Effective immediately, contracting officers shall not require a major contractor, as defined at Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) 231.205-18(a)(iii), to engage in or document a technical interchange, as described in DFARS 231.205-18(c)(iii)(C)(4), as part of the criteria for determining a contractor's annual independent research and development (IR&D) costs to be allowable.

In order for annual IR&D costs to be determined allowable for IR&D projects initiated in the contractor's fiscal year 2017 and later, DFARS 231.205-18(c)(iii)(C)(4) requires a major contractor to-

• Engage in a technical interchange with a technical or operational DoD Government employee prior to the generation of IR&D costs; and
• Document the interchange on the online input form for IR&D projects reported to the Defense Technical Information Center.

As a result of this deviation, the actions at DFARS 231.205-18(c)(iii)(C)(4) are no longer a part of the criteria a contracting officer must consider in determining a major contractor's annual IR&D costs to be allowable.

This class deviation is effective until it is incorporated in the DFARS or until this class deviation is otherwise rescinded.