The "Revolutionary FAR Overhaul" Continues

• Pages: 64-68
• Date: 01 January 2026
• Published date: 01 January 2026
• Author: Olivia Polston,Daniel D. Rounds
• Subject Matter: Administrative & Public Law

Published in The Construction Lawyer Volume 45, Number 1, ©2026 by the American Bar Association. Reproduced with

permission. All rights reserved. This information or any portion thereof may not be copied or disseminated in any form or by any

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Forum on Construction Law The Construction Lawyer Winter 2026

64

The “Revolutionary FAR Overhaul” Continues

By Olivia Polston and Daniel D. Rounds

Olivia Polston is an associate in the Louisville, Kentucky, office of Manion Stigger LLP, and

Daniel D. Rounds is counsel in the Tysons Corner, Virginia, office of Haynes and Boone, LLP.

As discussed in the Summer 2025 edition of Construction Bills, the Trump administration issued

Executive Order 14,275, Restoring Common Sense to Federal Procurement, in April 2025. The

Order directed revisions to the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to “ensure that it con-

tains only provisions that are required by statute or that are otherwise necessary to support simplicity

and usability, strengthen the ecacy of the procurement system, or protect economic or national secu-

rity interests.”1 This streamlining process, referred to as the “Revolutionary FAR Overhaul” (the RFO2)

and led by the Oce of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP) and the FAR Council, proceeded throughout

the spring and summer of 2025. As of September 30, 2025, the RFO process had generated overhauled

“model deviations” for the entire FAR.3 Each model deviation represents “a streamlined FAR part that is

rewritten in plain language and removes content not required by statute or Executive Order, [and each]

serves as a preview of what is being considered for incorporation into the FAR through the formal notice

and comment rulemaking process.”4 The FAR Council “expects agencies to adopt the model deviation

text as issued to help ensure government-wide consistency during the transition to the streamlined FAR.”5

Along with the model deviations, the OFPP and FAR Council released Practitioner’s Albums for each FAR

Part6 and a FAR Companion Guide7 to serve as nonregulatory guidance for the implementation of the

overhauled FAR model deviations.8

The RFO impacts federal contractors in all industries, including construction. Many federal contracting

requirements and restrictions applicable to construction contracts are based in statute (e.g., Miller Act,

Davis-Bacon, Buy American/Trade Agreements Act, etc.) and will remain in effect in some form absent

legislative change. However, FAR provisions not mandated by statute or Executive Order may be revised,

relocated to nonbinding guidance documents, or removed altogether. For example, the model deviation

for FAR Part 36, Construction and Architect-Engineer Contracts, reorganizes the Part into three new

subparts (36.1, Pre-Solicitation; 36.2, Evaluation and Award; and 36.3, Postaward).9 Requirements to

provide for a site inspection during the solicitation phase and to conduct a preconstruction conference

after award have been removed from the Part in the model deviation and are now discussed instead in

the FAR Companion Guide best practices. The clause “Performance of Work by the Contractor” (FAR

52.236-1) and its implementing provision, which mandate that prime contractors perform a specified

minimum percentage of the total contract work with their own forces, were removed entirely in the model

deviation.

While the window on the initial call for feedback on the FAR model deviations closed on November 3,

2025, the RFO will likely continue for the foreseeable future as the overhauled deviations undergo the

notice and comment process. Contractors should continue to follow developments in the regulation and

the nonbinding guidance documents.

CONSTRUCTION BILLS: RECENT

CHANGES TO CONSTRUCTION LAWS