Buy America changes to limit some materials on federally funded projects, presenter says
Loading...
Summary
Kendall told the TransCom TAC that the manufactured-goods waiver expired in October 2025 and that assemblies such as sprinkler heads, some lighting and landscape materials may soon need higher U.S. content or risk jeopardizing federal participation; waiver requests can take up to a year.
Kendall, a department presenter, told the TransCom Technical Advisory Committee that recent Buy America/Build America rule changes will affect many federally funded projects and urged agencies to review specifications and apply early for waivers.
Kendall said the historical manufactured-product waiver expired in October 2025 and that new rules phase in a 55% domestic-cost requirement for manufactured assemblies starting Oct. 1, 2026. Between October 2025 and Oct. 1, 2026, Kendall said only final assembly in the United States is required; after Oct. 1, 2026, the domestic-content threshold increases.
Why it matters: Kendall said the changes cover common project components — sprinkler-head assemblies, some geotextiles, landscaping materials, lighting components and signal-cabinet parts — and warned that using typical off-the-shelf products on federally funded projects could put federal participation at risk. "We got very close this last year to losing $9,000,000 on one of our projects over the geo grid," Kendall said, urging caution in project packaging and procurement.
Kendall explained the rule’s de minimis provision applies to material cost only (not labor) and effectively excludes items such as cement and binders from that allowance. The de minimis allowance can be 5% or $1,000,000, whichever is less, but Kendall said many projects do not approach that threshold when tallying material costs.
On waivers and compliance: Kendall said waiver requests must begin before the environmental process and cautioned that agencies should not assume a waiver will be granted quickly — the department has seen review times of up to a year. He also said local entities cannot donate materials to bypass Buy America rules and that agencies should not plan to swap compliant items immediately after project completion to avoid noncompliance.
Questions and outreach: When asked by Chris Murray about contractor outreach, Kendall said the department has briefed the Associated General Contractors (AGC) and is working through specifications to identify domestically available alternatives but could not guarantee that every item is available. Kendall said the department will share a new specification and supporting guidance and provided a contact (kentalbott@u) for detailed questions.
Next steps: Kendall said additional federal guidance is expected and advised project sponsors to review the department’s new specification and the shared Q&A slides to decide which items are reasonable to include in federally funded projects and which are better deferred to nonfederal-funded work.
Ending: The committee received the briefing and was advised to incorporate the guidance in upcoming project development and procurement decisions.
