{"data":{"id":"us/48-cfr-16.603-3","jurisdiction":"us","citation":"48 CFR 16.603-3","heading":"16.603-3 Limitations.","body":"A letter contract may be used only after the head of the contracting activity or a designee determines in writing that no other contract is suitable. Letter contracts shall not—\n(a) Commit the Government to a definitive contract in excess of the funds available at the time the letter contract is executed;\n(b) Be entered into without competition when competition is required by part 6; or\n(c) Be amended to satisfy a new requirement unless that requirement is inseparable from the existing letter contract. Any such amendment is subject to the same requirements and limitations as a new letter contract.","path":["Title 48—Federal Acquisition Regulations System","CHAPTER 1—FEDERAL ACQUISITION REGULATION","SUBCHAPTER C—CONTRACTING METHODS AND CONTRACT TYPES","PART 16—TYPES OF CONTRACTS","Subpart 16.6—Time-and-Materials, Labor-Hour, and Letter Contracts"],"source_url":"https://www.ecfr.gov/api/versioner/v1/full/2026-08-25/title-48.xml","current_through":"2026-08-25","vintage":"","retrieved_at":"2026-08-27T02:26:29Z","sha256":"2fd3347cc6806d7f924f87f77b7d433f1345af6100a7852828120d6366b7dc48","source_id":"us-cfr","stale":true,"prev":"us/48-cfr-16.603-2","next":"us/48-cfr-16.603-4"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}