Class Deviation
A class deviation authorizes an agency to depart from specific FAR or supplement provisions for a category of contract actions rather than a single case — the mechanism agencies are using to implement the Revolutionary FAR Overhaul ahead of formal rulemaking.
FAR Subpart 1.4 lets agencies deviate from the regulation when necessary, with class deviations covering whole categories of actions and individual deviations covering one-offs. Historically a niche tool, class deviations became the main event in 2025–2026: agencies adopted Revolutionary FAR Overhaul model deviation text part by part, meaning the operative acquisition rules at a given agency may differ from the published FAR while rulemaking catches up.
The practical consequence for practitioners: "what does the FAR say" now requires checking acquisition.gov's overhaul pages and your agency's deviation register, not just the codified text. Proposed rules formalizing early parts began publishing in 2026.
Regulatory Reference
FAR Subpart 1.4; acquisition.gov FAR Overhaul deviation library
RFO Status
Class deviations ARE the current RFO implementation vehicle; DoD maintains parallel DFARS class deviations. This entry's subject is the mechanism itself.
Category
Regulations & Policy
How AcqBot Helps
AcqBot tracks which deviations are operative at your agency and drafts documents against the rules that actually apply to you — not the superseded text a template was built on.
Related glossary entries
Commercial Products and Services (FAR Part 12)
Commercial products and commercial services are items of a type sold, leased, licensed, or offered in the commercial marketplace, defined at FAR 2.101. FAR Part 12 implements the statutory preference for buying them whenever market research shows they can meet the agency's need.
Rule of Two
The rule of two directs a contracting officer to set aside an acquisition for small business when there is a reasonable expectation of receiving offers from at least two responsible small business concerns and making award at fair market prices, per FAR 19.502-2.
Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI)
Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) is information the government creates or possesses, or that an entity handles on its behalf, that a law, regulation, or governmentwide policy requires safeguarding or dissemination controls for — sensitive but not classified, governed by 32 CFR Part 2002.
NIST SP 800-171
NIST Special Publication 800-171 lists the security requirements for protecting CUI on nonfederal information systems. DFARS 252.204-7012 makes it contractual for defense work — held at Revision 2 by class deviation — and its 110 requirements are the CMMC Level 2 baseline.