## Subpart 25.2—Buy American Act—Construction Materials

### 25.200 Scope of Subpart.

(a) This subpart implements—

(1) The Buy American Act (41 U.S.C. 10a - 10d);

(2) Executive Order 10582, December 17, 1954; and

(3) Waiver of the component test of the Buy American Act for acquisitions of commercially available off-the-shelf (COTS) items in accordance with 41 U.S.C. 431.

(b) It applies to contracts for the construction, alteration, or repair of any public building or public work in the United States.

(c) When using funds appropriated or otherwise provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Pub. L. 111-5) (Recovery Act) for construction, see Subpart 25.6.

### 25.201 Policy.

Except as provided in 25.202, use only domestic construction materials in construction contracts performed in the United States.

### 25.202 Exceptions.

(a) When one of the following exceptions applies, the contracting officer may acquire foreign construction materials without regard to the restrictions of the Buy American Act:

(1) Impracticable or inconsistent with public interest. The head of the agency may determine that application of the restrictions of the Buy American Act to a particular construction material would be impracticable or would be inconsistent with the public interest. The public interest exception applies when an agency has an agreement with a foreign government that provides a blanket exception to the Buy American Act.

(2) Nonavailability. The head of the contracting activity may determine that a particular construction material is not mined, produced, or manufactured in the United States in sufficient and reasonably available commercial quantities of a satisfactory quality. The determinations of nonavailability of the articles listed at 25.104(a) and the procedures at 25.103(b)(1) also apply if any of those articles are acquired as construction materials.

(3) Unreasonable cost. The contracting officer concludes that the cost of domestic construction material is unreasonable in accordance with 25.204.

(b) Determination and findings. When a determination is made for any of the reasons stated in this section that certain foreign construction materials may be used, the contracting officer must list the excepted materials in the contract. The agency must make the findings justifying the exception available for public inspection.

(c) Acquisitions under trade agreements. For construction contracts with an estimated acquisition value of $7,443,000 or more, see Subpart 25.4.

### 25.203 Preaward determinations.

(a) For any acquisition, an offeror may request from the contracting officer a determination concerning the inapplicability of the Buy American Act for specifically identified construction materials. The time for submitting the request is specified in the solicitation in paragraph (b) of either 52.225-10 or 52.225-12, whichever applies. The information and supporting data that must be included in the request are also specified in the solicitation in paragraphs (c) and (d) of either 52.225-9 or 52.225-11, whichever applies.

(b) Before award, the contracting officer must evaluate all requests based on the information provided and may supplement this information with other readily available information.

### 25.204 Evaluating offers of foreign construction material.

(a) Offerors proposing to use foreign construction material other than that listed by the Government in the applicable clause at 52.225-9, paragraph (b)(2), or 52.225-11, paragraph (b)(3), or covered by the WTO GPA or a Free Trade Agreement (paragraph (b)(2) of 52.225-11), must provide the information required by paragraphs (c) and (d) of the respective clauses.

(b) Unless the head of the agency specifies a higher percentage, the contracting officer must add to the offered price 6 percent of the cost of any foreign construction material proposed for exception from the requirements of the Buy American Act based on the unreasonable cost of domestic construction materials. In the case of a tie, the contracting officer must give preference to an offer that does not include foreign construction material excepted at the request of the offeror on the basis of unreasonable cost.

(c) Offerors also may submit alternate offers based on use of equivalent domestic construction material to avoid possible rejection of the entire offer if the Government determines that an exception permitting use of a particular foreign construction material does not apply.

(d) If the contracting officer awards a contract to an offeror that proposed foreign construction material not listed in the applicable clause in the solicitation (paragraph (b)(2) of 52.225-9, or paragraph (b)(3) of 52.225-11), the contracting officer must add the excepted materials to the list in the contract clause.

### 25.205 Postaward determinations.

(a) If a contractor requests a determination regarding the inapplicability of the Buy American Act after contract award, the contractor must explain why it could not request the determination before contract award or why the need for such determination otherwise was not reasonably foreseeable. If the contracting officer concludes that the contractor should have made the request before contract award, the contracting officer may deny the request.

(b) The contracting officer must base evaluation of any request for a determination regarding the inapplicability of the Buy American Act made after contract award on information required by paragraphs (c) and (d) of the applicable clause at 52.225-9 or 52.225-11 and/or other readily available information.

(c) If a determination, under 25.202(a), is made after contract award that an exception to the Buy American Act applies, the contracting officer must negotiate adequate consideration and modify the contract to allow use of the foreign construction material. When the basis for the exception is the unreasonable price of a domestic construction material, adequate consideration is at least the differential established in 25.202(a) or in accordance with agency procedures.

### 25.206 Noncompliance.

The contracting officer must—

(a) Review allegations of Buy American Act violations;

(b) Unless fraud is suspected, notify the contractor of the apparent unauthorized use of foreign construction material and request a reply, to include proposed corrective action; and

(c) If the review reveals that a contractor or subcontractor has used foreign construction material without authorization, take appropriate action, including one or more of the following:

(1) Process a determination concerning the inapplicability of the Buy American Act in accordance with 25.205.

(2) Consider requiring the removal and replacement of the unauthorized foreign construction material.

(3) If removal and replacement of foreign construction material incorporated in a building or work would be impracticable, cause undue delay, or otherwise be detrimental to the interests of the Government, the contracting officer may determine in writing that the foreign construction material need not be removed and replaced. A determination to retain foreign construction material does not constitute a determination that an exception to the Buy American Act applies, and this should be stated in the determination. Further, a determination to retain foreign construction material does not affect the Government’s right to suspend or debar a contractor, subcontractor, or supplier for violation of the Buy American Act, or to exercise other contractual rights and remedies, such as reducing the contract price or terminating the contract for default.

(4) If the noncompliance is sufficiently serious, consider exercising appropriate contractual remedies, such as terminating the contract for default. Also consider preparing and forwarding a report to the agency suspending or debarring official in accordance with Subpart 9.4. If the noncompliance appears to be fraudulent, refer the matter to other appropriate agency officials, such as the officer responsible for criminal investigation.