FAR 15.206—Amending the solicitation.
Plain-English Summary
FAR 15.206 explains when and how a contracting officer must amend a solicitation during negotiated acquisitions. It covers changes to the Government’s requirements or terms and conditions, who must receive amendments before and after the proposal due date, how to handle a proposal that suggests a departure from the stated requirements, when a change is so substantial that the original solicitation must be canceled and reissued, and when oral notice may be used in urgent situations. It also identifies the minimum information that should appear in each amendment, including the issuing activity, solicitation and amendment numbers, page count, description of the change, point of contact, and any revised closing date. In practice, this section is about fairness, transparency, and competition integrity: all offerors must have the same material information, and the Government must not let a material change slip through without formally updating the solicitation. It also protects the procurement record by requiring documentation when oral notice is used and by directing the contracting officer to avoid revealing protected proposal information when amending the solicitation based on a proposed alternate solution.
Key Rules
Amend when requirements change
If the Government changes its requirements or terms and conditions before or after proposals are received, the contracting officer must amend the solicitation. The amendment is the formal mechanism that keeps the solicitation accurate and ensures offerors are competing against the same stated needs.
Send pre-closing amendments to all
Any amendment issued before the proposal due date must be sent to every party that received the solicitation. This prevents unequal access to information and preserves full and open competition among all prospective offerors.
Send post-closing amendments to remaining offerors
If an amendment is issued after the proposal deadline, it must go to all offerors that have not been eliminated from the competition. The rule ensures that only active competitors receive the updated information needed to revise or clarify their proposals.
Protect alternate solutions
If a proposal of interest departs from the stated requirements, the contracting officer should amend the solicitation only if doing so will not reveal the alternate solution or other protected information. The Government must avoid disclosing proposal content that is entitled to protection under the proposal information rules.
Cancel and reissue if change is too big
If a post-receipt amendment is so substantial that prospective offerors could not reasonably have anticipated it, and additional sources likely would have competed had they known, the contracting officer must cancel the original solicitation and issue a new one. This applies regardless of how far the acquisition has progressed.
Oral notice only when urgent
Oral notices may be used when time is of the essence, but the contracting officer must document the file and later formalize the notice with a written amendment. Oral notice is an exception for urgency, not a substitute for proper written amendment procedures.
Include minimum amendment data
Each amendment should, at a minimum, identify the issuing activity, solicitation number and date, amendment number and date, number of pages, description of the change, contracting point of contact, and any revised closing date. These elements help offerors quickly understand what changed and what action they must take.
Responsibilities
Contracting Officer
Determine when a solicitation must be amended, issue amendments to the correct audience, protect proprietary or proposal information when a proposal suggests an alternate solution, decide whether a change is so substantial that the solicitation must be canceled and reissued, and document and formalize any oral notice used in an urgent situation.
Offerors / Prospective Offerors
Review amendments promptly, adjust proposals as needed, and monitor whether the closing date has changed or whether the solicitation has been canceled and replaced. Offerors that remain in the competition after the due date must pay attention to post-closing amendments.
Government / Issuing Activity
Ensure the solicitation package and amendment records are accurate and distributed properly, and support the contracting officer in maintaining a fair and transparent competition. The issuing activity must also help ensure the amendment identifies the correct solicitation and contact information.
Practical Implications
A solicitation amendment is not optional when the Government changes its needs; failing to amend can create unequal competition, protest risk, and evaluation problems.
Timing matters: before the due date, every recipient gets the amendment; after the due date, only offerors still in the competition get it. Missing the correct distribution group can invalidate the process.
If a proposed solution reveals a better way to meet the requirement, the contracting officer must be careful not to disclose that idea when revising the solicitation.
A major change late in the process may require canceling and reissuing the solicitation rather than trying to patch it with an amendment, especially if the change would have attracted different competitors.
Oral notices can save time in urgent situations, but they must be backed up immediately in the contract file and converted into a formal amendment to avoid recordkeeping and enforceability problems.
Official Regulatory Text
(a) When, either before or after receipt of proposals, the Government changes its requirements or terms and conditions, the contracting officer shall amend the solicitation. (b) Amendments issued before the established time and date for receipt of proposals shall be issued to all parties receiving the solicitation. (c) Amendments issued after the established time and date for receipt of proposals shall be issued to all offerors that have not been eliminated from the competition. (d) If a proposal of interest to the Government involves a departure from the stated requirements, the contracting officer shall amend the solicitation, provided this can be done without revealing to the other offerors the alternate solution proposed or any other information that is entitled to protection (see 15.207 (b) and 15.306 (e)). (e) If, in the judgment of the contracting officer, based on market research or otherwise, an amendment proposed for issuance after offers have been received is so substantial as to exceed what prospective offerors reasonably could have anticipated, so that additional sources likely would have submitted offers had the substance of the amendment been known to them, the contracting officer shall cancel the original solicitation and issue a new one, regardless of the stage of the acquisition. (f) Oral notices may be used when time is of the essence. The contracting officer shall document the contract file and formalize the notice with an amendment (see subpart 4.5 , Electronic Commerce in Contracting). (g) At a minimum, the following information should be included in each amendment: (1) Name and address of issuing activity. (2) Solicitation number and date. (3) Amendment number and date. (4) Number of pages. (5) Description of the change being made. (6) Government point of contact and phone number (and electronic or facsimile address, if appropriate). (7) Revision to solicitation closing date, if applicable.