The FAR Council is undertaking a systematic approach to revising the FARs. On August 15, 2025, it released its revisions to FAR Part 28, Bonds and Insurance, FAR Part 30, Cost Accounting Standards Administration, and FAR Part 48, Value Engineering.
Redlines showing the additions and deletions to each of these sections of the FAR are available here:
FAR Part 28, Bonds and Insurance
FAR Part 28, Bonds and Insurance, prescribes requirements for obtaining financial protection against losses under contracts that result from the use of the sealed bid or negotiated methods. It covers bid guarantees, bonds, alternative payment protections, security for bonds, and insurance.
The FAR Council made minimal changes to FAR Part 28, explaining that:
All content in FAR part 28, Bonds and Insurance, has been retained with minimal deletions and minor updates made for plain language. No changes were made to provisions or clauses.
The FAR Companion Guide includes two links to checklists for contracting officers to use when ensuring that all required conditions regarding payment, performance, and bid bonds are met:
FAR Part 48, Value Engineering
FAR Part 48, Value Engineering, addresses (i) voluntary suggestions by contractors to implement more economical methods and share resulting savings, and (2) situations where a contractor is required to create programs to identify and submit more economical methods to the Government.
The FAR Council stated that its revisions were focused on “rewrit[ing] the part in plain language” and that it has “reduced [FAR Part 48] by nearly 3,000 words (70%) from the current language.”
The implementing contract clauses were largely not changed. The FAR Council did remove FAR 48.101(b) (addressing two value engineering approaches), FAR 48.103 (detailing how to process value engineering proposals), FAR 48.102(e) (identifying how to calculate profit or fees for value engineering change proposal savings), and FAR 48.104 (sharing periods and rates), with those provisions being moved to a forthcoming FAR Companion Guide.
The Practitioner Album for the FAR Part 48 revisions also includes a link to a Department of Defense Value Engineering Fact Sheet that provides an overview of value engineering concepts and requirements and the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration’s Construction Program Guide, which also provides information on value engineering change proposals.
FAR Part 30, Cost Accounting Standards Administration
FAR Part 30, Cost Accounting Standards Administration, describes policies and procedures for applying the Cost Accounting Standards Board (CASB) rules and regulations ( 48 CFR Chapter 99) to negotiated contracts and subcontracts.
The FAR Council significantly modified the structure of FAR Part 30, explaining that:
The revision includes a complete structural reorganization to align with the acquisition lifecycle, enhanced clarity, and a strategic consolidation of policies coupled with the elimination of obsolete requirements.
The revisions to FAR Part 30 include:
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- References to the “cognizant Federal agency official” (CFAO) and auditor responsibilities and disclosure requirements were added as paragraphs (c) and (d) to new section 30.101.
- References in the Subparts 30.3 (CAS Rules and Regulations), 30.4 (Cost Accounting Standards), and 30.5 (Cost Accounting Standards for Educational Institutions) were also moved to a new section 30.101 as paragraphs (e), (f), and (g).
- Subpart 30.2 now groups all CAS-related determinations and requirements that a contracting officer must address before a solicitation is issued. It retains and reorganizes provisions addressing waiver information and exemptions.
- Subpart 30.3 now groups all CAS-related activities that occur after proposals are received but before a contract is awarded. It retains and reorganizes provisions addressing contractor disclosure statements and processing changes identified pre-award (e.g., unilateral or desirable changes to a contractor’s cost accounting practices identified during the evaluation phase).
- Subpart 30.4 contains all postaward CAS administration activities. It retains and reorganizes provisions addressing CAS administration responsibilities, processing changes, materiality, remedies, resolving cost impacts, and subcontract administration.
The following provisions and clauses were retained with edits to reflect new cross-references within FAR Part 30:
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- 230-1, Cost Accounting Standards Notices and Certifications was retained, but Alternate I was deleted. Alternate I applied only to contracts with educational institutions contemplated prior to July 1, 1997.
- 230-2, Cost Accounting Standards
- 230-3, Disclosure and Consistency of Cost Accounting Practices
- 230-4, Disclosure and Consistency of Cost Accounting Practices-Foreign Concerns
- 230-5, Cost Accounting Standards-Educational Institution
- 230-6, Administration of Cost Accounting Standards
FAR 52.230-7, Proposal Disclosure-Cost Accounting Practice Changes, was retained with no changes.
Some provisions were moved to a forthcoming FAR Companion Guide. For example, instructions for contracting officers to support the determination of a contract’s exemption from cost accounting standards were moved from 30.202-7 (adequacy determinations) to the FAR Companion Guide.
The FAR Companion Guide will, according to the FAR Council, also provide “best practice considerations for exemptions and waivers” and “best practice considerations for coordination with the cognizant Federal agency official (CFAO).”
