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Desk reference

Organizational conflict of interest types, remedies, and waivers

Three archetypes and the remedies the applies — not informal program waivers.

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OCI archetypes

Organizational conflicts of interest fall into three FAR families. FAR 9.505-2(b) addresses contractors whose work leads directly and predictably to a competitive work statement — risk, often resolved by avoidance or declining authorship unless an exception applies. FAR 9.505-4(b) addresses access to other companies’ proprietary information — , typically needing agreements and controls the can accept. FAR 9.505-3 addresses evaluating your own or a competitor’s offers — , needing safeguards or removal of the conflicted role. Name the archetype before proposing a fix; escalate early through counsel to the CO.

Watch for

One corporate firewall does not automatically cure all three. Moving drafting to another internal division without telling the CO does not erase organizational interest. Late disclosure after selection does not undo ground-rules concern. Employee NDAs alone do not bind the agency to accept mitigation.

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OCI remedies and waiver

FAR 9.504 directs contracting officers to identify and resolve significant early through avoidance, neutralization, or mitigation. Remedies are fact-specific. Under FAR 9.503, only the agency head or an authorized designee — never the contractor or program office — may approve a written waiver in the Government’s interest. Disclose early, separate analyses, and propose matched remedies in mergers, advisory portfolios, and multi-division pursuits.

Watch for

Informal program assurance is not a waiver. Corporate restructuring does not erase prior access, work, or incentives. Declaring all conflicts cured with a single control set outruns the facts.

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