OMB Circulars

OMB Circular A-131 establishes a policy that "Federal agencies shall use VE as a management tool, where appropriate, to ensure realistic budgets, identify and remove nonessential capital and operating costs, and improve and maintain optimum quality of program and acquisition functions." Value engineering (also referred to as value analysis, value management, and value control) is defined as "an organized effort directed at analyzing the functions of systems, equipment, facilities, services, and supplies for the purpose of achieving the essential functions at the lowest life cycle cost consistent with required performance, quality, reliability, and safety."

OMB Circular A-131 notes that value engineering (VE) is a "management tool that can be used alone or with other management techniques and methodologies to improve operations and reduce costs" Referenced techniques and methodologies include life-cycle costing, design-to-cost approaches and concurrent engineering. VE can also contribute to overall management objectives of "streamlining operations, improving quality, reducing costs, and can result in the increased use of environmentally-sound and energy-efficient practices and materials." The circular provides agencies with the authority to define opportunity criteria to apply value management. Within agencies, these opportunities exist in programs, projects, systems, products and services.

The regulatory basis for the application of value engineering to design and construction projects is the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), Part 48 and Part 52.