48 CFR § 9.505-1 - 9.505-1 Providing systems engineering and technical direction.

---
identifier: "/us/cfr/t48/s9.505-1"
source: "ecfr"
legal_status: "authoritative_unofficial"
title: "48 CFR § 9.505-1 - 9.505-1   Providing systems engineering and technical direction."
title_number: 48
title_name: "Federal Acquisition Regulations System"
section_number: "9.505-1"
section_name: "9.505-1   Providing systems engineering and technical direction."
chapter_number: 1
chapter_name: "FEDERAL ACQUISITION REGULATION"
subchapter_number: "B"
subchapter_name: "ACQUISITION PLANNING"
part_number: "9"
part_name: "CONTRACTOR QUALIFICATIONS"
positive_law: false
currency: "2026-03-24"
last_updated: "2026-03-24"
format_version: "1.1.0"
generator: "[email protected]"
authority: "41 U.S.C. 1121(b); 40 U.S.C. 121(c); 10 U.S.C. chapter 4 and 10 U.S.C. chapter 137 legacy provisions (see 10 U.S.C. 3016); and 51 U.S.C. 20113."
regulatory_source: "48 FR 42142, Sept. 19, 1983, unless otherwise noted."
cfr_part: "9"
---


# 9.505-1 9.505-1   Providing systems engineering and technical direction.

(a) A contractor that provides systems engineering and technical direction for a system but does not have overall contractual responsibility for its development, its integration, assembly, and checkout, or its production shall not—

(1) Be awarded a contract to supply the system or any of its major components; or

(2) Be a subcontractor or consultant to a supplier of the system or any of its major components.

(b) Systems engineering includes a combination of substantially all of the following activities: determining specifications, identifying and resolving interface problems, developing test requirements, evaluating test data, and supervising design. Technical direction includes a combination of substantially all of the following activities: developing work statements, determining parameters, directing other contractors' operations, and resolving technical controversies. In performing these activities, a contractor occupies a highly influential and responsible position in determining a system's basic concepts and supervising their execution by other contractors. Therefore this contractor should not be in a position to make decisions favoring its own products or capabilities.

[48 FR 42142, Sept. 19, 1983, as amended at 84 FR 19846, May 6, 2019]