This past November, we observed a change in the rules regarding SAM registration requirements for procurements. Prior to this rule change, both GAO and the Court of Federal Claims (COFC) had found that the FAR requires offerors to maintain SAM registration throughout the evaluation period for a procurement. With the rule change, FAR 52.204-7 (the regulation at issue) now only requires that an offeror be registered at the time of offer submission and at the time of contract award. A lapse in SAM registration in between those events, in other words, would not be fatal to an offeror’s proposal. Unfortunately for one company, this resulted in a COFC case that essentially reversed its victory at a prior COFC protest. Today, we’ll look at this second case and what happened.
Continue readingTag Archives: Federal Acquisition Regulation
SmallGovCon Week in Review: February 27-March 3, 2023
Happy Friday and Happy March Madness. The country sure has been getting some wacky weather this week as spring is set to arrive soon. Here in Kansas, we are starting to see the first green sprouts emerging from the ground and everyone is getting really excited about the NCAA basketball tournament. Time to prepare your bracket and cheer on your favorite team as they fight to advance to the next level.
There were several announcements this week in federal government contracting, including implementation guidance from the Whitehouse on “No TikTok on Government Devices”. You can read about that and other related content in our articles list below. Have a great weekend.
Continue readingFinal FAR Amendment Encourages Procuring Agencies to Engage with Industry
DoD, GSA, and NASA are issuing a final rule that amends the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR), effectively implementing a provision of the 2016 National Defense Authorization Act. The rule permits and encourages agency acquisition personnel to engage in responsible and constructive exchanges with the industry, provided that such exchanges remain consistent with the applicable law and refrain from promoting any unfair competitive advantages.
Continue readingSmallGovCon Week in Review: June 6-10, 2022
Happy Friday, Readers! We hope you had a very productive week and can take some time this weekend to relax and unwind. The start of June is proving to be a wet one here in the Midwest and the gardens and trees are loving it! Everything is so green and the spring flowers are beautiful. I’m sure the town will be filled with the sound of lawn mowers this weekend.
Here are a few noteworthy articles this week, concerning federal government contracting issues, including some policy changes on the federal management level, reports on time and materials contracts, and small business tech opportunities. We hope you can kick back, relax and carve out some leisure time this weekend. Enjoy!
Continue readingSmallGovCon Week in Review: February 28- March 4, 2022
Hello, Readers. As we move into spring, we at SmallGovCon have been observing the optimism of nature as winter releases its grip. Small green plant shoots are pushing their way up towards the sunshine and the trees are preparing to bud as our temperatures warm up. The birds are getting involved as well. There’s no doubt that they are enjoying the warmer weather and looking forward to spring, too. Hope you are able to observe equally inspiring things in your neck of the woods.
As usual there was a lot of news in federal government contracting, this week including articles on the future of federal government contracting, cybersecurity bills, and news on GSA multiple award contracts. Have a great weekend!
Continue readingSmallGovCon Week in Review: September 20-24, 2021
Happy Monday, Readers. We hope you had a wonderful weekend and are enjoying the start of fall. Here are some newsworthy articles from the federal government contracting world. Enjoy and have a great week!
Continue readingFAR Council Implements Interim FAR Rule Prohibiting Contractor Use of Chinese Telecom Products
The FAR Council recently moved forward with implementing provisions of Section 889(a)(1)(B) of the 2019 NDAA through an interim rule. This rule, effective August 13, 2020, furthers the work begun previously of separating the federal government and its contractors from certain Chinese telecom and video surveillance companies.
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