Overview
This section establishes that the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) provides various acquisition flexibilities to contracting officers that can be utilized under standard conditions without the need for a formal emergency declaration.
Key Rules
- Availability: Acquisition flexibilities are inherent throughout the FAR and are not limited to emergency scenarios.
- Conditional Use: These flexibilities are accessible to contracting officers provided that the specific conditions outlined for their use are met.
- No Declaration Required: Use of these specific flexibilities does not depend on a formal emergency declaration or a designated contingency operation.
Practical Implications
- Contracting officers have the authority to use streamlined procedures (such as those found in FAR Part 13 or Part 15) in day-to-day operations to increase efficiency, provided they justify the specific criteria for those procedures.
- Agencies do not have to wait for a national crisis or executive order to employ simplified or flexible acquisition methods that are already authorized within the standard regulatory framework.