Inspection and Acceptance
Also known as: Inspection, acceptance, quality assurance requirements
Your role here: Where you learn how your work will be inspected and accepted
At a Glance
- Part
- Part I — The Schedule
- What it contains
- Inspection and acceptance procedures and quality requirements
- Who accepts
- Usually the COR, at the place stated in the section
- You…
- Read it — it defines the standard your work must pass
- Governing authority
- FAR 15.204-2(e); FAR Part 46 (quality assurance)
What It Is
Section E establishes how the government will decide whether what you delivered is acceptable. Under FAR 15.204-2(e), and drawing on the inspection clauses of FAR Part 46, it states where inspection and acceptance occur (at origin or at destination), who performs them (typically the Contracting Officer's Representative), what standards the deliverable must meet, and what happens if it does not — rejection, correction, or re-performance. Acceptance is a legally significant event: it is generally the point at which title and risk pass and, together with a proper invoice, it triggers the government's obligation to pay under the Prompt Payment clause. Section E also tells you whether the government will rely on your own quality system or perform its own inspection, and whether there is a formal quality-assurance surveillance plan tied to the Section C performance standards. Read together, Section E and Section C tell you the bar your work must clear and how clearing it will be judged.
What’s In It
- Where inspection and acceptance take place — at origin (your site) or destination (the government's).
- Who inspects and accepts — usually the COR, sometimes a government quality assurance representative.
- The standards the deliverable must meet and how conformance is verified.
- What happens on nonconformance — rejection, correction, re-performance, or reduction.
- Any reliance on the contractor's own quality system or a quality-assurance surveillance plan.
What Goes Here
| Component | What It Means |
|---|---|
| Origin vs destination acceptance | Acceptance at origin happens at your facility; acceptance at destination happens when the government receives the item. It affects your risk during shipment and when payment can start. |
| Acceptance triggers payment | Acceptance, plus a proper invoice, generally starts the Prompt Payment clock. Understanding the acceptance path is understanding your cash flow. |
| The nonconformance path | Section E defines what happens if the government rejects a deliverable — usually correction or re-performance at your cost. Knowing the standard up front helps you build quality in rather than fix it later. |
| Ties to the CPARS record | How you fare against Section E's inspection standards feeds the COR's performance observations and your CPARS past-performance rating — the asset that most helps you win the next set-aside. |
What It Means for an SDVOSB
For an SDVOSB, Section E is a cash-flow and reputation section. Because acceptance is what starts the Prompt Payment clock, a small firm should understand exactly what has to happen for the COR to accept a deliverable and design its schedule and quality checks around getting to acceptance quickly and cleanly. Repeated rejections do more than delay payment; they erode the CPARS past-performance rating that is often a new SDVOSB's most valuable competitive asset. If Section E imposes a specific quality standard or surveillance plan, make sure your team — and any subcontractor doing the work — is set up to meet it, and document your own quality checks so you can demonstrate conformance if a rejection is disputed.
Watch Out For
- Not knowing whether acceptance is at origin or destination — it changes your shipping risk and when you can invoice.
- Treating COR feedback as informal — inspection results feed your CPARS rating and can support rejection.
- Under-resourcing quality control on a fixed-price job — re-performance after rejection comes out of your margin.
- Assuming acceptance is automatic — until the government accepts under Section E, you generally cannot be paid.
Frequently Asked
What is Section E of a solicitation?
Section E, under FAR 15.204-2(e), sets out how the government will inspect and accept your deliverables — where inspection occurs (origin or destination), who performs it (usually the Contracting Officer's Representative), the standards your work must meet, and what happens if it does not conform. Acceptance is legally significant: it generally passes title and risk and, with a proper invoice, triggers the government's Prompt Payment obligation. Section E draws on the inspection clauses of FAR Part 46 and works together with the performance standards in Section C.
Why does inspection and acceptance matter for getting paid?
Because acceptance is normally the event that starts the payment clock. Under the Prompt Payment clause, the government's obligation to pay generally arises after it accepts the supplies or services and receives a proper invoice. If the government rejects a deliverable under Section E, acceptance is delayed and so is your payment — and you may have to correct or re-perform at your own cost on a fixed-price contract. For a small SDVOSB, understanding Section E's acceptance path is essential to managing cash flow.
Primary Sources
- FAR 15.204-2 — Part I — The Schedule (Section E)
- FAR Part 46 — Quality assurance
- FAR 52.232-25 — Prompt Payment
Plain-English reference, not legal advice. The Uniform Contract Format is tailored by agencies, and the FAR sections that define it are amended from time to time — always read the actual solicitation and confirm each section against the official source before relying on it, and consult qualified counsel for your specific situation.
Change log (1)
- LaunchedPublished the federal solicitation sections reference covering the thirteen sections of the Uniform Contract Format under FAR 15.204 — Section A (the SF 33 / SF 1449 cover form), B (prices and CLINs), C (the statement of work / PWS / SOO), D (packaging and marking), E (inspection and acceptance), F (deliveries and period of performance), G (contract administration data and invoicing), H (special contract requirements), I (the FAR clauses, including the SDVOSB set-aside and limitations on subcontracting), J (the list of attachments and wage determinations), K (representations and certifications, where SDVOSB status is certified), L (instructions to offerors), and M (evaluation factors for award) — each with an at-a-glance quick-facts card, a what's-in-it list, a what-goes-here table, an SDVOSB-specific angle, watch-outs, FAQPage, Article, Dataset, and BreadcrumbList structured data, primary-source FAR citations, and cross-links into the glossary, how-to guides, forms, clauses, solicitation types, source-selection methods, FAQ, and the set-aside eligibility, win-probability, price-to-win, and limitations-on-subcontracting calculators.