As we have previously covered in this blog, as a result of President Trump’s executive order, Restoring Common Sense to Federal Procurement, the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) is undergoing an extensive and unprecedented rewrite. While many of us were enjoying the relaxation of summer days (drifting away to summer nights), the Trump administration has been busy issuing rolling updates to the FAR, which are poised to dramatically reshape the federal acquisition landscape. On August 14, 2025, the FAR Council told us more (told us more) by issuing draft revisions to FAR Parts 4, 8, 12, and 40. The revisions to FAR Part 12 are particularly noteworthy, as they go to the heart of the executive order’s policy statement that the federal procurement system should be “agile, effective, and efficient” and that “undue barriers” should be removed from federal procurement.
10 U.S.C. § 3453, Preference for Commercial Products and Commercial Services, requires the head of an agency to ensure that the procurement officials of that agency, to the maximum extent practicable, “acquire commercial services, commercial products, or nondevelopmental items other than commercial products to meet the needs of the agency” 10 U.S.C. § 3453(b)(1). In furtherance of that goal, agencies must, among other things, “revise the agency’s procurement policies, practices, and procedures not required by law to reduce any impediments in those policies, practices, and procedures to the acquisition of commercial products and commercial services.” 10 U.S.C. § 3453(b)(5).
Consistent with these statutory requirements and Office of Management and Budget Memorandum M-25-26, Overhauling the Federal Acquisition Regulation, the revisions to FAR Part 12 “eliminate most non-statutory requirements to lower transaction costs for contractors, increase competition for agency requirements, and make it easier for buyers to negotiate better deals for the taxpayer” (M-25-26 at 1). The overhauled FAR Part 12 streamlines the acquisition requirements applicable to commercial products and services with the aim of increasing the participation of commercial suppliers in the federal supply chain and aligning federal acquisition with commercial best practices.
The deviation text divides FAR Part 12 into subparts that track the life cycle of a commercial acquisition:
- Subpart 12.1 – Presolicitation
- Subpart 12.2 – Solicitation, Evaluation, and Award
- Subpart 12.3 – Postaward
- Subpart 12.4 – Micro-purchases
The revised FAR Part 12 also contains multiple tables that guide contracting officers on finding information about how to structure commercial acquisitions:
- Table 12-1 – Authority citations for restricting competition
- Table 12-2 – Provisions to include as prescribed
- Table 12-3 – Clauses to include as prescribed
- Table 12-4 – Provisions and clauses to include as prescribed
The revised Part 12 contains many substantive revisions, including several key clarifications:
- The definition of “commercial service” at FAR 2.101 is revised to explicitly state that construction is included within the definition (i.e., “Services, including construction, of a type offered and sold competitively in substantial quantities in the commercial marketplace based on established catalog or market prices for specific tasks performed or specific outcomes to be achieved and under standard commercial terms and conditions” (emphasis added)).
- Section 12.000, “Scope,” clarifies that the simplified acquisition procedures for acquisitions of up to $7.5 million are implemented in Part 12.
- Per Section 12.200(a), if commercial products or services that meet agency needs are available from any priority source identified in Part 8, including existing contracts awarded for governmentwide use (e.g., the Federal Supply Schedules and governmentwide acquisition contracts), agencies are instructed to procure the commercial products or commercial services from that source. If they aren’t, agencies are to use the streamlined procedures for solicitation, evaluation, and award in Subpart 12.2.
- Section 12.201-1, “Simplified procedures,” and Section 12.201-2, “Other procedures,” clarify that (1) for acquisitions valued at up to $7.5 million, agencies are to issue a request for quotations followed by a purchase order, and (2) for acquisitions valued at greater than $7.5 million, agencies are to use the procedures in FAR Subpart 12.2 in conjunction with the procedures in Part 15 for requests for proposals or Part 14 for invitations for bids, as appropriate.
- Agencies are encouraged to use “additional innovative approaches to the maximum extent practicable when soliciting quotations and issuing purchase orders” in order to (1) reduce administrative costs and lead time, (2) improve opportunities for small-business concerns, (3) promote efficiency and economy in contracting, and (4) avoid unnecessary burdens for agencies and contractors.
- Contracting officers have considerable discretion as to how to evaluate quotations for commercial products and services; and, as explained in Section 12.203(c)(2), contracting officers are not required to have evaluation plans, score quotations, or establish a competitive range before communicating with quoters or soliciting revised quotations.
- Agencies are to ensure that quotations and offers “can be evaluated in an efficient and minimally burdensome fashion” and, in addition to considering all quotations and offers that are timely received, agencies are to “[e]xercise good business judgment in deciding whether or not to accept a quotation or offer received after the due date or time,” Section 12.203(c), (c)(1).
The revised Part 12 also revises or eliminates several key FAR Part 52 provisions and clauses applicable to commercial products and services. FAR 52.212-1, Instructions to Offerors-Commercial Products and Commercial Services; FAR 52.212-2, Evaluation-Commercial Products and Services; and FAR 52.212-4, Terms and Conditions – Commercial Products and Commercial Services all have survived the rewrite but with “plain language and other edits.”
Consistent with the administration’s stated goal of streamlining federal procurement, a total of 46 clauses and provisions from other FAR parts have been removed from Part 12, as they are no longer required for commercial contracts. This represents an approximate 30 percent reduction in the number of clauses/provisions applicable to commercial contracts. Other significant casualties of the rewrite include FAR 52.212-3, Offeror Representation and Certifications – Commercial Products and Commercial Services, and FAR 52.212-5, Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive Orders – Commercial Products and Commercial Services, both of which have been excised from the FAR.
As with other FAR 2.0 revisions, agencies have begun issuing deviations to implement the new FAR Part 12 requirements. Notably, the General Services Administration (GSA) issued a class deviation implementing the model deviation for all GSA procurements, which will take effect on November 3, 2025. The GSA deviation instructs the acquisition workforce to use the model deviation language at FAR Part 52 for new solicitations and contracts and not to include any of the removed provisions or clauses in future solicitations and contracts. The GSA has also published a clause matrix describing the changes.
Much like Danny and Sandy looking back at their summer romance in Grease, contractors and agencies alike may be looking at the FAR Part 12 rewrites through rose-colored lenses—and, like Danny and Sandy, they may have very different interpretations of what the FAR Part 12 rewrite really means for them. When Danny and Sandy reunited at Rydell High, reality quickly complicated their rosy vision of their relationship. Contractors should also expect complications as agencies implement the overhauled FAR Part 12. For example, the wide latitude extended to agencies in evaluating quotations and offers and in accepting offers and quotations after the deadline for submission has passed is likely to wreak havoc on the bid protest process. We would also expect agencies to remain “hopelessly devoted” to the FAR 1.0 way of acquiring commercial products and services, especially construction, and contractors should expect growing pains as agencies adjust to these significant changes.
However, agencies and contractors may eventually find that these changes and efficient commercial contracting go together (like rama lama lama ka dinga da dinga dong) and that some of these changes are the way they should be (wah-ooh, yeah). Time will tell whether FAR 2.0 is the one that contractors want (ooh, ooh, ooh), but for now, the Trump administration’s heart is set on these changes. Contractors should be diligent in monitoring how the GSA and other agencies implement these revisions, and they should be prepared to raise their concerns when and if these revisions complicate rather than facilitate commercial procurements.
[View source.]
