Purpose
The purpose of the FAR is to provide "uniform policies and procedures for acquisition." Among its guiding principles is to have an acquisition system that satisfies customer's needs in terms of cost, quality, and timeliness; minimize administrative operating costs; conduct business with integrity, fairness, and openness; and fulfill other public policy objectives.
The FAR also includes socioeconomic requirements, such as for certain items to be required to be purchased from United States firms only and for large organizations to use smaller businesses as subcontractors.
When a government agency issues a contract or a proposal, it will specify a list of FAR provisions that apply to that contract, which may be numerous. In order to be awarded a contract, a bidder must either comply with the provisions, demonstrate that it will be able to comply with them at the time of award, and/or claim an exemption from them. As an example, Part 30 (which references Cost Accounting Standards) allows for small businesses to be exempt from those requirements; if the bidder can demonstrate that it meets the small business criteria, Part 30 would then not apply.
In many cases, a contract award can be challenged and set aside if a challenger can prove that either the contracting agency and/or the successful bidder did not comply with the contract solicitation requirements, usually so that the challenger can either be awarded the contract in lieu of the original bidder's award of the contract or get another shot at a bid (or, in cases where ceasing contract performance and rebidding would not be practical, to be awarded bid and proposal costs).
Read more about this topic: Federal Acquisition Regulation
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