The United States Court of Federal Claims (COFC) produced another decision focused on SAM registration and related FAR updates. We previously discussed the changes to the FAR no longer requiring constant SAM registration to be awarded a contract. We have also blogged on a recent COFC decision regarding solicitation amendments based on the new FAR rule. But, what happens if the old FAR rule, such as one regarding SAM registration, is still in a solicitation and the agency does not amend the solicitation?
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Switcheroo – FAR Change Allows Agency to Amend Solicitation to Broaden Eligibility for Procurement
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 readingDialing Down: SAM Registration Not Constantly Required
As we’ve written about on the blog, protests have been decided because the offeror was not registered in SAM for the entirety of the proposal review process period. For instance, in this post, we discussed a GAO decision where GAO held that the FAR requires offerors to maintain SAM registration throughout the evaluation period, meaning from proposal submission to award of the contract. A COFC case came to the same conclusion. Well, the federal government didn’t like the result and has published an interim rule to remedy it.
In a recent interim rule effective November 12, 2024, the FAR is being updated to clarify that “the offeror must be registered at time of offer submission and at time of contract award, but would not be required to be registered at every moment in between those two points.”
Continue readingGAO Reminder: Joint Ventures Must Register on SAM
SAM.gov is like the home base of federal government contracting. Everything in federal government contracting seems to either start there, or require using SAM in some fashion. As a consequence, contractors are expected to register on SAM to work in federal contracting. However, it can be easy to overlook registering a joint venture entity on SAM, when contractors making up the joint venture are already registered on SAM. GAO recently took the opportunity to remind contractors of the need to register their joint venture separately on SAM through a bid protest decision.
Continue readingGAO: Don’t Slip Up on SAM Registration, Even for One Day
Editor’s Note: The rule this decision discusses has been updated in a FAR rule change discussed here. The new rule said that “the offeror must be registered at time of offer submission and at time of contract award, but would not be required to be registered at every moment in between those two points.”
If federal contracting had a proverbial town square, it would be SAM.gov. So much federal contracting activity flows through or starts there. A large portion of SAM is contractor information. Contractors are required to be on SAM and are expected to keep their profiles on SAM updated. A “hot off the presses” GAO ruling has confirmed that the timing of SAM registration can make or break a contractor’s winning bid.
Continue readingGovology Webinar: Cracking the Code: NAICS Essentials for Government Contractors, September 12, 2023, 1:00pm EDT
Join this webinar as John Holtz and I explore the pivotal role of NAICS codes in determining eligibility for SBA’s exclusive small business set-aside contracts. Recent revisions in size thresholds, size calculations, and industry classifications within the latest NAICS manual have reshaped the landscape. We’ll also discuss NAICS codes appeals, which can be a powerful tool. Register here.
Back to Basics: Registering in SAM.gov
SAM.gov, short for System for Award Management, is the entry point for federal contractors to interface with the government. So, it is a basic starting point for every federal contractor. But your SAM.gov profile also needs to stay up to date and be up to date at time of bid submission, and failure to keep your SAM profile active can cause problems, even for established contractors. Everyone involved with government contracting knows, or should know, a little bit about registration in SAM.gov.
This post walks you through the most important things you should know about registering in SAM.gov.
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