FAR 8.607—Performance as a subcontractor.
Plain-English Summary
FAR 8.607 addresses one narrow but important procurement rule: agencies may not force a contractor or any lower-tier subcontractor to use Federal Prison Industries (FPI), also known as UNICOR, as a subcontractor in performing a contract. The section explains that this prohibition applies broadly and cannot be avoided through indirect methods such as solicitation provisions, contract specifications, or post-award contract modifications. In practice, the rule protects contractor discretion in choosing subcontractors and prevents agencies from effectively mandating FPI participation through contract language or administration. It matters because it limits agency leverage over subcontracting decisions, reduces the risk of improper mandatory-source requirements, and helps ensure that any use of FPI is voluntary or otherwise authorized by law rather than imposed by the contracting activity.
Key Rules
No mandatory FPI subcontracting
Agencies may not require a contractor or any subcontractor at any tier to use FPI as a subcontractor to perform the contract. The prohibition applies to direct and indirect attempts to compel FPI participation.
No solicitation-based requirement
A solicitation cannot include a provision that requires offerors to promise or offer to use FPI supplies or services. Agencies cannot build the requirement into the competition stage to force later subcontracting decisions.
No specification-based mandate
Contract specifications may not require the contractor to use specific supplies or services, or classes of supplies or services, when those supplies or services are offered by FPI. The rule prevents agencies from disguising a mandatory FPI requirement as a technical specification.
No forced use through modifications
After award, the agency may not direct the contractor to use FPI supplies or services through a contract modification. The prohibition applies throughout contract performance, not just at solicitation or award.
Applies at any subcontract tier
The restriction covers subcontractors at any tier, not just the prime contractor. Agencies cannot require a prime to impose FPI use on its subcontractors or otherwise cascade the requirement down the supply chain.
Responsibilities
Agency
Must not require FPI to be used as a subcontractor by any contractor or subcontractor at any tier. Must avoid solicitation language, specifications, and modifications that directly or indirectly compel FPI participation.
Contracting Officer
Must ensure solicitations, contract terms, and post-award changes do not impose mandatory FPI subcontracting. Must review proposed requirements for indirect coercion and remove any language that would force use of FPI supplies or services.
Contractor
May not be required by the agency to use FPI as a subcontractor, but must comply with the contract as awarded and should identify any improper directive to use FPI through the solicitation, specifications, or modification process.
Subcontractor
Is protected from being required by the agency, through the prime contractor or otherwise, to use FPI as a subcontractor at any tier. Should raise concerns if flowed-down requirements appear to mandate FPI use.
Practical Implications
This section is mainly a prohibition on agency conduct, so the key day-to-day issue is avoiding language that turns FPI into a de facto mandatory source.
A common pitfall is trying to achieve the same result indirectly through technical specifications or evaluation language; FAR 8.607 bars those workarounds too.
Contracting officers should review both pre-award and post-award documents, because the rule applies to solicitation provisions, specifications, and contract modifications.
Contractors should watch for clauses or change orders that appear to require FPI participation and seek clarification or objection if the requirement is not clearly voluntary or otherwise authorized.
Because the rule applies to subcontractors at any tier, prime contractors should be careful not to pass down an improper mandatory FPI requirement in their subcontracting arrangements.
Official Regulatory Text
Agencies shall not require a contractor, or subcontractor at any tier, to use FPI as a subcontractor for performance of a contract by any means, including means such as- (a) A solicitation provision requiring a potential contractor to offer to make use of FPI supplies or services; (b) A contract specification requiring the contractor to use specific supplies or services (or classes of supplies or services) offered by FPI; or (c) Any contract modification directing the use of FPI supplies or services.