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Clauses · FAR · Quality and inspection

FAR 52.246-26 Reporting Nonconforming Items

Does the regulation require it to flow down?

Yes

(g)(1): subcontracts for (i) items under 52.246-11, (ii) critical items, (iii) electronic parts/items containing them above the SAT when the contract is by/for DoD, (iv) services furnishing items (i)–(iii). (g)(2) exempts commercial products/services and medical devices under 21 CFR 803.

Form
verbatim — insert the clause in subcontracts of the types listed in (g)(1)
Reaches
all tiers — the clause flows down with (g) itself and re-propagates to subsequent tiers that qualify

Checked against acquisition.gov on 2026-08-04 · edition AUG 2024 · base v0.9.3 Read the text ↗

What it makes you produce

3 items for your checklist, slowest first.

  1. A program you have to be running

    You are either running it or you are not, and what the prime asks for is the date it started.

    • Screening of Government-Industry Data Exchange Program reports inside your inspection or quality control system, so an already-reported counterfeit part is caught before it ships

      FAR 52.246-26(b)(1)

  2. Something you write

    Days to weeks, and nobody outside your company has to agree to it.

    • Written notification to the contracting officer within 60 days

      Owed on becoming aware, or having reason to suspect, that something purchased for delivery to the Government is counterfeit or suspect counterfeit

      FAR 52.246-26(b)(2)

  3. Something you fill in and send back

    Hours, once you know which one is missing.

    • A report filed at gidep.org within 60 days on a counterfeit or suspect counterfeit item, or on a common item carrying a major or critical nonconformance

      Owed unless (c) excuses it — a foreign company with no place of business in the United States; an on-going criminal investigation, unless the cognizant law-enforcement agency approves the report; or a non-counterfeit defect where the organization that generated it has not released the item to more than one customer

      FAR 52.246-26(b)(4)

When it is used

Prescribed by 46.317; enters the prime and flows down to the sub in the (g)(1) cases: items under higher-level quality (52.246-11), critical items, electronic parts (or items containing them) when the subcontract exceeds $350k and the contract is by or for the DoD, and services furnishing items of those types. (g)(2) excludes commercial products/services and medical devices with FDA reporting (21 CFR 803).

Read closely

(b)(3) adds a physical duty that is easy to lose: suspect items stay in your possession until the contracting officer gives disposition instructions. The screening duty at (b)(1) also does not reach a foreign company with no office, place of business or fiscal paying agent in the United States. On a Defense order this sits alongside the DFARS counterfeit electronic parts clauses.

The 8 templates that name it, with the line
143CORPDOC 3A — FAR/DFARS Flowdown Provisions for Fixed Price Non-Commercial Items under a DoD Prime ContractLockheed Martinline 293155CORPDOC 4A — FAR/DFARS Flowdown Provisions for Cost-Reimbursement/T&M Subcontracts under a DoD Prime ContractLockheed Martinline 328233RTX Flowdown of U.S. Government Contract Clauses Under U.S. Government ContractsRTXline 1303166Northrop Grumman CTM-P-ST-001 — U.S. Government Firm Fixed Price Order (Not for Commercial Products and Services)Northrop Grummanline 2366166Northrop Grumman CTM-P-ST-003 — U.S. Government T&M Order (Not for Commercial Products and Services)Northrop Grummanline 2306168Northrop Grumman CTM-P-ST-004 — U.S. Government Cost Reimbursement Order (Not for Commercial Products and Services)Northrop Grummanline 2398255GD Mission Systems SCM-TMP-005 — General Provisions, Firm Fixed Price PO under U.S. Government Contract (Non-Commercial)General Dynamicsline 1166273BAE Systems Inc. USGOVA — FAR/DFARS Flow Down Provisions for Subcontracts/Purchase Orders under a U.S. Government (DoD) Prime ContractBAE Systemsline 428

Source: acquisition.gov, FAR 52.246-26 and 46.317 (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.