FAR 52.225-21—Required Use of American Iron, Steel, and Manufactured Goods-Buy American Statute-Construction Materials.
Plain-English Summary
FAR 52.225-21 is the construction-specific Buy American clause that tells contractors what kinds of iron, steel, and other construction materials must be domestic when performing a federal construction contract. It covers the clause’s definitions of component, construction material, domestic construction material, foreign construction material, manufactured construction material, steel, United States, and unmanufactured construction material, because those definitions determine whether a product is subject to the domestic preference rules. It also explains the clause’s two legal bases: the Recovery Act requirement for manufactured construction materials and iron/steel content, and the Buy American statute preference for unmanufactured construction materials. In practice, the clause requires contractors to use domestic construction materials unless an exception applies, and it gives the contracting officer authority to list excepted materials or add foreign materials when domestic products are unreasonable in cost. This section matters because compliance affects material sourcing, subcontractor procurement, submittals, pricing, and the risk of rejection, substitution, or contract noncompliance if foreign materials are used without authorization. For contractors, it is a front-end purchasing and documentation issue; for contracting officers, it is a specification, evaluation, and administration issue that must be handled carefully in the solicitation and during performance.
Key Rules
Definitions control coverage
The clause defines key terms that determine whether a product is subject to the domestic preference rules. In particular, it distinguishes construction material from components, manufactured from unmanufactured material, and domestic from foreign material, and it treats certain emergency life safety systems as a single construction material.
Domestic material is required
The contractor must use only domestic construction material unless an exception applies. Domestic means either unmanufactured material mined or produced in the United States, or manufactured material manufactured in the United States, with additional iron-and-steel production requirements when the material is wholly or predominantly iron or steel.
Recovery Act iron and steel rule
For manufactured construction material covered by the Recovery Act, the material must be manufactured in the United States and, if it is wholly or predominantly iron or steel, the iron or steel must be produced in the United States. The clause states that all manufacturing processes of the iron or steel must occur in the United States, except metallurgical refinement of steel additives.
Buy American preference for raw materials
For unmanufactured construction material, the clause implements the Buy American statute by preferring U.S.-mined or U.S.-produced material over foreign material. This is a preference rule for raw construction inputs that have not been processed into a specific form or combined to create different properties.
Listed exceptions apply
The contractor does not have to use domestic material for items the Government lists in the clause as excepted materials or components. The contracting officer must identify those exceptions in the solicitation or contract, or state that none apply.
Unreasonable cost exception
The contracting officer may add foreign construction material to the exception list if domestic material would be unreasonable in cost. For manufactured construction material, the clause states the cost is unreasonable when using domestic material would increase the contract cost by more than 25 percent; for unmanufactured material, the clause uses a comparison to the cost of comparable foreign material.
Contracting officer discretion and documentation
The clause places responsibility on the contracting officer to identify exceptions and determine when cost-based exceptions are justified. That means the procurement file should support any exception, and the solicitation language must clearly tell offerors what materials are exempt.
Responsibilities
Contractor
Use only domestic construction material in performance unless the contract expressly lists an exception or the contracting officer authorizes a foreign-material exception. The contractor must source, track, and document material origin and ensure subcontractors comply with the same requirements.
Subcontractors
Provide construction materials that meet the domestic-content requirements applicable to the prime contract and support the prime contractor with origin, manufacturing, and sourcing information needed for compliance.
Contracting Officer
Insert the clause when required, list any excepted materials or components, and determine whether additional foreign material may be excepted because domestic material would be unreasonable in cost. The contracting officer must also ensure the solicitation and contract clearly state the applicable domestic preference requirements.
Agency
Apply the statutory domestic preference framework consistently, support acquisition planning and market research, and maintain procurement records that justify any exceptions or waivers used under the clause.
Suppliers and Manufacturers
Provide accurate country-of-origin and manufacturing-process information so contractors can determine whether a product qualifies as domestic construction material, especially for iron and steel products and preassembled items.
Practical Implications
Contractors need to verify material origin early, not after award, because substitutions or late sourcing changes can create noncompliance and delay the project.
The definitions are critical: a product may be domestic or foreign depending on whether it is unmanufactured, manufactured, or a preassembled system, so buyers must classify items correctly before ordering.
Emergency life safety systems are treated as a single construction material, which can simplify analysis but also means the entire system must be evaluated as one item for domestic-content purposes.
The 25 percent cost threshold for manufactured construction material is a common decision point, but it does not automatically authorize foreign material; the contracting officer must still make the exception determination and document it.
A frequent pitfall is assuming that U.S. assembly alone makes a product domestic; for iron and steel products, the clause requires the relevant production/manufacturing steps to occur in the United States, not just final assembly.
Official Regulatory Text
As prescribed in 25.1102 (e) , insert the following clause: Required Use of American Iron, Steel, and Manufactured Goods-Buy American Statute-Construction Materials (Jan 2021) (a) Definitions . As used in this clause- Component means an article, material, or supply incorporated directly into a construction material. Construction material means an article, material, or supply brought to the construction site by the Contractor or a subcontractor for incorporation into the building or work. The term also includes an item brought to the site preassembled from articles, materials, or supplies. However, emergency life safety systems, such as emergency lighting, fire alarm, and audio evacuation systems, that are discrete systems incorporated into a public building or work and that are produced as complete systems, are evaluated as a single and distinct construction material regardless of when or how the individual parts or components of those systems are delivered to the construction site. Domestic construction material means the following- (1) An unmanufactured construction material mined or produced in the United States. (The Buy American statute applies.) (2) A manufactured construction material that is manufactured in the United States and, if the construction material consists wholly or predominantly of iron or steel, the iron or steel was produced in the United States. (Section 1605 of the Recovery Act applies.) Foreign construction material means a construction material other than a domestic construction material. Manufactured construction material means any construction material that is not unmanufactured construction material. Steel means an alloy that includes at least 50 percent iron, between 0.02 and 2 percent carbon, and may include other elements. United States means the 50 States, the District of Columbia, and outlying areas. Unmanufactured construction material means raw material brought to the construction site for incorporation into the building or work that has not been- (1) Processed into a specific form and shape; or (2) Combined with other raw material to create a material that has different properties than the properties of the individual raw materials. (b) Domestic preference. (1) This clause implements- (i) Section 1605 of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) (Pub. L. 111-5), by requiring, unless an exception applies, that all manufactured construction material in the project is manufactured in the United States and, if the construction material consists wholly or predominantly of iron or steel, the iron or steel was produced in the United States (produced in the United States means that all manufacturing processes of the iron or steel must take place in the United States, except metallurgical processes involving refinement of steel additives); and (ii) 41 U.S.C chapter 83, Buy American, by providing a preference for unmanufactured construction material mined or produced in the United States over unmanufactured construction material mined or produced in a foreign country. (2) The Contractor shall use only domestic construction material in performing this contract, except as provided in paragraph (b)(3) and (b)(4) of this clause. (3) This requirement does not apply to the construction material or components listed by the Government as follows: ____________________________________________________________________________[ Contracting Officer to list applicable excepted materials or indicate "none" ] (4) The Contracting Officer may add other foreign construction material to the list in paragraph (b)(3) of this clause if the Government determines that- (i) The cost of domestic construction material would be unreasonable; (A) The cost of domestic manufactured construction material, when compared to the cost of comparable foreign manufactured construction material, is unreasonable when the cumulative cost of such material will increase the cost of the contract by more than 25 percent; (B) The cost of domestic unmanufactured construction material is unreasonable when the cost of such material exceeds the cost of comparable foreign unmanufactured construction material by more than 20 percent; (ii) The construction material is not mined, produced, or manufactured in the United States in sufficient and reasonably available quantities and of a satisfactory quality; (iii) The application of the restriction of section 1605 of the Recovery Act to a particular manufactured construction material would be inconsistent with the public interest or the application of the Buy American statute to a particular unmanufactured construction material would be impracticable or inconsistent with the public interest. (c) Request for determination of inapplicability of section 1605 of the Recovery Act or the Buy American statute. (1) (i) Any Contractor request to use foreign construction material in accordance with paragraph (b)(4) of this clause shall include adequate information for Government evaluation of the request, including- (A) A description of the foreign and domestic construction materials; (B) Unit of measure; (C) Quantity; (D) Cost; (E) Time of delivery or availability; (F) Location of the construction project; (G) Name and address of the proposed supplier; and (H) A detailed justification of the reason for use of foreign construction materials cited in accordance with paragraph (b)(4) of this clause. (ii) A request based on unreasonable cost shall include a reasonable survey of the market and a completed cost comparison table in the format in paragraph (d) of this clause. (iii) The cost of construction material shall include all delivery costs to the construction site and any applicable duty. (iv) Any Contractor request for a determination submitted after contract award shall explain why the Contractor could not reasonably foresee the need for such determination and could not have requested the determination before contract award. If the Contractor does not submit a satisfactory explanation, the Contracting Officer need not make a determination. (2) If the Government determines after contract award that an exception to section 1605 of the Recovery Act or the Buy American statute applies and the Contracting Officer and the Contractor negotiate adequate consideration, the Contracting Officer will modify the contract to allow use of the foreign construction material. However, when the basis for the exception is the unreasonable cost of a domestic construction material, adequate consideration is not less than the differential established in paragraph (b)(4)(i) of this clause. (3) Unless the Government determines that an exception to section 1605 of the Recovery Act or the Buy American statute applies, use of foreign construction material is noncompliant with section 1605 of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act or the Buy American statute. (d) Data . To permit evaluation of requests under paragraph (c) of this clause based on unreasonable cost, the Contractor shall include the following information and any applicable supporting data based on the survey of suppliers: Foreign and Domestic Construction Materials Cost Comparison Construction Material Description Unit of Measure Quantity Cost (Dollars)* Item 1 : Foreign construction material ________ ________ ________ Domestic construction material ________ ________ ________ Item 2 : Foreign construction material ________ ________ ________ Domestic construction material ________ ________ ________ [ List name, address, telephone number, and contact for suppliers surveyed. Attach copy of response; if oral, attach summary .] [ Include other applicable supporting information .] [* Include all delivery costs to the construction site .] (End of clause)