FAR Part 39 (Simplified) | Plan IT Delivery, Risk, and Accessibility Together

This guide explains FAR Part 39 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR): Acquisition of Information Technology.

Watch the FAR Part 39 lesson

Start beyond the demonstration

Your software demonstration works beautifully. Can the proposed solution operate in the agency's environment, arrive in usable increments, and meet applicable accessibility requirements? A convincing demonstration starts the conversation; the acquisition still needs a credible plan for delivery and use.

Understand what FAR Part 39 covers

FAR Part 39 addresses information-technology acquisition, including risk, modular contracting, and information-and-communication-technology accessibility. The scope is broader than buying a laptop or approving a software feature list. Begin with the agency need and the actual solicitation. Identify the environment, users, interfaces, information handled, required outputs, and acceptance evidence. Distinguish the capability you demonstrate from the obligations your proposal would commit the business to perform.

Connect delivery increments and accessibility

FAR 39.102 addresses analysis and management of technology-acquisition risks, including schedule, cost, technical feasibility, dependencies, and funding. FAR 39.103 describes modular contracting to reduce risk through manageable increments, including workable solutions whose principal functions do not depend on a later increment. That is more than dividing a large price into smaller invoices. FAR 39.203 addresses applicable ICT accessibility standards and documentation of exceptions or exemptions when relevant. Commercial availability does not erase that analysis. A company's general accessibility statement should not be treated as evidence that every proposed configuration and deliverable satisfies the actual requirement.

Check the applicable framework

This lesson uses the codified FAR text displayed on Acquisition.gov. Check the applicable agency deviation and your solicitation or contract before applying a section. An overhaul model is not automatically the text your agency has implemented. Keep the source, effective date, and solicitation amendment with your decision record.

A hypothetical example

Imagine a company proposing a case-management application. Its first delivery looks usable in a demonstration but depends on an unfinished data interface. The team defines what the initial increment can actually do, identifies the interface dependency, and connects testing and acceptance to real user tasks. It also reviews the accessibility evidence for the proposed configuration and identifies gaps. The response now makes unresolved work visible instead of postponing every difficult issue until after award.

Avoid the shortcut

Do not assume a cloud subscription, a commercial license, or a successful demonstration resolves security, privacy, accessibility, integration, or data-rights requirements. Those questions can arise under multiple FAR provisions, agency requirements, and contract clauses. Identify the actual authority and evidence for each obligation. A request for an accessibility exception or exemption is not the same as an agency's documented determination. Do not write the determination for the customer or assume it exists.

Try this exercise

Build an increment-readiness sheet. Record the usable capability, delivery date, interfaces, data, acceptance evidence, accessibility support, risk owner, and unresolved dependency. Ask a user representative, delivery lead, technical lead, and contracts reviewer to describe the same first release. If they describe different products, resolve that mismatch before pricing. Your takeaway is to make the solution usable and supportable in the actual acquisition environment, with evidence behind the delivery promise.

Turn the lesson into an operating decision

Use the worksheet with one current opportunity or contract. Save the documents reviewed and identify the person responsible for closing each open issue. Separate a regulatory requirement from a GovSuccess preparation practice, and record the evidence behind the business decision. A polished response should not conceal an unresolved assumption.

Official sources

Source check: November 2, 2026. The codified Acquisition.gov pages reviewed display FAC 2026-01, effective March 13, 2026. Check applicable agency deviations and the actual solicitation or contract.

Build your readiness baseline

Explore GovAssessment for a structured business-readiness baseline based on your answers. It does not certify compliance or guarantee an award.

General education, not legal or tax advice. Browse all FAR summaries.