reading where a requirement sits in the regulation tells you how competitive it will be and what compliance you are taking on. See how it plays out in practice in our guide to FAR Part 13 and simplified acquisitions. OryonIQ's Ask Oryon assistant also answers FAR and clause questions in plain language with source citations.