Clauses · FAR · Small business, labor and socioeconomic
FAR 52.222-34 Project Labor Agreement
Does the regulation require it to flow down?
Yes
Paragraph (c) of the basic clause: 'The Contractor shall include the substance of this clause, including this paragraph (c), in subcontracts with subcontractors engaged in construction on the construction project.' No dollar floor on the flow-down — the threshold lives on the project, not on the subcontract. Under Alt I and Alt II the corresponding paragraph (f) carries the substance of paragraphs (d) through (f) down instead
- Form
- substance, including paragraph (c) itself — self-perpetuating
- Reaches
- all tiers, limited to subcontractors engaged in construction on the construction project
Checked against acquisition.gov on 2026-08-05 · edition Jan 2024 (Basic; Alt I Jan 2024; Alt II Jan 2024) · base v0.9.3 Read the text ↗
What it makes you produce
One item for your checklist.
Something somebody else has to issue you
The same day if the issuer is one of your own suppliers, months if it is an assessor or an underwriter.
The project labor agreement for the project, kept current for the life of the work — it has to bind every contractor and subcontractor doing construction there, allow all contractors to compete whether or not they are already party to a collective bargaining agreement, guarantee against strikes and lockouts, and set out dispute procedures
FAR 52.222-34(b)
When it is used
FAR 22.505(b)(1): inserted in solicitations and contracts for a LARGE-SCALE CONSTRUCTION PROJECT — defined at 22.502 as a federal construction project in the US whose total estimated construction cost to the Government is $35 million or more. For those, 22.503 says agencies SHALL require use of project labor agreements by contractors and subcontractors engaged in construction on the project, unless the senior procurement executive grants an exception under 22.504(d) (short duration/low complexity, single craft, specialized work from few sources, unusual and compelling urgency, market research showing competition would be substantially reduced, or conflict with a statute/regulation/E.O.). Alt I (22.505(b)(2)) lets the PLA be submitted after award; Alt II (22.505(b)(3)) is for indefinite-delivery contracts where PLAs are negotiated order by order and some orders may not use one. Nothing here reaches supplies, services, or commercial buys.
Read closely
The basic clause assumes the agreement was entered into before award, so what arrives with the order is an agreement negotiated by others that you become bound to; there is no submission to the contracting officer in the basic clause, and the requirement to submit an executed agreement appears only in Alternate I. Paragraph (c) carries the substance, including paragraph (c) itself, to lower-tier firms engaged in construction on the project, with no dollar floor — the $35 million test sits on the project, never on your subcontract. A supplies or services scope has no construction on the project for it to reach. Executive Order 14063 survived the 2025 executive-order churn and is listed among the requirements retained in the model text for the FAR overhaul.
The 3 templates that name it, with the line
Source: acquisition.gov, FAR 52.222-34, FAR 22.502, 22.503, 22.504 and 22.505 (verified 2026-08-05); RFO Part 22 model deviation retention of E.O. 14063 via the VA class deviation adopting the FAR Council model text, signed 2025-11-13
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.