52.225-21 Required Use of American Iron,

Steel, and Manufactured Goods-Buy

American Statute-Construction Materials.

As prescribed in 25.1102(e), insert the following clause:

Required Use of American Iron, Steel, and Manufactured Goods-Buy American Statute-Construction

Materials (Jan 2021)

(a) Definitions. As used in this clauseComponent means an article, material, or supply incorporated directly into a construction material.

Construction material means an article, material, or supply brought to the construction site by the

Contractor or a subcontractor for incorporation into the building or work. The term also includes an

item brought to the site preassembled from articles, materials, or supplies. However, emergency life

safety systems, such as emergency lighting, fire alarm, and audio evacuation systems, that are

discrete systems incorporated into a public building or work and that are produced as complete

systems, are evaluated as a single and distinct construction material regardless of when or how the

individual parts or components of those systems are delivered to the construction site.

Domestic construction material means the following-

(1) An unmanufactured construction material mined or produced in the United States. (The Buy

American statute applies.)

(2) A manufactured construction material that is manufactured in the United States and, if the

construction material consists wholly or predominantly of iron or steel, the iron or steel was

produced in the United States. (Section 1605 of the Recovery Act applies.)

Foreign construction material means a construction material other than a domestic construction

material.

Manufactured construction material means any construction material that is not unmanufactured

construction material.

Steel means an alloy that includes at least 50 percent iron, between 0.02 and 2 percent carbon, and

may include other elements.

United States means the 50 States, the District of Columbia, and outlying areas.

Unmanufactured construction material means raw material brought to the construction site for

incorporation into the building or work that has not been-

(1) Processed into a specific form and shape; or

(2) Combined with other raw material to create a material that has different properties than the

properties of the individual raw materials.
(b) Domestic preference.

(1) This clause implements-

(i) Section 1605 of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) (Pub. L.

111-5), by requiring, unless an exception applies, that all manufactured construction material in the

project is manufactured in the United States and, if the construction material consists wholly or

predominantly of iron or steel, the iron or steel was produced in the United States (produced in the

United States means that all manufacturing processes of the iron or steel must take place in the

United States, except metallurgical processes involving refinement of steel additives); and

(ii) 41 U.S.C chapter 83, Buy American, by providing a preference for unmanufactured construction

material mined or produced in the United States over unmanufactured construction material mined

or produced in a foreign country.

(2) The Contractor shall use only domestic construction material in performing this contract, except

as provided in paragraph (b)(3) and (b)(4) of this clause.

(3) This requirement does not apply to the construction material or components listed by the

Government as follows:

____________________________________________________________________________[Contracting Officer to list

applicable excepted materials or indicate "none"]

(4) The Contracting Officer may add other foreign construction material to the list in paragraph

(b)(3) of this clause if the Government determines that-

(i) The cost of domestic construction material would be unreasonable;

(A) The cost of domestic manufactured construction material, when compared to the cost of

comparable foreign manufactured construction material, is unreasonable when the cumulative cost

of such material will increase the cost of the contract by more than 25 percent;

(B) The cost of domestic unmanufactured construction material is unreasonable when the cost of

such material exceeds the cost of comparable foreign unmanufactured construction material by

more than 20 percent;

(ii) The construction material is not mined, produced, or manufactured in the United States in

sufficient and reasonably available quantities and of a satisfactory quality;

(iii) The application of the restriction of section 1605 of the Recovery Act to a particular

manufactured construction material would be inconsistent with the public interest or the application

of the Buy American statute to a particular unmanufactured construction material would be

impracticable or inconsistent with the public interest.

(c) Request for determination of inapplicability of section 1605 of the Recovery Act or the Buy

American statute.

(1)

(i) Any Contractor request to use foreign construction material in accordance with paragraph (b)(4)

of this clause shall include adequate information for Government evaluation of the request,
including-

(A) A description of the foreign and domestic construction materials;

(B) Unit of measure;

(C) Quantity;

(D) Cost;

(E) Time of delivery or availability;

(F) Location of the construction project;

(G) Name and address of the proposed supplier; and

(H) A detailed justification of the reason for use of foreign construction materials cited in accordance

with paragraph (b)(4) of this clause.

(ii) A request based on unreasonable cost shall include a reasonable survey of the market and a

completed cost comparison table in the format in paragraph (d) of this clause.

(iii) The cost of construction material shall include all delivery costs to the construction site and any

applicable duty.

(iv) Any Contractor request for a determination submitted after contract award shall explain why the

Contractor could not reasonably foresee the need for such determination and could not have

requested the determination before contract award. If the Contractor does not submit a satisfactory

explanation, the Contracting Officer need not make a determination.

(2) If the Government determines after contract award that an exception to section 1605 of the

Recovery Act or the Buy American statute applies and the Contracting Officer and the Contractor

negotiate adequate consideration, the Contracting Officer will modify the contract to allow use of

the foreign construction material. However, when the basis for the exception is the unreasonable

cost of a domestic construction material, adequate consideration is not less than the differential

established in paragraph (b)(4)(i) of this clause.

(3) Unless the Government determines that an exception to section 1605 of the Recovery Act or the

Buy American statute applies, use of foreign construction material is noncompliant with section

1605 of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act or the Buy American statute.

(d) Data. To permit evaluation of requests under paragraph (c) of this clause based on unreasonable

cost, the Contractor shall include the following information and any applicable supporting data

based on the survey of suppliers:

Foreign and Domestic Construction Materials Cost Comparison

Construction Material

Description

Unit of

Measure Quantity Cost (Dollars)*

Item 1:
Foreign and Domestic Construction Materials Cost Comparison

Construction Material

Description

Unit of

Measure Quantity Cost (Dollars)*

Foreign construction

material ________ ________ ________

Domestic construction

material ________ ________ ________

Item 2:

Foreign construction

material ________ ________ ________

Domestic construction

material ________ ________ ________

[List name, address, telephone number, and contact for suppliers surveyed. Attach copy of

response; if oral, attach summary.]

[Include other applicable supporting information.]

[* Include all delivery costs to the construction site.]

(End of clause)

Parent topic: 52.225 [Reserved]