Almost every federal contract is shaped by one body of rules: the Federal Acquisition Regulation, or FAR. It governs how executive agencies plan purchases, run competitions, award contracts and manage them afterward. For a document that is now central to federal business, it is younger than many people assume.
Before the FAR
For much of the twentieth century, federal procurement rules were split. The military services worked under defense regulations that traced back to the Armed Services Procurement Regulation, developed after World War II and later renamed the Defense Acquisition Regulation. Civilian agencies used the Federal Procurement Regulations. Many agencies also issued their own detailed rules. Contractors who worked across government had to learn overlapping and sometimes conflicting requirements.
In 1974, Congress created the Office of Federal Procurement Policy within the Office of Management and Budget, giving the government a central voice for procurement policy. One of the goals that followed was a single, uniform regulation for executive agencies.
The FAR takes effect
The Federal Acquisition Regulation became effective on April 1, 1984. It is issued jointly by the Department of Defense, the General Services Administration and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and it is codified in Title 48 of the Code of Federal Regulations. The FAR Council, which includes representatives of those agencies and the Administrator for Federal Procurement Policy, oversees its maintenance.
The FAR did not eliminate agency-specific rules entirely. Agencies issue supplements, such as the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS), that add requirements for their own purchases. When you read a contract, you will often see both FAR and supplement clauses.
How the FAR changes
The FAR is a living document. It changes through rulemaking that often begins with a proposed rule published in the Federal Register, followed by public comment and a final rule. Changes are grouped into Federal Acquisition Circulars. Many changes implement new laws, such as provisions of annual defense authorization acts, while others respond to executive orders or policy priorities.
Major reforms over the years have reshaped how the government buys. Laws in the 1990s, for instance, encouraged the purchase of commercial products and services and streamlined smaller purchases. More recently, a government-wide effort that began in 2025 has been rewriting the FAR to make it shorter and plainer, which means part structures and clause wording may differ from older guidance you encounter.
Why the history matters to contractors
Understanding that the FAR is maintained, supplemented and revised helps you read it correctly. A few practical habits follow from that:
- Always check the current text on acquisition.gov, rather than relying on a saved copy or an old article.
- Read the clauses actually included in your solicitation or contract, with their dates, because they govern your obligations.
- Look for agency supplements that apply to the agency you are working with.
- Watch for transitions when rules change, since solicitations may reference different versions.
The FAR can seem intimidating, but its purpose has stayed consistent since 1984: a uniform, public set of rules so that businesses and agencies know how federal buying works.