Government-Furnished Property (GFP)

The default at FAR 45.102 is that contractors furnish everything needed to perform, so providing government property takes an affirmative judgment that doing so serves the government's interest without substantially increasing its assumption of risk. GFP is property the government possesses or directly acquires and then furnishes; property the contractor buys with title vesting in the government is contractor-acquired property, a separate category with its own rules.

The 52.245-1 clause carries the contractor's obligations: a system of internal controls to manage, use, preserve, and maintain government property, with customary commercial practices allowed where appropriate. On cost-reimbursement and time-and-materials work the government generally assumes the risk of loss, though the contracting officer can revoke that assumption when the property management practices are noncompliant. DoD requires GFP to be listed on a standard attachment under DFARS 245.103-72.

Unlisted property is the recurring failure. Gear reaches a contractor informally, never makes the contract's GFP attachment, and there is then no baseline for accountability, liability, or disposition. Late or unsuitable GFP cuts the other way: under 52.245-1(d)(2), the contracting officer considers an equitable adjustment on the contractor's timely written request.