FAR 9.507-1—Solicitation provisions.
Plain-English Summary
FAR 9.507-1 tells contracting officers what must be included in solicitations when there is a significant potential organizational conflict of interest (OCI) that will be handled by restricting the contractor’s future eligibility for certain work. This section works together with FAR 9.505 and the broader OCI rules in Subpart 9.5, and it focuses on the solicitation provision—not the final contract clause itself. In practice, the provision must alert offerors to the OCI issue, explain the specific conflict as the contracting officer sees it, describe the restraint the Government intends to impose on future contractor activities, and, when appropriate, say whether the proposed clause and its application are negotiable. The purpose is to give offerors fair notice before award, support informed competition, and reduce disputes by making the Government’s OCI concerns and intended restrictions transparent up front. For contractors, this section matters because it can affect whether they may compete, what work they may later perform, and whether they can negotiate the scope of any restriction. For contracting officers, it is a required disclosure tool that helps ensure the solicitation accurately reflects the OCI risk and the Government’s planned mitigation or restraint.
Key Rules
Include an OCI notice
Affected solicitations must contain a provision that specifically calls the offerors’ attention to Subpart 9.5. This ensures bidders and offerors are on notice that organizational conflict of interest issues are part of the acquisition.
State the conflict nature
The solicitation must describe the nature of the potential conflict as the contracting officer sees it. The description should be specific enough to inform offerors what the Government believes the conflict is and why it matters.
Describe the restraint
The provision must state the nature of the proposed restraint on the contractor’s future activities. This is the mechanism used to resolve the significant potential OCI, such as limiting future eligibility for related contracts or subcontracts.
Address negotiability when applicable
Depending on the acquisition, the solicitation must say whether the terms of any proposed clause and the application of Subpart 9.5 to the contract are subject to negotiation. This tells offerors whether the restriction is fixed or can be discussed and adjusted.
Use when significant OCI exists
This requirement applies when the potential OCI is significant enough that it is normally resolved by imposing some restraint on future contractor eligibility. It is not a generic solicitation notice; it is tied to a specific OCI concern identified under FAR 9.505.
Responsibilities
Contracting Officer
Identify the potential organizational conflict of interest, determine the appropriate restraint, and include a solicitation provision that clearly states the conflict, the proposed restraint, and whether the clause or its application is negotiable.
Agency
Support the contracting officer in applying Subpart 9.5 policies consistently and ensure solicitation language reflects the agency’s OCI mitigation or restraint approach.
Offerors
Review the solicitation notice carefully, assess how the stated OCI and restraint affect their eligibility or proposal strategy, and raise questions or negotiate where the solicitation indicates the terms are negotiable.
Contractor
Understand that the solicitation may limit future work opportunities and ensure internal compliance planning accounts for any stated restraint on future contracts or subcontracts.
Practical Implications
This section is about advance notice: if the solicitation does not clearly identify the OCI and the intended restraint, offerors may not understand the competitive or post-award limitations they are accepting.
A common pitfall is using vague language about the conflict or restraint; the notice should be specific enough to show what work is restricted and why.
Another frequent issue is failing to state whether the clause is negotiable when the acquisition calls for that information, which can create confusion and protest risk.
Contractors should treat the solicitation provision as a signal to evaluate not just the current contract, but also downstream business opportunities that may be barred or limited.
Contracting officers should make sure the solicitation language matches the actual OCI analysis and mitigation strategy; inconsistencies between the notice and the contract terms can undermine enforceability and fairness.
Official Regulatory Text
As indicated in the general rules in 9.505 , significant potential organizational conflicts of interest are normally resolved by imposing some restraint, appropriate to the nature of the conflict, upon the contractor’s eligibility for future contracts or subcontracts. Therefore, affected solicitations shall contain a provision that- (a) Invites offerors’ attention to this subpart; (b) States the nature of the potential conflict as seen by the contracting officer; (c) States the nature of the proposed restraint upon future contractor activities; and (d) Depending on the nature of the acquisition, states whether or not the terms of any proposed clause and the application of this subpart to the contract are subject to negotiation.