LEARN / GLOSSARY
Sub-tier supplier
A supplier that furnishes goods or services to another supplier rather than directly to the buyer. The federal regulations that govern subcontracting contain no single definition of the term.
Definition
The Federal Acquisition Regulation at 44.101 defines a subcontractor as any supplier, distributor, vendor, or firm that furnishes supplies or services to or for a prime contractor or another subcontractor. A sub-tier supplier is a subcontractor operating below the first tier, furnishing to another subcontractor rather than to the prime.
Measurement noteFAR 2.101, which provides the general definitions used across the regulation, does not define “subcontract” or “subcontractor” at all. Separate definitions appear at 44.101, 3.502-1, 3.901, 3.1001, 22.1702, 22.1801 and 46.101, written for different purposes. A firm can be a subcontractor for one regulatory purpose and not for another.
Why this matters for capacity
Concentration risk accumulates at the tiers nobody measures. A single foundry, heat treater, or specialty coater serving six programs across four primes is invisible in any aggregate series and in most program-level assessments. The dependency surfaces when the supplier fails, retires, or is acquired.
Institute analysisAssessments of industrial health built on published statistics describe the tiers that report. Those are the tiers least likely to be single points of failure, which means the measurable part of the base is systematically the least risky part.
Related terms
Prime contractor · Industrial base · Surge capacity
Appears in
What Is the U.S. Industrial Base?
Read next
What Is the U.S. Industrial Base?
Sources
- Federal Acquisition Regulation 44.101, Definitions. acquisition.gov
- Federal Acquisition Regulation 3.502-1, Definitions. acquisition.gov