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The Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) is a systematic arrangement of the general and permanent rules as per the executive departments and agencies of the Federal Government of the United States. The CFR is divided into 50 subject matter titles that are subject to Federal regulations. Each title is divided into chapters bearing the name of the issuing agency. To cover particular Regulatory areas, the chapters are further divided into parts. If the parts are large enough, they may be further divided, which are organized into sections and provide most of the citations in the CFR.

The CFR is collectively authorized by the publisher, the National Archives and Records Administration's (NARA) Office of the Federal Register (OFR), and the Government Publishing Office (GPO) to provide the public with upgraded access to Government information.

The official or annual additions of the CFR are posted on GPO's Govinfo website in PDF format as per the Administrative Committee of the Federal Register (1 CFR part 8). Along with the digital versions, paper editions are also released simultaneously. Even after updated CFRs are uploaded, Govinfo archives the previous versions in the form of historical data. Bulk data downloads of CFR XML files are also available to the public via Data.gov and GPO's Bulk Data Repository.

For information related to the legal status, authenticity, and schema of the CFR XML versions, User Guide Document – “Code of Federal Register XML Rendition” can be referred.

Updating CFR

The CFR is updated annually and is published on a quarterly basis:

  • Sections 1-16 are revised as of January 1
  • Sections 17-27 are revised as of April 1
  • Sections 28-41 are revised as of July 1
  • Sections 42-50 are revised as of October 1

Availability of CFR

The CFR is available in the form of:

  1. Electronic publications (free of charge) on the GPO's Federal Digital System (FDsys) under the maintenance of US Government Printing Office. https://www.archives.gov/federal-register/cfr/about.html
  2. Paper publications (on subscription basis or individual copy) from the Superintendent of Documents, or at any Federal Depository Library.

Searching the CFR

CFR can be searched in the following ways:

  • Basic search – For keyword and metadata related searches
  • Advanced search – For field specific searches
  • Citation search – For retrieving a single Code of Federal Regulations document

Complying with CFR guidelines is critical for organizations. How aligned are you? To know more about CFR, contact our Regulatory expert. sales@freyrsolutions.com.