FAR 50.101—General.

Authority.

FAR 50.101-1 explains the legal authority behind the extraordinary contract relief framework in Public Law 85-804 and identifies which agencies may use that authority under Executive Order 10789. It covers the President’s power to authorize agencies involved in national defense to enter into, amend, or modify contracts without regard to other laws governing contract formation, performance, amendment, or modification when doing so would facilitate the national defense. It also lists the agencies whose heads may exercise that authority and delegate it within their organizations, including the Government Publishing Office, Department of Homeland Security, Tennessee Valley Authority, NASA, GSA, the Defense, Army, Navy, Air Force, Treasury, Interior, Agriculture, Commerce, and Transportation Departments, and the Department of Energy for transferred functions from other authorized agencies, as well as any other agency later authorized by the President. In practice, this section is the gateway to understanding who can invoke this special authority and under what legal basis, but it does not itself grant relief in a specific case. Contractors and contracting officials use it to determine whether a particular agency has the power to consider extraordinary contractual actions outside normal procurement rules.

Policy.

FAR 50.101-2 states the policy limits for using the extraordinary contractual relief authority granted by Public Law 85-804, which is implemented in FAR subpart 50.1. This section covers three core topics: first, the authority may not be used in a way that encourages carelessness or laxity by defense contractors or others supporting the defense effort; second, the authority may not be used when the agency already has adequate legal authority available; and third, when relief is available under the Contract Disputes Act and FAR part 33—such as rescission or reformation for mutual mistake—part 33 must be used instead of subpart 50.1. The section also requires that authorized actions be handled as quickly as practicable, but only with the care, restraint, and sound judgment appropriate to such an extraordinary remedy. In practice, this means Public Law 85-804 is a last-resort tool, not a routine contract administration mechanism, and contracting officers must screen for other legal remedies before considering it. The section is designed to preserve the exceptional nature of this authority, prevent misuse, and ensure that disputes or contract corrections are processed under the normal disputes framework whenever that framework applies.

Records.

FAR 50.101-3 requires agencies to keep complete records of every action taken under FAR Subpart 50.1, which governs requests for relief under public law or contract adjustment authorities. The section is a records-retention and documentation rule: it tells agencies exactly what must be preserved in the file for each relief request, including the contractor’s request, all supporting memorandums and correspondence, affidavits and other pertinent documents, the Memorandum of Decision, and the contractual document that implements any approved request. In practice, this means the agency must be able to reconstruct the full decision history and show the basis for granting, denying, or otherwise resolving relief. The requirement supports accountability, auditability, legal defensibility, and consistency in how extraordinary contract relief actions are handled. It also helps ensure that later reviewers, auditors, counsel, or successor contracting officials can understand what was requested, what evidence was considered, what decision was made, and how that decision was put into effect.