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Clauses · FAR · Administration and definitions

FAR 52.202-1 Definitions

Does the regulation require it to flow down?

No

No paragraph of the clause requires inserting it in subcontracts. Primes include it for convenience: without it, every FAR-defined term ('commercial product', 'United States', 'simplified acquisition threshold') used in the PO's other clauses has no anchor for its meaning.

A clause can reach your subcontract without a mandate. Once it is in your document, it is a contract term all the same. The missing mandate is a fact about the regulation. It is not a ruling on your order.

Checked against acquisition.gov on 2026-08-04 · edition JUN 2020 · base v0.9.3 Read the text ↗

What it makes you produce

One item for your checklist.

  1. Nothing to send, ever

    There is no paperwork here. It is a rule you follow while you perform the work.

    • Nothing to hand over. Every defined term in the other clauses carries its regulation meaning unless a clause says otherwise, including the thresholds that move with inflation

      FAR 52.202-1

When it is used

Prescribed for all prime contracts above the SAT ($350k) — FAR 2.201. No flow-down mandate: it reaches the sub because the prime incorporates it to anchor the meaning of the terms used in the other flow-downs.

Read closely

It is the dictionary the rest of the document is read against, which is why primes include it even with no mandate to. The cost of getting it wrong is an interpretation dispute: 'United States' and 'commercial product' do not mean what everyday use suggests.

The 6 templates that name it, with the line
233RTX Flowdown of U.S. Government Contract Clauses Under U.S. Government ContractsRTXline 814255GD Mission Systems SCM-TMP-005 — General Provisions, Firm Fixed Price PO under U.S. Government Contract (Non-Commercial)General Dynamicsline 885243GD Mission Systems SCM-TMP-048 — T&M Purchase Orders for Non-Commercial Items in Support of a U.S. Government ContractGeneral Dynamicsline 1800122GD Mission Systems SCM-TMP-095 — FFP Purchase Orders for Commercial/COTS Products or Services in Support of a U.S. Government ContractGeneral Dynamicsline 931240L3Harris LGL-50.F1 — General T&C and Flowdown Clauses for Other Than Commercial Products/Services under a U.S. Government ContractL3Harrisline 1261178AAR Component Services NY — U.S. Government Contract FAR and DFARS Clauses Incorporated by ReferenceAAR Corpline 58

Source: acquisition.gov, FAR 52.202-1 + prescription 2.201 (verified 2026-08-04)

This is research, not legal advice. It states what the regulation says about this clause and cites the paragraph behind it. It does not rule on your order, and it does not rule on whether a prime's markings are correct.