BrettK Posted September 19, 2022 Report Share Posted September 19, 2022 We know that amendments are added and the number of pages increases but has anyone ever seen an historical account, by year, of the increased length of the FAR since its inception? Even better would be a chart showing the change in volume. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vern Edwards Posted September 19, 2022 Report Share Posted September 19, 2022 You'd have to decide what versions of the FAR to check. You'd probably have to check the official CFR version published by the GPO. Should be easy to do, though tedious. It would be easier just to check the 1984 version against the 2020 or 2021 version. But page counts won't tell the whole story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joel hoffman Posted September 19, 2022 Report Share Posted September 19, 2022 51 minutes ago, BrettK said: We know that amendments are added and the number of pages increases but has anyone ever seen an historical account, by year, of the increased length of the FAR since its inception? Even better would be a chart showing the change in volume. Any page count comparison would have to be in a uniform format, using the same font and size lettering, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vern Edwards Posted September 19, 2022 Report Share Posted September 19, 2022 In 1984, in the GPO pamphlet format, FAR Vol. I, Parts 1 - 51 was 1,276 pages; Vol II, Parts 52 - 99 was 552 pages, for a total of 1,828 pages. In 2020, in the GPO pamphlet format, FAR Vol 1 was 1,148 pages; Vol II was 525 pages, for a total of 1,683 pages. Those page counts include covers and all front and back matter. So in that format the FAR shrank. I did not investigate further. The pamphlet edition for 2021 is not yet available. The current edition will grow some when they add the new Part 40. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrettK Posted September 20, 2022 Author Report Share Posted September 20, 2022 Yes, this is my exact problem. I know the FAR has grown and not shrunk over time. I also know the electronic versions counting pages are not exactly comparable to the paper versions of yesteryear. What might be a good way to illustrate visually the increase in complexity over time? I would have thought someone would have already created a nifty infographic for this but it might me up to me to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vern Edwards Posted September 20, 2022 Report Share Posted September 20, 2022 Instead of counting pages, do a word count. But that takes a special effort. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob7947 Posted September 21, 2022 Report Share Posted September 21, 2022 11 hours ago, BrettK said: Yes, this is my exact problem. I know the FAR has grown and not shrunk over time. I also know the electronic versions counting pages are not exactly comparable to the paper versions of yesteryear. What might be a good way to illustrate visually the increase in complexity over time? I would have thought someone would have already created a nifty infographic for this but it might me up to me to do. Try this. It only goes back to 1999. It doesn't answer your question but if you want to illustrate an increase in complexity, this might help. On the left is the FACs since 1999. On the right are the FAR Cases. Federal Acquisition Regulation Research. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrettK Posted September 21, 2022 Author Report Share Posted September 21, 2022 14 hours ago, bob7947 said: Try this. Interesting approach, Bob. Not sure I could effectively paint the complete picture using this but it is a different way to consider the problem for sure. On 9/20/2022 at 11:05 AM, Vern Edwards said: Instead of counting pages, do a word count. But that takes a special effort. I don't think I have that kind of special effort in me, Vern. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vern Edwards Posted September 21, 2022 Report Share Posted September 21, 2022 45 minutes ago, BrettK said: Interesting approach, Bob. Not sure I could effectively paint the complete picture using this but it is a different way to consider the problem for sure. I don't think I have that kind of special effort in me, Vern. Well, not manually. There is software that can do it. There are several such programs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrettK Posted September 21, 2022 Author Report Share Posted September 21, 2022 Is there a reliable repository for all prior versions of the FAR that you would recommend as the source of truth? It's easy to get the most current, or sporadic yearly versions, but I cannot seem to locate all of them in one place in a standard format. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vern Edwards Posted September 21, 2022 Report Share Posted September 21, 2022 52 minutes ago, BrettK said: s there a reliable repository for all prior versions of the FAR that you would recommend as the source of truth? Acquisition.gov has archives going back to 1996. There may be archives going back further on the internet. Heinonline has archives going back to the beginning in the CFR pamphlet/pdf format. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrettK Posted September 21, 2022 Author Report Share Posted September 21, 2022 For some reason, I was missing the archive section on Acquisition.gov. Got it now. Many thanks. If I get this made, I will share here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
It_Depends Posted October 18, 2022 Report Share Posted October 18, 2022 If you're still looking, this old AT&L interview with Gansler has an infographic for the number of pages in the FAR from 1975 to 2011: https://asc.army.mil/web/access-the-new-gansler-report/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vern Edwards Posted October 19, 2022 Report Share Posted October 19, 2022 The infographic cannot show the number of pages in the FAR from 1975 to 2011, because the FAR was not published until 1983. It took effect in 1984. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Mansfield Posted October 19, 2022 Report Share Posted October 19, 2022 It's number of pages in the CFR. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vern Edwards Posted October 19, 2022 Report Share Posted October 19, 2022 That makes sense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrettK Posted October 19, 2022 Author Report Share Posted October 19, 2022 On 10/18/2022 at 9:41 AM, It_Depends said: If you're still looking, this old AT&L interview with Gansler has an infographic for the number of pages in the FAR from 1975 to 2011: Thank you for this! I still did word count but this is useful as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joel hoffman Posted October 19, 2022 Report Share Posted October 19, 2022 5 hours ago, BrettK said: Thank you for this! I still did word count but this is useful as well. The information that it_depends referenced did not identify the number of pages in the FAR. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrettK Posted October 21, 2022 Author Report Share Posted October 21, 2022 On 10/19/2022 at 4:01 PM, joel hoffman said: The information that it_depends referenced did not identify the number of pages in the FAR. I understand and I did not end up using it_depends' info. I have good word counts for the 1995 FAR and the 2022 FAR and compared them to the number of words in Harry Potter series for impact. I thought it came out nicely. If you're interested, the graphic is on this page and also embedded in the white paper that can be downloaded from the same page. https://www.bidscale.com/whitepaper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vern Edwards Posted October 21, 2022 Report Share Posted October 21, 2022 @BrettKDid you write the white paper? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
REA'n Maker Posted October 21, 2022 Report Share Posted October 21, 2022 Just the growth in the 52.212-5 required "commercial" clauses is enough to make you want to give up on any hope of better days to come. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrettK Posted October 21, 2022 Author Report Share Posted October 21, 2022 35 minutes ago, Vern Edwards said: @BrettKDid you write the white paper? It was a group effort. Thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrettK Posted October 21, 2022 Author Report Share Posted October 21, 2022 BTW, the most interesting thing I learned about the FAR in terms of word count, having counted all years that were electronically available to me, was that it was not a linear expansion as I expected. There were some years parts were replaced or removed casuing a decrease from the prior year. It was much more of a jagged trend that eventually made its way upwards from 1995 - present. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vern Edwards Posted October 21, 2022 Report Share Posted October 21, 2022 @BrettKYes, some, but not for public disclosure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrettK Posted October 21, 2022 Author Report Share Posted October 21, 2022 Just now, Vern Edwards said: @BrettKYes, some, but not for public disclosure. Feel free to DM or email me. I'll put on a bulletproof vest just in case it gets ugly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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