Workbench · Contract file

Contract File Checklist

Describe the buy and get the documents the file needs, the rule that requires each one, and when it has to exist. A second list shows what the rules do not require at your dollar value, so the file carries what it needs and nothing extra. Home-station thresholds, Revolutionary FAR Overhaul text.

Describe the buy

Action
What you are buying
Commercial?

Construction can be a commercial service under the RFO definition in 2.101.

Dollar value of this action

Method
Competition

Also true for this buy
Supplement layer

Your file

Where each document goes

File placement, tab numbers, and naming follow your office's file index (KT FileShare, an agency index template, or local SOP). The checklist names the document and the rule; your index decides the tab.

Documents kept in a system of record (PIEE modules such as JAM, SPM, EDA, and WAWF; FPDS; SAM) generally do not need a duplicate copy in the contract file. Air Force example: DAFFARS 5304.802(f) treats those systems as the official record, and asks for a dated screenshot only of records that change over time, such as SAM registration and representations.

Set by your agency, not the FAR

  • Requirements approval format and thresholds (Air Force example: Requirements Approval Document under DAFI 63-138)
  • Legal review and business clearance thresholds
  • Scope determination format for modifications
  • Early effective date approval
  • Pricing assistance thresholds
  • Source selection plan and decision document formats
  • Purchase card program file contents
  • Contract writing system data validation checklists

Outside this tool

Cost-reimbursement contracts, undefinitized contract actions, certified cost or pricing data, research and development and broad agency announcements, architect-engineer selection, Cost Accounting Standards, formal source selections above squadron level, grants and other transactions, and contingency thresholds. Those buys carry documents this list does not cover.

Thresholds this tool uses

Home-station values from the FAR 2.101 definitions and the RFO model deviation text as of November 2026. The table lists each threshold and the rule it comes from.

Dollar thresholds used by the checklist
TriggerValueRule

Note. Cites point to the Revolutionary FAR Overhaul model deviation text on acquisition.gov. DoD rows cite the DoD class deviation supplement text (RDFARS) where it exists. Agency supplements and local policy can add requirements. This list is a reference, not a review or approval.