FAR 28.311—Solicitation provision and contract clause on liability insurance under cost-reimbursement contracts.

Contract clause.

FAR 28.311-1 tells contracting officers when they must include the clause at 52.228-7, Insurance—Liability to Third Persons, in a solicitation or contract. The section applies only when a cost-reimbursement contract is contemplated, and it expressly excludes construction contracts and architect-engineer (A-E) services contracts. It also makes the requirement subject to agency acquisition regulations, meaning an agency may have additional implementing rules or procedures that affect how the clause is used. In practice, this section is about protecting the Government and third parties by ensuring the contractor has appropriate liability insurance coverage when the Government is paying allowable costs under a cost-reimbursement arrangement. For contractors, it signals that insurance requirements may be mandatory and should be priced, planned, and verified early in the acquisition process. For contracting officers, it is a clause-coverage rule that must be checked during solicitation and contract preparation to avoid an omission that could create risk or require later correction.

Agency solicitation provisions and contract clauses.

FAR 28.311-2 is a short but important delegation provision in the surety and bonds area of FAR subpart 28.3. It addresses one topic: the ability of agencies to write their own solicitation provisions and contract clauses to carry out the basic policies in subpart 28.3, which covers surety and other security for construction and related contracting requirements. In practice, this means the FAR does not provide a single mandatory governmentwide clause set for every situation in this area; instead, agencies may tailor their own provisions and clauses so long as they implement the underlying FAR policy. The section matters because it gives agencies flexibility to address program-specific, statutory, or operational needs while still staying aligned with the FAR framework. For contractors, it means solicitation and contract language may vary by agency, so they must read each procurement carefully rather than assuming a standard clause package. For contracting officers and acquisition personnel, it signals that any agency-specific language must be consistent with the basic policies of subpart 28.3 and should be used deliberately, not casually.