Kingsfield · Research · Government Contracts

When must a federal agency use full and open competition in a procurement?

Published 2026-06-23 · U.S. federal law

Federal procurement law requires an executive agency to obtain full and open competition through the use of competitive procedures when conducting a procurement for property or services.

The answer

The competition mandate

41 U.S.C. § 3301 requires an executive agency, in conducting a procurement for property or services, to obtain full and open competition through the use of competitive procedures consistent with the statute. The agency must use the procedures most likely to result in full and open competition.

How competition is achieved

Full and open competition means all responsible sources are permitted to compete. Sole-source or limited-competition awards are the exception and must rest on a separately authorized statutory basis, not on the general rule.

The judged input

What the AI drafted

Submitted to the judge

This is an excerpt from a draft bid-protest risk opinion — the kind of work product a lawyer generates with a legal-AI drafting tool, then has to stand behind. Kingsfield does not write it; it rules on the citations the model put in it. This draft cites two authorities; one of them is wrong.

AI draft excerpt — bid-protest risk opinion

The Company has a colorable protest ground if the agency restricted the solicitation without justification. Under 41 U.S.C. § 3301, an executive agency conducting a procurement for property or services must obtain full and open competition through the use of competitive procedures. We note that the affirmative duty to obtain full and open competition in the first instance is stated in 41 U.S.C. § 3304.

The judge ruled on every citation as the draft used it — it accepted 41 U.S.C. § 3301 and rejected 41 U.S.C. § 3304. Here is why.

The verdict

How Kingsfield ruled

Ruled 2026-06-23

Each citation in the draft above was submitted to the Kingsfield judge and ruled against the primary-law corpus — Accept, Reject, or Inconclusive, per citation. These are live verdicts, not editorial. Each card shows the claim the draft made and the verbatim authority the verdict was rendered against.

Accept41 U.S.C. § 3301

The draft claimed: In conducting a procurement for property or services, an executive agency must obtain full and open competition through the use of competitive procedures.

“§ 3301 Except as provided in sections 3303, 3304(a), and 3305 of this title and except in the case of procurement procedures otherwise expressly authorized by statute, an executive agency in conducting a procurement for property or services shall—”

Cite found; proposition supported by the cited text.

Reject41 U.S.C. § 3304

The draft claimed: Section 3304 states the affirmative duty of an executive agency to obtain full and open competition through competitive procedures.

Cite found, but the cited text does not support the claim. 41 U.S.C. 3304 sets out the exceptions permitting an agency to use procedures other than competitive procedures (e.g., only one responsible source, unusual urgency); the affirmative full-and-open-competition mandate is at 41 U.S.C. 3301. Regenerate with the correct authority.

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This page is legal information, not legal advice, and does not create an attorney-client relationship. The draft shown is an illustration of a typical AI answer; verdicts reflect the cited authority in the Kingsfield corpus as of the ruling date shown above.