FAR Part 8: Sole Source on FSS Orders

For agencies that have adopted the RFO Part 8 deviation, the streamlined FSS ordering framework directs users to GSAM Subpart 538.71. The former limited-sources lane is addressed at GSAM 538.7104-3 as a sole source justification. Under the codified baseline, FAR 8.405-6 remains the governing cite.

Within the RFO/GSAM framework, the text is significantly leaner than the codified FAR baseline. Most notably: the old eleven-element verbatim list and the FAR-driven dollar-threshold approval ladder are not in GSAM 538.7104-3. The content standard is "in writing and include sufficient detail and supporting rationale to support the exception used." Approval levels are set by agency or local policy. You still need a defensible file, the justification still has to be posted publicly, and a thin justification is still a problem.

This is the lighter of the two tiers. GSAM 538.7103-2(c) routes a sole source action in this range to GSAM 538.7104-3(a), which says the ordering activity CO must determine in writing that the circumstances of the acquisition deem only one source reasonably capable of providing the products, services, or solutions. The GSAM gives examples: urgency, exclusive licensing agreements, and items particular to one manufacturer (brand name).

There is no formal statutory-exception list at this tier. The file standard is the CO's written determination plus the underlying facts that support it. Document who you considered, what made them not capable, why the one source you picked is capable, and how price reasonableness is established. The shorter the dollar figure, the shorter the file can be, but it still needs to be defensible if a reviewer pulls it.

Above the SAT, GSAM 538.7104-3(b)(1) lists five statutory exceptions. You have to cite which one applies and support it in the file.

Within the RFO/GSAM framework, GSAM 538.7104-3(b)(2) does not enumerate elements: justifications must be in writing and include sufficient detail and supporting rationale to support the exception used.

What "sufficient detail and supporting rationale" looks like in practice for an above-SAT sole source file is not a regulatory checklist. It is a defensibility question. A thorough above-SAT file generally still ends up covering:

• Who the agency and ordering activity are, and that this document is a sole source justification under GSAM 538.7104-3
• What the action is (new order, FSS BPA, modification) and against which FSS contract
• What you are buying, with enough specificity that a reviewer can understand it, plus the estimated value
• Which of the five statutory exceptions applies, and the rationale that supports it with verifiable facts and references
• What market research you did among FSS contractors, and what it showed
• How you established price reasonableness
• Signatures: CO, technical or requirements personnel certifying the technical claims, and the approving official whose level is set by agency or local policy

None of those are GSAM-mandated line items the way the old FAR's eleven elements were. They are the working parts of a file that holds up under review. Build the file to the underlying logic, not to a checklist.

GSAM 538.7104-3 does not contain dollar-threshold approval levels within the RFO/agency-deviation framework. Under the codified baseline, apply the approval requirements in FAR 8.405-6.

Approval authority for a sole source justification is now whatever your agency or component supplement and your local delegation matrix say it is. For DAF activities that may run through DAFFARS, MAJCOM supplements, and the local SCO or Senior Contracting Official delegation. For other components it runs through their agency supplements. Pull the actual delegation document and have the right approver named in the file before you ask anyone to sign.

For above-SAT sole source justifications, GSAM 538.7104-3(b)(3) requires the justification to be made publicly available within 14 days after award. Urgency-based justifications under 538.7104-3(b)(1)(i) have 30 days. Posting goes on the Government-wide Point of Entry (currently SAM.gov) or the ordering activity website, and the minimum posting period is 30 days.

Before posting, screen the justification. The GSAM requires you to identify and remove contractor proprietary data, and to evaluate whether the justification or portions of it are exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act or FAR Part 24. Where publication would compromise national security or otherwise involves extraordinary circumstances, the GSAM provides an exception.

Check the Sole Source Examples tab to see what a defensible above-SAT file looks like, and how it falls apart when the rationale is thin.