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Clauses · FAR · Ethics and integrity

FAR 52.203-3 Gratuities

Does the regulation require it to flow down?

No

No paragraph requires flowing it down. Primes include it to mirror in the sub the same prohibition they carry — if a sub's employee offers a treat to a government employee, the prime wants a clear contractual basis to terminate.

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 APR 1984 · 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 send — the clause is the Government's power to end your right to proceed where a gratuity was offered or given to a Government officer or employee to obtain a contract or favorable treatment

      FAR 52.203-3(a)

When it is used

Prescribed for prime contracts valued above the SAT ($350k) — FAR 3.202. No flow-down mandate; it reaches the sub via the prime's template.

Read closely

(a) through (d) carry no submission and, read closely, no prohibition either: (a) is a termination right that turns on two findings by the agency head — that a gratuity was offered or given, and that it was intended to obtain a contract or favorable treatment — reached after notice and hearing. (c)(2) adds exemplary damages of three to ten times what the gratuity cost, on money appropriated to the Department of Defense, and (b) leaves the supporting facts reviewable by a court. The people this reaches are the ones who talk to an inspector, a quality assurance representative or a contracting officer.

The 10 templates that name it, with the line
233RTX Flowdown of U.S. Government Contract Clauses Under U.S. Government ContractsRTXline 815166Northrop Grumman CTM-P-ST-001 — U.S. Government Firm Fixed Price Order (Not for Commercial Products and Services)Northrop Grummanline 2145166Northrop Grumman CTM-P-ST-003 — U.S. Government T&M Order (Not for Commercial Products and Services)Northrop Grummanline 2092168Northrop Grumman CTM-P-ST-004 — U.S. Government Cost Reimbursement Order (Not for Commercial Products and Services)Northrop Grummanline 2181255GD Mission Systems SCM-TMP-005 — General Provisions, Firm Fixed Price PO under U.S. Government Contract (Non-Commercial)General Dynamicsline 887243GD Mission Systems SCM-TMP-048 — T&M Purchase Orders for Non-Commercial Items in Support of a U.S. Government ContractGeneral Dynamicsline 1801122GD Mission Systems SCM-TMP-095 — FFP Purchase Orders for Commercial/COTS Products or Services in Support of a U.S. Government ContractGeneral Dynamicsline 932240L3Harris LGL-50.F1 — General T&C and Flowdown Clauses for Other Than Commercial Products/Services under a U.S. Government ContractL3Harrisline 1266273BAE Systems Inc. USGOVA — FAR/DFARS Flow Down Provisions for Subcontracts/Purchase Orders under a U.S. Government (DoD) Prime ContractBAE Systemsline 483178AAR Component Services NY — U.S. Government Contract FAR and DFARS Clauses Incorporated by ReferenceAAR Corpline 59

Source: acquisition.gov, FAR 52.203-3 + prescription 3.202 (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.