FAR 42.1500—Scope of subpart.
Plain-English Summary
FAR 42.1500 defines the scope of Subpart 42.15, which governs how the Government records and maintains contractor performance information. In practical terms, this section tells contracting personnel that the subpart is about policies and responsibilities for collecting, documenting, and preserving past performance data used in source selections and other acquisition decisions. It also draws an important boundary: the subpart does not cover agency procedures for determining award fees or incentive fees under award-fee and incentive-fee contracts, which are addressed under FAR Subpart 16.4. Even so, the section links the two concepts by stating that fee determinations should reflect contractor performance and that past performance evaluations should closely parallel and be consistent with fee determinations. This matters because agencies must manage performance records in a way that is fair, accurate, and useful for future acquisition decisions, while also avoiding inconsistency between performance evaluations and fee outcomes.
Key Rules
Subpart covers performance records
This subpart establishes the policies and responsibilities for recording and maintaining contractor performance information. Its focus is on how agencies document past performance for use in future source selections and related acquisition decisions.
Award-fee procedures excluded
The subpart does not apply to agency procedures for determining fees under award-fee or incentive-fee contracts. Those procedures are governed by FAR Subpart 16.4, not Subpart 42.15.
Fee should reflect performance
Although fee-setting procedures are outside this subpart, the amount of fee paid should be reflective of the contractor’s performance. In other words, performance results should have a meaningful relationship to fee outcomes.
Past performance should align with fee determinations
Past performance evaluations should closely parallel and be consistent with fee determinations. Agencies should avoid creating performance records that conflict with the basis used to award or adjust fee payments.
Responsibilities
Agency
Establish and follow policies for recording and maintaining contractor performance information, and ensure performance records are accurate, timely, and usable for future acquisition decisions.
Contracting Officer
Oversee the collection and maintenance of contractor performance information and ensure that performance evaluations are consistent with the contractor’s actual performance and, where applicable, with fee determinations.
Program/Technical Personnel
Provide factual input on contractor performance so the Government can create reliable performance records that support past performance evaluations and related decisions.
Contractor
Perform in a way that supports favorable performance records and, when applicable, understand that performance results may affect fee outcomes and future past performance evaluations.
Practical Implications
Agencies should keep performance evaluations and fee determinations aligned; inconsistent records can undermine source selections and create disputes.
Contracting officers should not use this subpart to manage award-fee or incentive-fee procedures, but they should still ensure the resulting performance record makes sense in light of those fee decisions.
Contractors should expect that performance under award-fee or incentive-fee contracts may influence both fee outcomes and the narrative in past performance systems.
A common pitfall is treating fee determinations and past performance as unrelated; FAR 42.1500 says they should generally track each other closely.
Accurate, contemporaneous documentation matters because these records may later be relied on in competitive procurements and responsibility-related assessments.
Official Regulatory Text
This subpart provides policies and establishes responsibilities for recording and maintaining contractor performance information. This subpart does not apply to procedures used by agencies in determining fees under award or incentive fee contracts. See subpart 16.4 . However, the fee amount paid to contractors should be reflective of the contractor’s performance and the past performance evaluation should closely parallel and be consistent with the fee determinations.