The Buy American Act is an important domestic preference statute applicable to many U.S. Government procurements. Despite COVID-19, we have not seen any blanket suspension or waiver of this law. So, it’s worth understanding the statute’s basic requirements. Watch the video below to learn more.
Raising the Roofs . . . and Floors: Acquisition Thresholds in the Time of Emergency
As many contractors have heard, the President declared a state of emergency under the Stafford Act. What will this mean for acquisitions conducted while the COVID-19 emergency continues? In this post, I’ll dig into some contractor-specific effects of that declaration: modifying the micro-purchase, simplified acquisition, and commercial purchase acquisition thresholds.
Continue reading…Winding Down: COVID-19 Work Stoppages & Suspensions
Many contractors are facing work stoppages or suspensions because of COVID-19—especially where working from home is not feasible. This blog post aims to provide a little bit of clarity about work stoppages, suspensions, and the FAR’s excusable delays provision.
Continue reading…SmallGovCon Week In Review: March 23 – March 27, 2020
This week, the attorney-authors at SmallGovCon have provided recommendations, tips, and updates on how contractors can deal with the effects of COVID-19 on their work. In this week in review, I’ve highlighted some of those updates in case readers might have missed them. But I’m also sharing some of the news from other sources about federal contracting in the age of COVID-19 and other updates.
Continue reading…Dealing with Contract Alterations and Modifications Due to COVID-19
There are many questions facing contractors during this time of upheaval from the coronavirus and the impact on the federal government’s role buying from federal contractors. We’ll try to address as many of them as we can through our COVID-19 Contractors’ Toolkit. One of the biggest questions is what can be done if the government modifies a contract, cancels work, or reschedules the performance of work. In that situation, it’s important to understand both the impacts on the prime contractor and any subcontractors.
Continue reading…President Invokes Stafford Act: What that Means for Federal Contractors
Under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121-5207), or more commonly the “Stafford Act,” the President can declare an “emergency” or, if the incident is more serious, a “major disaster.” These declarations, among other things, give federal contracting officials certain acquisition flexibilities not normally available.
In response to COVID-19, President Trump declared a nationwide emergency (an unusual step because these declarations are typically limited to a limited geographic area). And he has since approved major disaster declarations for at least seven states: New York, Washington, California, Iowa, Louisiana, Texas, and Florida. What are some of the flexibilities that have been unleashed by these declarations and how might they impact federal government contractors?
Continue reading…COVID-19 & SBA 8(a) Program Suspensions: FAQs
If you are a government contractor participating in the Small Business Administration’s 8(a) Business Development Program, there is a good chance you received an email this week about COVID-19 and the SBA’s 8(a) suspension authority. What is this authority and, more importantly, how would suspension impact your 8(a) status? In this post, we aim to provide some answers to frequently asked questions about these suspensions.
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