52.225-9 Buy American Certificate for Construction Materials

This is a federal contracting clause that implements the Buy American statute (41 U.S.C. Chapter 83) for construction materials, effective October 2022. The clause establishes domestic preference requirements and exceptions for construction material procurement on federal projects.

The clause defines key terms including "construction material" (articles, materials, or supplies incorporated into buildings or works at construction sites), "domestic construction material" (unmanned materials mined or produced in the United States, or manufactured materials meeting domestic content thresholds), and "commercially available off-the-shelf (COTS) items" (commercial products sold in substantial quantities without modification). For non-iron/steel construction materials, domestic content must exceed 60 percent of component costs, with transitional rates of 65 percent for items delivered through 2028 and 75 percent for items delivered starting in 2029. For iron or steel materials, foreign content must constitute less than 5 percent of total component costs. The clause provides exceptions for critical items, critical components, unreasonable cost scenarios, and materials not available in sufficient domestic quantities.

Contractors requesting use of foreign construction materials must submit detailed justifications including material descriptions, quantities, pricing, delivery timelines, supplier information, and a market survey with price comparisons in the specified format. The Contracting Officer may approve exceptions if domestic material costs are unreasonable (exceeding foreign costs by more than 20 percent), materials are unavailable domestically, or application would be impracticable. The clause includes a price comparison template for documenting foreign versus domestic material costs with delivery and duty considerations.