FAR 14.202-4—Bid samples.
Plain-English Summary
FAR 14.202-4 governs when and how bid samples may be required in sealed bidding, and it is designed to keep samples limited to situations where written specifications cannot adequately describe the product. This section covers the policy for requiring samples, when samples are appropriate, when they are not, the documentation needed to justify the requirement, what an invitation for bids must say about samples, when the requirement may be waived, how unsolicited samples are treated, and how bid samples must be handled after submission. In practice, the rule protects competition by preventing unnecessary sample burdens, while also giving contracting officers a way to evaluate products whose important qualities are hard to capture in words alone, such as feel, color, balance, or pattern. It also draws a sharp line between responsiveness and responsibility: bid samples may be used only to decide whether the bid conforms to the solicitation, not whether the bidder is capable of performing. For contractors, the section matters because a sample failure can make a bid nonresponsive and ineligible for award, even if the bidder is otherwise qualified. For contracting officers, it requires careful drafting, clear evaluation criteria, proper file documentation, and disciplined sample handling to avoid protests and improper rejections.
Key Rules
Samples only when necessary
A bidder may be required to furnish bid samples only when the product has characteristics that cannot be adequately described in the specification or purchase description. The government should not use samples as a routine requirement or as a substitute for a well-written specification.
Samples test responsiveness only
Bid samples are used only to determine whether the bid conforms to the solicitation’s requirements. They may not be used to judge the bidder’s capability, experience, production capacity, or general responsibility.
Listed characteristics control
If the invitation lists characteristics for sample evaluation, the sample may be examined for each listed characteristic, even if some of those characteristics are otherwise described in the specification. A sample that fails to conform to any listed characteristic makes the bid nonresponsive.
Use only for hard-to-describe traits
Bid samples are appropriate for products where qualities such as balance, ease of use, feel, color, or pattern matter and cannot be described well enough in writing. If more than a minor portion of the product’s characteristics cannot be adequately described, sealed bidding with samples is usually not the right method; two-step sealed bidding or negotiation should be considered instead.
Document the justification
The contract file must explain why acceptable products cannot be acquired without bid samples, unless a formal specification already requires them. This documentation supports the solicitation decision and helps defend the requirement if challenged.
Solicitation must be specific
The invitation for bids must state the number and, if needed, the size of the samples and fully describe what samples are required. It must also list all characteristics that will be examined so bidders know exactly what will be evaluated.
Waivers are allowed in limited cases
The sample requirement may be waived when a bidder offers a product previously or currently being supplied or tested by the government and found to comply with the relevant specification in every material respect. If a formal specification would otherwise require samples but a waiver has been authorized, the solicitation must say that samples are not required.
Unsolicited samples usually ignored
Samples submitted with a bid that were not required by the invitation generally do not qualify the bid and are disregarded. They matter only if the bid or accompanying papers clearly show the bidder intended the sample to qualify the bid, in which case the bid must be evaluated accordingly.
Return and disposal rules
Samples not destroyed in testing should be returned at the bidder’s request and expense unless the solicitation says otherwise. The government must request disposition instructions, return samples if instructions are not received within 30 days, send retained samples to the inspecting activity when needed, and dispose of consumed or damaged samples as scrap unless the bidder asks for their return.
Responsibilities
Contracting Officer
Decide whether bid samples are truly necessary, ensure the requirement is justified in the contract file, draft the invitation with the required sample details and evaluation characteristics, determine whether a waiver is appropriate, and ensure bids are evaluated only for responsiveness based on the sample requirements stated in the solicitation.
Contractor/Bidder
Submit only the samples required by the invitation, ensure the samples conform to every listed characteristic, understand that a sample failure can make the bid nonresponsive, and provide disposition instructions if samples are to be returned or retained after evaluation.
Agency/Contracting Activity
Maintain the contract file justification, support proper sample evaluation and handling procedures, route retained samples to the inspecting activity when needed, and ensure sample disposition is handled consistently with the solicitation and FAR requirements.
Inspecting Activity
Receive and retain samples that must be kept for inspection purposes in connection with deliveries, hold them until contract completion or until other disposition instructions are provided, and use them only for the authorized inspection purpose.
Practical Implications
A poorly written sample requirement can create protests, unnecessary bid costs, or an invalid rejection, so the solicitation must be precise about what is being sampled and how it will be judged.
Contracting officers should not use samples to compensate for vague specifications; if the product cannot be described well enough, the acquisition method may need to change.
Bidders should treat every listed sample characteristic as mandatory, because failure on even one listed feature can make the bid nonresponsive and eliminate award eligibility.
Unsolicited samples are risky for bidders because they usually will be ignored and may not help the bid unless the bidder clearly ties the sample to a bid qualification.
Sample handling matters after award decisions too: agencies must track disposition instructions, return or retain samples properly, and avoid losing or improperly disposing of bidder property.
Official Regulatory Text
(a) Policy. (1) Bidders shall not be required to furnish bid samples unless there are characteristics of the product that cannot be described adequately in the specification or purchase description. (2) Bid samples will be used only to determine the responsiveness of the bid and will not be used to determine a bidder’s ability to produce the required items. (3) Bid samples may be examined for any required characteristic, whether or not such characteristic is adequately described in the specification, if listed in accordance with paragraph (d)(1)(ii) of this section. (4) Bids will be rejected as nonresponsive if the sample fails to conform to each of the characteristics listed in the invitation. (b) When to use . The use of bid samples would be appropriate for products that must be suitable from the standpoint of balance, facility of use, general "feel," color, pattern, or other characteristics that cannot be described adequately in the specification. However, when more than a minor portion of the characteristics of the product cannot be adequately described in the specification, products should be acquired by two-step sealed bidding or negotiation, as appropriate. (c) Justification . The reasons why acceptable products cannot be acquired without the submission of bid samples shall be set forth in the contract file, except where the submission is required by the formal specifications (Federal, Military, or other) applicable to the acquisition. (d) Requirements for samples in invitations for bids. (1) Invitations for bids shall- (i) State the number and, if appropriate, the size of the samples to be submitted and otherwise fully describe the samples required; and (ii) List all the characteristics for which the samples will be examined. (2) If bid samples are required, see 14.201-6 (o). (e) Waiver of requirement for bid samples. (1) The requirement for furnishing bid samples may be waived when a bidder offers a product previously or currently being contracted for or tested by the Government and found to comply with specification requirements conforming in every material respect with those in the current invitation for bids. When the requirement may be waived, see 14.201-6 (o)(2). (2) Where samples required by a Federal, Military, or other formal specification are not considered necessary and a waiver of the sample requirements of the specification has been authorized, a statement shall be included in the invitation that notwithstanding the requirements of the specification, samples will not be required. (f) Unsolicited samples . Bid samples furnished with a bid that are not required by the invitation generally will not be considered as qualifying the bid and will be disregarded. However, the bid sample will not be disregarded if it is clear from the bid or accompanying papers that the bidder’s intention was to qualify the bid. (See 14.404-2 (d) if the qualification does not conform to the solicitation.) (g) Handling bid samples. (1) Samples that are not destroyed in testing shall be returned to bidders at their request and expense, unless otherwise specified in the invitation. (2) Disposition instructions shall be requested from bidders and samples disposed of accordingly. (3) Samples ordinarily will be returned collect to the address from which received if disposition instructions are not received within 30 days. Small items may be returned by mail, postage prepaid. (4) Samples that are to be retained for inspection purposes in connection with deliveries shall be transmitted to the inspecting activity concerned, with instructions to retain the sample until completion of the contract or until disposition instructions are furnished. (5) Where samples are consumed or their usefulness is impaired by tests, they will be disposed of as scrap unless the bidder requests their return.