Justification and Approval (J&A)

How It Works

A Justification and Approval (J&A) is the formal written justification required under FAR 6.303 whenever a contracting officer intends to award a contract above the Simplified Acquisition Threshold ($250,000) without full-and-open competition. The J&A must identify which of the seven statutory exceptions at FAR 6.302 applies: (1) only one responsible source; (2) unusual and compelling urgency; (3) industrial mobilization or national research capability; (4) international agreement; (5) authorized or required by statute; (6) national security; or (7) public interest. The J&A must describe the action, the requirement, the basis for using the exception, the market research conducted to confirm no other sources exist, and any efforts to obtain competition or improve the future competitive landscape. Approval authority rises with dollar value: under $750,000 the contracting officer can self-approve, $750,000 to $15 million requires the competition advocate, $15 million to $93 million requires the head of the contracting activity, and above $93 million requires the senior procurement executive (or for DoD, the agency head). J&As above $100 million must be approved by agency-head-level officials and synopsized publicly on SAM.gov with the award, making the rationale visible to competitors who might otherwise have bid. J&A quality and frequency is a perennial GAO and IG focus: audits routinely find J&As that understate market research, rely on outdated sole-source justifications without re-verification, or bundle scope in ways that discourage future competition. The J&A is the written record that justifies why the taxpayer did not get the benefit of competitive pricing.

Related Terms

• Sole-Source Contract (No-Bid Contract), A contract awarded to a specific company without competitive bidding, used when only one vendor can meet the requirement or in urgent situations.
• Competitive Bidding (Full and Open Competition), The standard procurement process where the government publicly solicits proposals from multiple vendors and selects the best offer based on price, quality, and capability.
• Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), The comprehensive rule book governing how federal agencies buy goods and services, covering everything from how to write a solicitation to when to use competitive bidding.
• Simplified Acquisition Threshold (SAT), The statutory dollar threshold ($250,000 for most agencies) below which federal agencies can use streamlined acquisition procedures rather than full formal procurement.