What is FAR 1.107 Certifications About

The FAR is issued as Chapter 1 to Title 48 of the CFR (FAR 1.105-1(. I believe the reference at FAR 1.107 is to all the certifications required of the FAR as it is "this chapter".

"Certification" is a term of art that is meant to be limited to such as required either statute or approved by the Administrator of Federal Procurement Policy.

Some well-known examples of these certifications are:

Certificate of Current Cost or Pricing Data (See FAR Part 15.406-2)

Contractor Certification of Requests for a specific Performance-Based Payment (FAR Clause 52.232-32)

Certification carries unique legal connotations (e.g., liabilities). Adding certification requirements to the FAR as a (reactive) means for "better" enforcement over or control of contractors can be costly in dollars and time to contractors and ultimately the taxpayers' via an inefficient & reactive oversight mechanism.

Meanwhile, many Government contracts were requiring "certifications" per clauses that were unique to a Govt. contracting office, or even to that particular contract itself. The over-use and uncertainty of what certification meant in many situations would create confusion and liability concerns for the contractor.

Thus, per law, the FAR was updated to minimize further promulgation of new certifications in Chapter 1 of Title 48, Code of Federal Regulations (i.e. the FAR) except when imposed by statue or specifically requested by the FAR council and approved by Administrator of Federal Procurement Policy.

The DFARS (Chapter 2 of Title 48) also was updated to allow other-than-statutorily-imposed certifications specifically requested by the Under Secretary of Defense (Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics) and approved by the Secretary of Defense.

The Navy went even further in its regulations stating that no certifications beyond those required by the FAR or DFARS shall be used in Navy solicitations/contracts unless approved by the Secretary of Defense. Thus, using the word "certification" in a non-FAR or non-DFARS context is a big "no-no" in Navy contracting. Interestingly, most (if not all) of the other Agency FAR supplements are silent on this. Since my contracting career has been virtually all in the Navy, I am curious to hear if other agencies operate like the Navy does with regards to certifications. Was the Navy just stating the obvious or are other activities still imposing unique certifications ?

The 4th edition of the Government Contracts Reference Book defines and describes “Certification” as follows:

A signed representation that certain facts are accurate. A certification can entail either (1) an explicit representation of fact requiring the inclusion of data and signature by the contractor (“The contractor hereby certifies that …” or “This is to certify that …”), or (2) a deemed representation of a particular fact without execution of a specific certification document or use of specific certification language. All certifications required by solicitations are included in Section K of the UNIFORM CONTRACT FORMAT. FAR 14.201-5, 15-204-5. The government has traditionally used certifications in such matters as contractor status; truth of a matter; origin of a component; compliance with specifications; compliance with applicable laws; accuracy, currency, and completeness of cost or pricing data (see CERTIFIED COST OR PRICING DATA); and good faith, accuracy, and completeness in reflecting the amount owed with regard to claims, past contractual performance, and other matters. The CLINGER-COHEN ACT OF 1996 required the government to reduce the number of certifications in its contracts, and this was accomplished by 62 Fed. Reg. 233 (Jan. 2, 1997) and 62 Fed. Reg. 2612 (Jan. 17, 1997) by adopting the ONLINE REPRESENTATIONS AND CERTIFICATIONS APPLICATION system.