Ah, the Federal Acquisition Regulations, or FAR. Quite numerous and complex, yes, but they provide a standardized set of rules and procedures that govern federal government procurements. Regardless of what contract you’re dealing with (other than a few exceptions such as the FAA, which is not subject to the FAR), you can be sure that the rules of the FAR govern it.
Unfortunately, that last statement is not true.
Continue readingAdditional changes to the submission date and the self-scoring requirements for CIO-SP4 offers make up the latest batch of amendments published by the National Institutes of Health Information Technology Acquisition and Assessment Center, leaving offerors hopeful the latest changes will be the last in a long string of amendments. Amendment 15 pushes back the submission date for CIO-SP4 offers and addresses a change to offer modifications. Amendment 16 includes additional changes to submission requirements and removes the iNsight method of calculating Self Scores.
Continue readingFederal contractors often ask: “It is better to team up for government work with a prime-sub arrangement or with a joint venture?” Well, (spoiler alert) the answer is: it depends. But I won’t leave you with just that. This three-part series will provide insight on some of the major differences between these two types of “teams” that offerors should consider when making the decision between a joint venture or prime/subcontractor team in competing for and performing federal contracts. While this series will not provide a comprehensive list of all the differences between these two types of teams, it will cover some of the big ones that seem to come up more frequently in this decision-making process. Our first article focused on workshare, and our second, on past performance. This final article of the three-part series will discuss the parties’ relationship with the government and with each other in both types of teams.
Continue readingThe White House has announced the launch of a Made in America Council, which will be the overarching group to “coordinate and advance the Made in America Office’s work across the entirety of the Federal Government.” This represents a new strategy for things like the Buy American Act and related policies, because it will try to centralize these efforts to some degree, instead of having them disbursed throughout the various federal agencies. Below are some of the highlights from this announcement.
Continue readingThe National Institutes of Health (NIH) NITAAC has been busy over the past month with three amendments to the CIO-SP4. Amendments 12, 13, and 14 primarily revise submission dates and make changes to the reporting of past experience examples. Below is a summary of the pertinent details from these amendments, as we know this is an important procurement for many contractors.
Continue readingAs of January 5, 2022, SBA will no longer use Product Service Codes (PSCs) to classify products covered by class waivers for the nonmanufacturer rule. SBA’s rationale for discontinuing PSC’s to classify class waivers is to “improve consistency in the application of class waiver.” SBA will use North American Industry Classification System codes (NAICS) as its sole classification system to identify products covered by class waivers going forward. Notification of the change of SBA’s rule was published in the Federal Register on December 6, 2021.
Continue readingOn Wednesday, January 5, 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit issued another setback to the COVID-19 vaccine mandate for federal government contractors. In its opinion, the four-judge panel upheld the November 30, 2021 preliminary injunction and denied the Government’s request to stay the injunction “because the government has established none of the showings required to obtain a stay.” On appeal, the government asserted that the three states involved, Kentucky, Ohio, and Tennessee, and two Ohio sheriffs’ offices which brought the initial claim did not have standing to bring such a case. Additionally, the government argued that even if there was standing, the Property Act authorizes the contractor mandate. However, the Court of Appeals determined all plaintiffs established standing based on four elements and held the Property Act does not authorize the President to take such action.
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