Overview
This section establishes the legal foundation of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) System and identifies the specific executive agencies responsible for its oversight and maintenance.
Key Rules
- Legal Basis: The development of the FAR System must comply with the statutory requirements of 41 U.S.C. chapter 13 regarding Acquisition Councils.
- Joint Responsibility: The FAR is jointly prepared, issued, maintained, and prescribed by three specific entities:
- The Secretary of Defense (DoD)
- The Administrator of General Services (GSA)
- The Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
- Statutory Authority: These agencies exercise their collective power under their respective individual statutory authorities to govern federal procurement.
Practical Implications
- This section ensures that the FAR is the primary, uniform regulation for federal procurement, preventing individual agencies from creating conflicting high-level acquisition rules without interagency coordination.
- In practice, any revision to the FAR (a "FAR Case") requires consensus among DoD, GSA, and NASA, ensuring that procurement policy reflects the needs of both military and civilian sectors.