Acquisition

Writing a Comment on the FAR Overhaul

Comments on the second batch of Revolutionary FAR Overhaul rules close 10-19-2026. Four cases are open and anyone can file.

By Joary Khairudin-Casey, Founder · Principal Consultant · September 29, 2026 · Long Read · 6 min

Four Revolutionary FAR Overhaul proposed rules published on 09-18-2026 and comments on all four close 10-19-2026. I read these rules because my course material has to match them. Anyone can file a comment on a proposed FAR rule.

The Four Cases

  • FAR Case 2026-003 revises Parts 8, 12, 13, 15, 38, 44, and 51 for source selection, commercial buying, simplified acquisition, and subcontracting.
  • FAR Case 2026-006 amends Parts 16, 17, and 35 for contract types, special contracting methods, and research and development.
  • FAR Case 2026-010 amends Parts 14, 28, 36, and 52 for sealed bidding, bonds and insurance, construction and architect-engineer services, and the clause matrix.
  • FAR Case 2026-011 revises Parts 9, 27, and 47 for contractor qualifications, intellectual property, and transportation.

Each case has a docket on regulations.gov numbered to match it. Every Federal Register notice links to its docket. The first batch of four published 06-23-2026 and closed 07-23-2026. No final rule has published as of 09-29-2026.

Practitioner Detail

Title 5 United States Code (U.S.C.) 553(c) requires an agency to give interested persons an opportunity to participate through written data, views, or arguments. The same subsection requires the agency to incorporate in the rules it adopts a concise general statement of their basis and purpose.

Association comments argue policy. A comment from a working contracting officer or Contracting Officer's Representative (COR) describes what the proposed language would do inside one procurement.

A comment is easier for the drafters to use when it names the provision and then describes step by step what changes. FAR Case 2026-003 revises the definition of deficiency in Part 15. A comment on it could describe a nine-offeror competitive range and what the proposed definition would change about it.

A Five-Part Comment

The structure I use with clients has five parts. An hour is enough for all five.

  • Name the provision by part number, proposed section number, and FAR case number.
  • Say who you are and what you do in one line.
  • Describe one situation the proposed language would govern (no nonpublic detail) and state what happens step by step.
  • Name the specific problem the proposed language creates.
  • Offer an alternative (even a rough one) such as a threshold, a carve-out above the simplified acquisition threshold, or keeping the current timeline for purchases above it.

Comments are public and they go in under your name. They are worth writing the way you would write anything that will stay in a docket permanently.

The Comment Window

Part 15 governs source selection and Part 12 governs commercial buying. Part 14 governs sealed bidding and Part 36 governs construction. The window for commenting on all four cases is open until 10-19-2026.