1.304 Agency control and compliance procedures
Source: FAR 1.304 on acquisition.gov
Agencies must rigorously control, review, and align their acquisition regulations with the FAR to prevent unnecessary duplication or conflict, ensuring consistency and flexibility in federal procurement.
Overview
FAR 1.304 establishes requirements for federal agencies to control, review, and ensure compliance of their agency acquisition regulations and directives with the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR). The section aims to prevent unnecessary duplication, inconsistency, or restriction of the flexibilities provided by the FAR. Agencies must implement formal procedures to review their acquisition regulations and directives, ensuring they do not repeat or conflict with the FAR unless required by law or as specified in FAR subpart 1.4. Additionally, agencies are required to assess whether their regulatory coverage could be applicable government-wide and, if so, recommend such coverage for inclusion in the FAR.
Key Rules
- Control and Review of Agency Regulations
- Agencies must formally control and limit the issuance of acquisition regulations and directives, ensuring they do not unnecessarily restrict FAR flexibilities.
- Prohibition on Duplication and Conflict
- Agency regulations must not repeat, paraphrase, or restate FAR material, nor conflict with the FAR unless legally required or allowed by FAR 1.4.
- Evaluation for Broader Applicability
- Agencies must evaluate whether their regulations could apply to other agencies and recommend such coverage for inclusion in the FAR if not agency-specific.
Responsibilities
- Contracting Officers: Ensure compliance with both FAR and agency-specific regulations, and be aware of the limits on agency directives.
- Contractors: Understand that agency-specific regulations should not contradict or unnecessarily duplicate the FAR.
- Agencies: Establish review procedures, avoid unnecessary or conflicting regulations, and recommend broadly applicable rules for FAR inclusion.
Practical Implications
- This section exists to maintain consistency and efficiency in federal procurement by minimizing conflicting or redundant regulations.
- It impacts daily contracting by ensuring that agency rules do not override or complicate FAR requirements without proper justification.
- Common pitfalls include agencies issuing unnecessary or conflicting directives, or failing to recommend broadly applicable rules for FAR inclusion.
(a) Under the authorities of 1.301(d), agencies shall control and limit issuance of agency acquisition regulations and, in particular, local agency directives that restrain the flexibilities found in the FAR, and shall establish formal procedures for the review of these documents to assure compliance with this part 1.
(b) Agency acquisition regulations shall not-
(1) Unnecessarily repeat, paraphrase, or otherwise restate material contained in the FAR or higher-level agency acquisition regulations; or
(2) Except as required by law or as provided in subpart 1.4, conflict or be inconsistent with FAR content.
(c) Agencies shall evaluate all regulatory coverage in agency acquisition regulations to determine if it could apply to other agencies. Coverage that is not peculiar to one agency shall be recommended for inclusion in the FAR.