FAR 25.602—Policy.

Section 1605 of the Recovery Act.

FAR 25.602-1 implements Section 1605 of the Recovery Act for construction-related projects funded with Recovery Act dollars. It covers the domestic source restrictions that apply to projects for the construction, alteration, maintenance, or repair of a public building or public work located in the United States, including the requirement that iron, steel, and manufactured goods used as construction material be produced or manufactured in the United States unless a trade agreement exception applies. The section also explains how to treat manufactured construction material, how to handle iron or steel components versus other components or subcomponents, and gives examples showing when the restriction applies to an entire item and when it does not. It further extends the same domestic source rules to manufactured materials purchased directly by the Government and delivered to the site for incorporation into the project. Finally, it clarifies that a project may be structured as several contracts, a single contract, or one or more line items, which matters for how the restriction is applied in practice. In short, this section is a key compliance rule for Recovery Act-funded construction work and requires careful sourcing, specification, and contract administration to avoid using noncompliant materials.

Buy American statute

FAR 25.602-2 states the core sourcing rule for unmanufactured construction material under the Buy American statute. It tells contracting officers and contractors that, unless an exception in FAR 25.603 applies, only unmanufactured construction material mined or produced in the United States may be used in covered construction work. It also recognizes that when a trade agreement applies, unmanufactured construction material mined or produced in a designated country may be used as well. In practice, this section is the baseline domestic-preference rule for raw construction inputs such as stone, sand, gravel, and other unmanufactured materials, and it determines whether a proposed source is acceptable before the material is incorporated into the project. The section matters because it affects specification writing, offer evaluation, subcontractor sourcing, and compliance reviews, and it can trigger rejection of noncompliant material if the contractor does not identify an applicable exception or trade agreement coverage.