FAR 17.502-1—General.
Plain-English Summary
FAR 17.502-1 explains how agencies must set up responsibility for managing and administering interagency acquisitions, and it distinguishes between assisted acquisitions and direct acquisitions. For assisted acquisitions, it requires a written interagency agreement signed before the solicitation is issued, setting out the general terms and conditions of the relationship, including acquisition planning, contract execution, and contract/order administration. It also requires the requesting agency to identify any unique agency-specific requirements, statutes, regulations, directives, or other applicable conditions that must be incorporated into the contract or order, and it requires both agencies to keep the agreement and supporting documentation in the file for audit purposes. For direct acquisitions, the rule is simpler: the requesting agency administers the order, so no written agreement with the servicing agency is required. The section also imposes a separate business-case analysis requirement for multi-agency contracts and governmentwide acquisition contracts, including approval under OFPP guidance. That business case must address small business participation, administrative costs, the effect on the Government’s buying power, the need for the contract vehicle, and the roles and responsibilities for administration. In practice, this section is about preventing confusion over who is responsible, ensuring agency-specific requirements are not lost, and making sure large interagency vehicles are justified before they are created.
Key Rules
Written agreement for assisted acquisitions
Before issuing a solicitation, the servicing agency and requesting agency must sign a written interagency agreement. The agreement must establish the general terms and conditions of the relationship and assign roles and responsibilities for acquisition planning, contract execution, and administration/management of the resulting contract(s) or order(s).
Requesting agency must identify unique requirements
The requesting agency must provide any unique terms, conditions, and applicable agency-specific statutes, regulations, directives, and other requirements for inclusion in the contract or order. If there are no requirements beyond the FAR, the requesting agency must tell the servicing agency contracting officer in writing.
File documentation and audit support
Each agency’s file must contain the interagency agreement and enough supporting documentation to permit an adequate audit consistent with FAR 4.801(b). This means the record must clearly show what was agreed to and how the acquisition was managed.
No written agreement for direct acquisitions
For direct acquisitions, the requesting agency administers the order, so a written agreement with the servicing agency is not required under this section. The key distinction is that the requesting agency, not the servicing agency, handles administration.
Business-case analysis required for multi-agency and GWACs
To establish a multi-agency contract or governmentwide acquisition contract, the servicing agency must prepare a business-case analysis and obtain approval in accordance with OFPP business-case guidance. The analysis is a prerequisite to creating the contract vehicle.
Small business participation must be considered
The business-case analysis must consider strategies for effective small business participation during acquisition planning. This ties the vehicle-creation decision to socioeconomic policy and acquisition planning requirements.
Costs and buying-power effects must be analyzed
The business case must detail direct and indirect Government costs of awarding and administering the contract and explain how the contract will affect the Government’s ability to leverage purchasing power, including whether it could dilute existing contracts.
Need and administration must be documented
The analysis must conclude that there is a need for the multi-agency contract and must document the roles and responsibilities for administering the contract. This ensures the vehicle is justified and operationally supportable before it is established.
Responsibilities
Servicing Agency
For assisted acquisitions, sign the written interagency agreement before solicitation issuance and carry out the roles assigned in that agreement. For multi-agency contracts and GWACs, prepare the required business-case analysis and obtain approval under OFPP guidance.
Requesting Agency
For assisted acquisitions, sign the interagency agreement, provide all unique agency-specific requirements and applicable authorities for incorporation into the contract or order, and notify the servicing agency in writing if no requirements beyond the FAR apply. For direct acquisitions, administer the order itself.
Contracting Officer
Ensure the interagency agreement is in place before solicitation for assisted acquisitions, confirm the contract/order includes all required unique terms and conditions, and maintain the file documentation needed for audit. For direct acquisitions, administer the order as assigned by the requesting agency.
Agency Acquisition/Program Officials
Support acquisition planning, identify agency-specific needs early, and ensure the business-case analysis for multi-agency vehicles addresses small business participation, costs, buying-power impacts, need, and administration roles.
Approving Authority under OFPP Guidance
Review and approve the business-case analysis for multi-agency contracts and GWACs in accordance with the applicable OFPP procedures before the vehicle is established.
Practical Implications
The biggest day-to-day issue is making sure the right agreement is in place before the solicitation goes out for an assisted acquisition; missing that step can create compliance and accountability problems.
Requesting agencies should not assume the servicing agency knows their special statutory or regulatory requirements. If those requirements are not identified early and in writing, they may be omitted from the contract or order.
Documentation matters. If the interagency agreement and supporting records are not in the file, the acquisition may fail audit review even if the deal was otherwise executed correctly.
For direct acquisitions, parties sometimes overcomplicate the process by creating unnecessary agreements. This section makes clear that the requesting agency administers the order and no written agreement with the servicing agency is required.
Before creating a multi-agency contract or GWAC, agencies must justify the vehicle, analyze costs and market effects, and address small business participation. A weak business case can delay or prevent approval and can lead to vehicles that duplicate or undermine existing contracts.
Official Regulatory Text
(a) Written agreement on responsibility for management and administration—. (1) Assisted acquisitions . (i) Prior to the issuance of a solicitation, the servicing agency and the requesting agency shall both sign a written interagency agreement that establishes the general terms and conditions governing the relationship between the parties, including roles and responsibilities for acquisition planning, contract execution, and administration and management of the contract(s) or order(s). The requesting agency shall provide to the servicing agency any unique terms, conditions, and applicable agency-specific statutes, regulations, directives, and other applicable requirements for incorporation into the order or contract. In the event there are no agency unique requirements beyond the FAR, the requesting agency shall so inform the servicing agency contracting officer in writing. For acquisitions on behalf of the Department of Defense, also see subpart 17.7 . For patent rights, see 27.304-2 . In preparing interagency agreements to support assisted acquisitions, agencies should review the Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP) guidance, Interagency Acquisitions, available at https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/legacy_drupal_files/omb/assets/OMB/procurement/interagency_acq/iac_revised.pdf . (ii) Each agency’s file shall include the interagency agreement between the requesting and servicing agency, and shall include sufficient documentation to ensure an adequate audit consistent with 4.801 (b). (2) Direct acquisitions . The requesting agency administers the order; therefore, no written agreement with the servicing agency is required. (b) Business-case analysis requirements for multi-agency contracts and governmentwide acquisition contracts . In order to establish a multi-agency or governmentwide acquisition contract, a business-case analysis must be prepared by the servicing agency and approved in accordance with the OFPP business case guidance, available at https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/legacy_drupal_files/omb/procurement/memo/development-review-and-approval-of-business-cases-for-certain-interagency-and-agency-specific-acquisitions-memo.pdf . The business-case analysis shall— (1) Consider strategies for the effective participation of small businesses during acquisition planning (see 7.103 (u)); (2) Detail the administration of such contract, including an analysis of all direct and indirect costs to the Government of awarding and administering such contract; (3) Describe the impact such contract will have on the ability of the Government to leverage its purchasing power, e.g. , will it have a negative effect because it dilutes other existing contracts; (4) Include an analysis concluding that there is a need for establishing the multi-agency contract; and (5) Document roles and responsibilities in the administration of the contract.