Special Contract Requirements
Also known as: Special provisions; H-clauses
Your role here: Where you find the unusual, deal-specific terms
At a Glance
- Part
- Part I — The Schedule
- What it contains
- Deal-specific special provisions ('H-clauses') not in Section I
- Common items
- Key personnel, security/clearance, OCI, options, work-share terms
- You…
- Read it carefully — the surprises hide here
- Governing authority
- FAR 15.204-2(h)
What It Is
Section H is where the government puts the requirements that are specific to this acquisition and do not fit the standardized clauses of Section I. Under FAR 15.204-2(h) these 'special contract requirements' (often called H-clauses) cover the unusual, deal-specific terms: key-personnel requirements and substitution procedures, security and clearance requirements, organizational conflict-of-interest (OCI) provisions, government-furnished property terms, insurance and bonding requirements, option-exercise provisions, data-rights and intellectual-property terms, and sometimes the fill-ins that operationalize the limitations-on-subcontracting clause for this contract. Because Section H is custom-written by the contracting office rather than pulled from the FAR, it is the section where the genuinely unexpected obligations tend to hide — and it is often the section least carefully read by hurried offerors. On a complex buy, Section H can be as consequential as Section C, and the two should be read together.
What’s In It
- Key-personnel requirements and rules for substituting proposed staff.
- Security, clearance, and facility-access requirements.
- Organizational conflict-of-interest (OCI) provisions and mitigation requirements.
- Insurance, bonding, and government-furnished property terms.
- Option provisions, data rights, and sometimes limitations-on-subcontracting fill-ins.
What Goes Here
| Component | What It Means |
|---|---|
| Key personnel | If Section H names key positions, the people you propose can become contractually binding, and swapping them out later requires the contracting officer's approval. Propose people you can actually deliver. |
| Security and clearance | Facility clearances and personnel clearances can be gating requirements. A small firm without the required clearance at award may be ineligible no matter how strong the rest of its offer. |
| Organizational conflict of interest | OCI provisions can bar you from this or future work if you have a conflicting role. Read them before you bid, and before you team with a firm that may carry a conflict. |
| The hidden obligations | Because Section H is custom-written, the truly unusual requirements — special reporting, work-share, IP terms — live here. It is the section where under-reading costs the most. |
What It Means for an SDVOSB
Section H is where an SDVOSB most often finds a hidden showstopper — and where it can protect its self-performance obligation. Read the key-personnel provisions closely: if you propose named individuals to win, you are generally committed to delivering them, and losing a key person after award can create a compliance problem. Watch for facility- or personnel-clearance requirements that a small firm may not hold at award; these can make you ineligible regardless of price or technical merit. And critically for a set-aside, the fill-ins and special terms that operationalize the limitations on subcontracting sometimes appear in Section H alongside the Section I clause (FAR 52.219-14), spelling out how your similarly-situated-entity credit and self-performance percentage will be tracked. Read Section H against Section C and the Section I clauses so nothing surprises you after award.
Watch Out For
- Skimming Section H because it looks like boilerplate — the deal-specific surprises live here.
- Proposing key personnel you cannot actually deliver — named staff can become a binding commitment.
- Missing a facility- or personnel-clearance requirement that makes a small firm ineligible at award.
- Overlooking an OCI provision that bars you from the work or from teaming with a particular partner.
Run the Numbers
Frequently Asked
What is Section H of a solicitation?
Section H, under FAR 15.204-2(h), is the special contract requirements section — the catch-all for requirements unique to this acquisition that are not standard FAR clauses. Often called 'H-clauses,' it can include key-personnel requirements, security and clearance requirements, organizational conflict-of-interest (OCI) provisions, insurance and bonding terms, government-furnished property terms, option provisions, data rights, and sometimes the fill-ins that operationalize the limitations on subcontracting. Because Section H is custom-written by the contracting office, it is where the genuinely unusual obligations tend to hide, so it deserves close reading.
Why is Section H important for a small business?
Because it is where deal-specific requirements that can disqualify or bind a small firm live. Section H may impose facility or personnel clearance requirements a small SDVOSB does not yet hold, name key personnel who become a binding commitment, or contain organizational conflict-of-interest provisions that bar you from the work. It can also carry the special terms that spell out how the limitations on subcontracting will be tracked on this contract. Reading Section H closely — together with Section C — prevents post-award surprises.
Primary Sources
- FAR 15.204-2 — Part I — The Schedule (Section H)
- FAR Subpart 9.5 — Organizational and consultant conflicts of interest
- FAR 52.219-14 — Limitations on Subcontracting
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.