---
kind: "section"
citation: "48 C.F.R. § 26.505"
title: "48"
number: "26.505"
heading: "Suspension of payments, termination of contract, and debarment and suspension actions."
url: "https://uscodex.org/cfr/48/26.505"
---

# §26.505. Suspension of payments, termination of contract, and debarment and suspension actions.

- (a) After determining in writing that adequate evidence to suspect any of the causes at [paragraph (d)](#d) of this section exists, the contracting officer may suspend contract payments in accordance with the procedures at 32.503-6(a)(1).
- (b) After determining in writing that any of the causes at [paragraph (d)](#d) of this section exists, the contracting officer may terminate the contract for default.
- (c) Upon initiating action under paragraph [(a)](#a) or [(b)](#b) of this section, the contracting officer shall refer the case to the agency suspending and debarring official, in accordance with agency procedures, pursuant to [subpart 9.4](/cfr/48/subpart9.4.md).
- (d) The specific causes for suspension of contract payments, termination of a contract for default, or suspension and debarment are—
  - (1) The contractor has failed to comply with the requirements of the clause at 52.226-7, Drug-Free Workplace; or
  - (2) The number of contractor employees convicted of violations of criminal drug statutes occurring in the workplace indicates that the contractor has failed to make a good faith effort to provide a drug-free workplace.
- (e) A determination under this section to suspend contract payments, terminate a contract for default, or debar or suspend a contractor may be waived by the agency head for a particular contract, in accordance with agency procedures, only if such waiver is necessary to prevent a severe disruption of the agency operation to the detriment of the Federal Government or the general public (see [subpart 9.4](/cfr/48/subpart9.4.md)). The waiver authority of the agency head cannot be delegated.

## Notes

### Amendments

[54 FR 4968, Jan. 31, 1989, as amended at 55 FR 21708, May 25, 1990; 61 FR 69292, Dec. 31, 1996. Redesignated and amended at 89 FR 30244, 30245, Apr. 22, 2024; 90 FR 516, Jan. 3, 2025]

### Source

Source: 54 FR 4968, Jan. 31, 1989; 55 FR 21707, May 25, 1990. Redesignated at 89 FR 30244, Apr. 22, 2024 unless otherwise noted.

### Authority

Authority : 41 U.S.C. 1121(b); 40 U.S.C. 121(c); 10 U.S.C. chapter 4 and 10 U.S.C. chapter 137 legacy provisions (see 10 U.S.C. 3016); and 51 U.S.C. 20113.

### Source

Source: 56 FR 41737, Aug. 22, 1991, unless otherwise noted.

### Amendments

[54 FR 4968, Jan. 31, 1989, as amended at 55 FR 21708, May 25, 1990; 61 FR 69292, Dec. 31, 1996. Redesignated and amended at 89 FR 30244, 30245, Apr. 22, 2024; 90 FR 516, Jan. 3, 2025]