FAR 52.204-17 — Ownership or Control of Offeror

Solicitation provision · dated Aug 2020 · prescribed in FAR 4.180 · current through FAC 2026-01

In plain English

FAR 52.204-17, Ownership or Control of Offeror, is a solicitation provision prescribed at FAR 4.180, most recently dated Aug 2020. The complete official text is reproduced below, verbatim, from GSA's published FAR source files.

Its text contains no sentence requiring insertion into subcontracts; see the flowdown section below for what that does and does not mean.

Does it flow down to subcontracts?

No flowdown mandate found in the clause text

This is a solicitation provision — it applies to offerors when submitting an offer, not to contract performance, so subcontract flowdown is generally not the operative question for it.

Where it's prescribed

As prescribed in 4.1804(b), use the following provision:

Prescribing reference: FAR 4.180.

The official text, verbatim

FAR 52.204-17 · Aug 2020 current through FAC 2026-01 acquisition.gov eCFR (48 CFR)

As prescribed in 4.1804(b), use the following provision:

Ownership or Control of Offeror (Aug 2020)

  • (a) Definitions. As used in this provision–

    Commercial and Government Entity (CAGE) code means–

    • (1) An identifier assigned to entities located in the United States or its outlying areas by the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) Commercial and Government Entity (CAGE) Branch to identify a commercial or government entity by unique location; or

    • (2) An identifier assigned by a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) or by the NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA) to entities located outside the United States and its outlying areas that the DLA Commercial and Government Entity (CAGE) Branch records and maintains in the CAGE master file. This type of code is known as a NATO CAGE (NCAGE) code.

    Highest-level owner means the entity that owns or controls an immediate owner of the offeror, or that owns or controls one or more entities that control an immediate owner of the offeror. No entity owns or exercises control of the highest level owner.

    Immediate owner means an entity, other than the offeror, that has direct control of the offeror. Indicators of control include, but are not limited to, one or more of the following: ownership or interlocking management, identity of interests among family members, shared facilities and equipment, and the common use of employees.

  • (b) The Offeror represents that it  has or  does not have an immediate owner. If the Offeror has more than one immediate owner (such as a joint venture), then the Offeror shall respond to paragraph (c) and if applicable, paragraph (d) of this provision for each participant in the joint venture.

  • (c) If the Offeror indicates "has" in paragraph (b) of this provision, enter the following information:

    Immediate owner CAGE code: ____________

    Immediate owner legal name: ____________

    (Do not use a "doing business as" name)

    Is the immediate owner owned or controlled by another entity?:  Yes or  No.

  • (d) If the Offeror indicates "yes" in paragraph (c) of this provision, indicating that the immediate owner is owned or controlled by another entity, then enter the following information:

    Highest-level owner CAGE code: ____________

    Highest-level owner legal name: ____________

    (Do not use a "doing business as" name)

(End of provision)

The text above is reproduced from GSA's published FAR source files (GSA/GSA-Acquisition-FAR @ da52ccb (2026-03-30)), retrieved 2026-07-17. The official publication at acquisition.gov / eCFR controls if they differ.