FAR 11.503—Contract clauses.
Plain-English Summary
FAR 11.503 tells contracting officers which liquidated damages and time-extension clauses to include in solicitations and contracts when liquidated damages are appropriate. It covers three specific clauses: 52.211-11, Liquidated Damages—Supplies, Services, or Research and Development; 52.211-12, Liquidated Damages—Construction; and 52.211-13, Time Extensions. The section distinguishes between fixed-price supplies/services/R&D and construction, and it also makes clear that construction contracts using liquidated damages may need special drafting when the work has multiple completion dates for separate parts or stages. In practice, this section matters because liquidated damages clauses must be selected and tailored correctly to be enforceable and to match the contract’s delivery or completion structure. It also ensures that when liquidated damages are used in construction, the contract includes a time-extension mechanism that works with the revised damages clause. For contractors, this section signals where delay exposure may be built into the contract and where schedule language needs close review. For contracting officers, it is a clause-selection and clause-editing rule that must be applied consistently with the underlying determination that liquidated damages are appropriate.
Key Rules
Use 52.211-11 for non-construction
In fixed-price solicitations and contracts for supplies, services, or research and development, use the Liquidated Damages—Supplies, Services, or Research and Development clause when liquidated damages are appropriate. This clause is the prescribed clause for those contract types; it is not a general-purpose clause for construction.
Use 52.211-12 for construction
In construction solicitations and contracts, other than cost-plus-fixed-fee, use the Liquidated Damages—Construction clause when liquidated damages are appropriate. The rule applies only after the contracting officer decides liquidated damages are warranted under FAR 11.501(a).
Revise for multiple completion dates
If a construction contract has more than one completion date for separate parts or stages of the work, the contracting officer must revise paragraph (a) of 52.211-12 to state the liquidated damages amount for delay of each separate part or stage. The clause must reflect the contract’s segmented completion structure rather than a single undifferentiated deadline.
Use 52.211-13 with revised construction clause
When 52.211-12 is revised because the contract has multiple completion dates, use the Time Extensions clause at 52.211-13 in the solicitation and contract. This clause is tied to the revised liquidated damages structure and helps address schedule adjustments consistently.
Only when damages are appropriate
All of these clause prescriptions depend on the contracting officer’s threshold determination that liquidated damages are appropriate under FAR 11.501(a). The section does not itself create the basis for liquidated damages; it tells the officer which clauses to insert once that decision has been made.
Responsibilities
Contracting Officer
Determine whether liquidated damages are appropriate under FAR 11.501(a), select the correct clause based on contract type, revise 52.211-12 when the construction contract has separate completion dates for parts or stages, and include 52.211-13 when the revised construction liquidated damages clause is used.
Agency
Ensure acquisition planning and solicitation drafting practices support proper use of liquidated damages clauses, especially in construction acquisitions with phased or staged completion requirements.
Contractor
Review the solicitation and contract for the applicable liquidated damages and time-extension clauses, understand the delay exposure tied to each completion date or stage, and account for those risks in pricing and schedule planning.
Practical Implications
This section is mainly a clause-selection rule, but getting it wrong can create enforceability problems or a mismatch between the contract schedule and the damages clause.
Construction contracts with phased completion dates need special attention; a single liquidated damages amount may be insufficient if different parts or stages have different deadlines.
The Time Extensions clause is not optional when the construction liquidated damages clause has been revised for multiple completion dates; omitting it can leave the contract incomplete or inconsistent.
Contractors should look closely at whether liquidated damages apply to the whole project or to separate milestones, because that affects both schedule risk and potential deductions.
Contracting officers should confirm the contract type before inserting the clause, since 52.211-11 and 52.211-12 are not interchangeable and are prescribed for different acquisition contexts.
Official Regulatory Text
(a) Use the clause at 52.211-11 , Liquidated Damages-Supplies, Services, or Research and Development, in fixed-price solicitations and contracts for supplies, services, or research and development when the contracting officer determines that liquidated damages are appropriate (see 11.501 (a)). (b) Use the clause at 52.211-12 , Liquidated Damages-Construction, in solicitations and contracts for construction, other than cost-plus-fixed-fee, when the contracting officer determines that liquidated damages are appropriate (see 11.501 (a)). If the contract specifies more than one completion date for separate parts or stages of the work, revise paragraph (a) of the clause to state the amount of liquidated damages for delay of each separate part or stage of the work. (c) Use the clause at 52.211-13 , Time Extensions, in solicitations and contracts for construction that use the clause at 52.211-12 , Liquidated Damages-Construction, when that clause has been revised as provided in paragraph (b) of this section.