52.204-17 Ownership or Control of Offeror
Source: FAR 52.204-17 on acquisition.gov
Offerors must accurately disclose their immediate and, if applicable, highest-level owners using legal names and CAGE codes so the Government can see who actually controls the entity seeking award.
Overview
- FAR 52.204-17, Ownership or Control of Offeror, requires offerors to disclose whether another entity directly owns or controls them, and if so, to identify that immediate owner and, when applicable, the highest-level owner.
- Its purpose is to improve transparency in federal contracting by helping the Government understand corporate ownership structures tied to an offeror.
Key Rules
- Definitions
- The provision defines key terms including CAGE code, immediate owner, and highest-level owner. A CAGE code uniquely identifies an entity by location, including NCAGE codes for entities outside the United States.
- Offeror Representation
- The offeror must indicate whether it has or does not have an immediate owner. If there is more than one immediate owner, such as in a joint venture, the offeror must provide ownership information for each participant.
- Immediate and Highest-Level Owner Disclosure
- If the offeror has an immediate owner, it must provide that owner’s CAGE code and legal name (not a DBA name), and state whether that owner is itself owned or controlled by another entity.
- If yes, the offeror must also provide the highest-level owner’s CAGE code and legal name.
Responsibilities
- Contracting Officers: Include the provision when prescribed by FAR 4.1804(b) and evaluate the completed representation in the offer.
- Contractors/Offerors: Accurately complete the ownership representation and provide required owner identification data.
- Agencies: Use the information to support entity transparency and responsibility-related review processes.
Practical Implications
- This provision exists to give the Government visibility into who ultimately owns or controls an offeror.
- It affects proposal preparation, SAM-related entity data consistency, and joint venture disclosures.
- Common pitfalls include using a DBA instead of the legal name, omitting CAGE codes, or failing to identify all immediate owners in a joint venture.
As prescribed in 4.1804(b), use the following provision:
Ownership or Control of Offeror (Aug 2020)
(a) Definitions. As used in this provision–
Commercial and Government Entity (CAGE) code means–
(1) An identifier assigned to entities located in the United States or its outlying areas by the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) Commercial and Government Entity (CAGE) Branch to identify a commercial or government entity by unique location; or
(2) An identifier assigned by a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) or by the NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA) to entities located outside the United States and its outlying areas that the DLA Commercial and Government Entity (CAGE) Branch records and maintains in the CAGE master file. This type of code is known as a NATO CAGE (NCAGE) code.
Highest-level owner means the entity that owns or controls an immediate owner of the offeror, or that owns or controls one or more entities that control an immediate owner of the offeror. No entity owns or exercises control of the highest level owner.
Immediate owner means an entity, other than the offeror, that has direct control of the offeror. Indicators of control include, but are not limited to, one or more of the following: ownership or interlocking management, identity of interests among family members, shared facilities and equipment, and the common use of employees.
(b) The Offeror represents that it □ has or □ does not have an immediate owner. If the Offeror has more than one immediate owner (such as a joint venture), then the Offeror shall respond to paragraph (c) and if applicable, paragraph (d) of this provision for each participant in the joint venture.
(c) If the Offeror indicates "has" in paragraph (b) of this provision, enter the following information:
Immediate owner CAGE code: ____________
Immediate owner legal name: ____________
(Do not use a "doing business as" name)
Is the immediate owner owned or controlled by another entity?: □ Yes or □ No.
(d) If the Offeror indicates "yes" in paragraph (c) of this provision, indicating that the immediate owner is owned or controlled by another entity, then enter the following information:
Highest-level owner CAGE code: ____________
Highest-level owner legal name: ____________
(Do not use a "doing business as" name)
(End of provision)