Domestic construction materials in US projects

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1. Construction under the Buy American statute

Construction materials fall under subpart 25.2 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), which implements chapter 83 of title 41 of the United States Code (FAR 25.200(a)). It also carries out Executive Orders 10582, 13881 and 14005, and the statutory waiver of the content test for commercially available off-the-shelf (COTS) items. It applies to contracts for the construction, alteration or repair of any public building or public work in the United States (FAR 25.200(b)). Where construction uses funds provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the FAR points to subpart 25.6 instead (FAR 25.200(c)).

The policy is to use only domestic construction materials in construction contracts performed in the United States, except as FAR 25.202 provides (FAR 25.201(a)). The statute restricts the purchase of construction materials that are not domestic construction materials (FAR 25.201(b)). The supply rules are covered in what makes an end product domestic.

2. When a construction material is domestic

Manufactured construction materials are judged on two conditions drawn from the statute and from Executive Orders 13881 and 14005 (FAR 25.201(b)). Manufacture must take place in the United States (FAR 25.201(b)(1)). For most materials, domestic components must also account for more than 60 percent of total component cost (FAR 25.201(b)(2)(i)). Deliveries in calendar years 2024 to 2028 face a 65 percent floor, and deliveries from 2029 onward a 75 percent floor. Under 41 U.S.C. 1907, the content test has been waived for COTS items.

Construction material made wholly or predominantly of iron or steel has its own test (FAR 25.201(b)(2)(ii)). Foreign iron and steel must make up under 5 percent of total component cost. The subpart takes its definition of foreign iron and steel from FAR 25.003. That cost includes foreign mill products, castings and forgings used in manufacture, and a good faith estimate of foreign iron or steel components other than COTS fasteners. Unlike the general test, it still applies to COTS items in this category, other than COTS fasteners.

3. Contracts that span the threshold increases

A contract whose period of performance spans the scheduled increases must meet whichever higher threshold is in force in the year each item is delivered (FAR 25.201(c)(1)). The agency’s senior procurement executive may instead allow an alternate test, under which the threshold in effect at award applies for the whole contract. That authority cannot be delegated, and the executive must first consult the Office of Management and Budget’s Made in America Office. An alternate clause, prescribed at FAR 25.1102(a)(3) or (c)(4), then records the fixed threshold in the contract (FAR 25.201(c)(2)).

4. Four exceptions

When one of four exceptions applies, the contracting officer may allow the contractor to acquire foreign construction materials without regard to the statute’s restrictions (FAR 25.202(a)). The first is that the head of the agency determines that applying the statute to a particular construction material would be impracticable or inconsistent with the public interest (FAR 25.202(a)(1)). That public interest ground covers an agency agreement with a foreign government granting a blanket exception from the statute.

The second is nonavailability. The head of the contracting activity may determine that a particular construction material is not mined, produced or manufactured domestically in sufficient and reasonably available commercial quantities of satisfactory quality (FAR 25.202(a)(2)). The nonavailability determinations for the articles listed in FAR 25.104(a), and the related procedures, also apply when those articles are acquired as construction materials. Until 1 January 2030, no determination is needed where an offer of foreign construction material carries more than 55 percent domestic content. For that 55 percent case the FAR points to the evaluation rules in FAR 25.204(b)(1)(ii) and (b)(2)(ii). Under FAR 25.103(b)(1), which FAR 25.202(a)(2) applies to construction materials, the procuring agency is responsible for market research, including seeking domestic sources, before acquiring a listed article (FAR 25.103(b)(1)(ii)). The listing no longer controls once the contracting officer learns, before bids or final offers are due, that the article can be had domestically in enough quantity and quality (FAR 25.103(b)(1)(iii)).

The third is unreasonable cost, where the contracting officer concludes under FAR 25.204 that the cost of domestic construction material is unreasonable (FAR 25.202(a)(3)). The fourth covers information technology that is a commercial product, bought with fiscal year 2004 or later funds (FAR 25.202(a)(4)). Its source is an appropriations provision first enacted for 2004 and repeated in later acts. The supply rules carry the same exception for commercial information technology (FAR 25.103(e)).

5. Listing exceptions and making findings public

When a determination allows certain foreign construction materials, the contracting officer must list the excepted materials in the contract (FAR 25.202(b)). The agency must make the findings that justify the exception available for public inspection. For construction contracts with an estimated acquisition value of $6,683,000 or more, the FAR directs contracting officers to the trade agreements rules in subpart 25.4 (FAR 25.202(c)). That figure is the one in the FAR text current as of 29 September 2026.

6. Asking for a determination before award

For any acquisition, an offeror may ask the contracting officer for a determination that the statute does not apply to specifically identified construction materials (FAR 25.203(a)). The solicitation sets the time for the request, in paragraph (b) of the clause at FAR 52.225-10 or 52.225-12, whichever applies. The information and supporting data the request must include are set out in paragraphs (c) and (d) of FAR 52.225-9 or 52.225-11.

Before award, the contracting officer must evaluate all requests based on the information provided (FAR 25.203(b)). The contracting officer may supplement it with other readily available information. How offers that propose foreign construction material are then priced, and what happens after award, is covered in construction material requests and noncompliance.

Key terms

Public building or public work	The subject of the construction, alteration or repair contracts in the United States to which subpart 25.2 applies.
Domestic construction material	Material manufactured in the United States that meets the content test.
Excepted material	Foreign construction material allowed by a determination and listed in the contract.
Public findings	The agency findings behind an exception, open to public inspection.
Preaward request	An offeror’s request for a determination before contract award.

Every statement above links to the document behind it. The full source list for this piece is on the sources page.

This page describes public United States government programs for general information. It is not legal, regulatory or procurement advice, and it does not address the facts of any particular case.

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