The Department of Defense, NASA and General Services Administration have issued an interim rule to amend the System for Award Management solicitation provision and its pre-award registration requirements.
In a Federal Register notice published on Tuesday, the agencies announced that the interim rule will revise the Federal Acquisition Regulation to clarify that contracting companies must be registered during bid submissions and the resulting contract awards. However, offerors will not be required to be registered between the two points.
Avoiding False Assumptions
The interim rule intends to update instructions for SAM registration and rectify an inconsistency regarding the timing of offerors’ registration. It clarifies that a registration lapse that occurred after a proposal submission but was corrected before the contract award will not make an offeror ineligible for award under FAR. The clarification should avoid false assumptions and prevent the unnecessary loss of resources for businesses.
The three agencies called on interested parties to submit written comments on the interim rule, noting that the input would be considered in finalizing the regulation.
The Regulatory Secretariat Division will accept submissions until Jan. 13, 2025.
