Federal Acquisition Regulation: System for Award Management Registration, 48691-48700 [2018-20706]
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Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 187 / Wednesday, September 26, 2018 / Rules and Regulations
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
final rule. Ten respondents submitted
comments on the proposed rule.
GENERAL SERVICES
ADMINISTRATION
II. Discussion and Analysis
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND
SPACE ADMINISTRATION
48 CFR Parts 1, 2, 4, 7, 8, 9, 12, 13, 16,
17, 18, 19, 22, 23, 25, 26, 28, 32, 44, and
52
[FAC 2005–101; FAR Case 2015–005; Item
I; Docket No. 2015–0005, Sequence No. 1]
RIN 9000–AN19
Department of Defense (DoD),
General Services Administration (GSA),
and the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration (NASA).
ACTION: Final rule.
AGENCY:
DoD, GSA, and NASA are
issuing a final rule amending the
Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to
update the instructions for registration
in the System for Award Management
and clarify the timing of registration in
the System for Award Management.
DATES: Effective October 26, 2018.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr.
Curtis E. Glover, Sr., Procurement
Analyst, at 202–501–1448, for
clarification of content. For information
pertaining to status or publication
schedules, contact the Regulatory
Secretariat Division at 202–501–4755.
Please cite FAC 2005–101, FAR Case
2015–005.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
SUMMARY:
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I. Background
DoD, GSA, and NASA published a
proposed rule in the Federal Register at
81 FR 31895 on May 20, 2016, to update
the instructions for registration in the
System for Award Management (SAM)
and correct an inconsistency involving
the timing of registration. In order to
correct this inconsistency, the rule
proposed changes to FAR 4.1102,
4.1103, 52.204–7, and 52.212–1(k) to
require offeror registration in SAM prior
to submission of an offer. In addition,
the proposed rule also required
contracting officers to use the name and
physical address from the contractor’s
SAM registration for the provided Data
Universal Numbering System (DUNS)
(now the unique entity identifier). The
proposed rule also removed the term
‘‘division name’’ from the FAR text at
FAR 4.1102, clause 52.204–13, and
provision 52.212–4. These proposed
changes have been implemented in the
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A. Summary of Significant Changes in
Response to Public Comments
There are no changes from the
proposed rule as a result of the public
comments received.
Federal Acquisition Regulation:
System for Award Management
Registration
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The Civilian Agency Acquisition
Council and the Defense Acquisition
Regulations Council (the Councils)
reviewed the public comments in the
development of the final rule. A
discussion of the comments and
changes to the rule is provided as
follows:
B. Analysis of Public Comments
The concerns of many respondents
were based on the perception that this
rule creates a new requirement for
offerors. The Councils emphasize that
this rulemaking effort does not create a
new requirement for offerors, large or
small. The purpose of this rule is to
clarify for offerors the required timing of
SAM registration, i.e., when should
offerors register in SAM. This
clarification is necessary because of the
following inconsistencies in current
FAR language:
• FAR 4.1102 states that prospective
contractors shall be registered in SAM
(which includes online representations
and certifications) prior to contract
award (with some exceptions) and FAR
clause 52.204–7(b)(1) currently requires
the offeror to acknowledge the
requirements that a prospective awardee
shall be registered in SAM prior to
award.
• However, paragraphs (b) and (d) of
FAR clause 52.204–8, require that if the
provision 52.204–7, System for Award
Management, is included in the
solicitation, then the offeror shall have
completed the annual representations
and certifications electronically via the
SAM website (which would require
registration in SAM). The offeror then
verifies, by submission of its offer, that
the representations and certifications in
SAM are current, accurate, and
complete, except for changes identified
by the offeror in its offer. This
requirement has been in the FAR since
2005, when registering in the legacy
Central Contractor Registration (CCR).
Along with representations required by
FAR 52.212–3 for offers of commercial
item acquisitions, these provisions have
generally made registration in SAM at
the time of offer the de facto
requirement, despite the language in
FAR 4.1102(a) and 52.204–7 speaking to
registration in SAM prior to award.
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This final rule corrects the
inconsistency. The rule requires all
offerors (except as provided at FAR
4.1102) to be registered in SAM at the
time of submission of an offer or
quotation, consistent with the
requirements of FAR clause 52.204–8.
Offerors can complete their
representations and certifications as part
of their SAM registration.
1. Effect on Offers and Competition
Comments: A number of comments
were received regarding the effect of this
rule on submission of offers.
• One respondent stated that the
change could have a potential impact on
the prime contractor’s ability to respond
in a timely manner to a Request for
Technical Proposal (RFTP) on an
indefinite-delivery indefinite-quantity
(IDIQ) contract where small businesses
are used as subcontractors.
• One respondent was concerned that
many offerors would not want to
register in SAM with submission of the
offer, because they would want to wait
until they had the incentive of knowing
that they were going to receive the
award.
• Another respondent stated that the
proposed change requiring offerors to be
registered in SAM prior to submitting an
offer would increase the possibility of
the Government receiving only one bid
(the ‘‘one bid’’ issue) in response to a
solicitation and would especially
impact simplified procurements. Still
another respondent stated that the rule
will severely limit the number of
potential offerors.
• Another respondent was concerned
that the reduction of competition would
put the Government in a situation where
SAM-registered vendors could charge
exorbitant prices.
• One respondent commented that
the rule would hamper Government
efforts to maintain an adequate list of
SAM-registered vendors to obtain offers,
which could in turn hamper efforts to
prevent damage to the Government’s
real property loan security while
seeking a SAM-registered vendor to
perform the work.
• Another respondent stated that
requiring SAM registration prior to
submitting an offer would potentially
restrict a newly formed company, a new
division of an existing company, or an
existing company that is pursuing its
first Government contract from
responding to a solicitation. According
to the respondent, newly established
entities or business units would be
disadvantaged, because the proposed
rule fails to address how they should
respond to certain questions, thereby
disadvantaging otherwise qualified
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entities from participating in
competitions until they resolve how to
complete the complicated SAM
registration. The respondent stated that
the proposed change would, in effect,
limit competition to existing SAMregistered companies, and eliminate
new creative solutions.
• One respondent stated that
restricting business opportunities to
those companies that have completed
SAM registration prior to submitting an
offer would undoubtedly work against
the Better Buying Power initiative
(DoD’s implementation of best practices
to strengthen the Defense Department’s
buying power, improve industry
productivity, and provide an affordable,
value-added military capability to the
Warfighter, including promoting
effective competition and increasing
small business participation).
• Another respondent commented
that the rule would severely limit the
contracting officer’s ability to solicit
offers from vendors who may be willing
to register in SAM, but do not know
about Government requirements until
the Government contract office asks
them for quotes for the new work.
• Finally, a respondent stated that
mandating registration in SAM prior to
proposal submission, in comparison to
current practice of ensuring that parties
are registered prior to receipt of contract
award, may significantly discourage
non-traditional suppliers from
responding to broad agency
announcements and other research and
development (R&D) type solicitation
opportunities of interest.
Response: As stated at the beginning
of section II.B. of this preamble, the
requirement for offerors to be registered
in SAM at time of submission of an offer
is not new. All vendors (unless an
exception cited in FAR 4.1102 applies)
are required to be registered in SAM in
order to complete the annual
representations and certifications when
responding to a Government
solicitation. Therefore, clarifying the
required timing of SAM registration will
not restrict competition and will not
limit the number of offerors.
Although SAM can be used as a
Government source list for
procurements (see FAR 13.103), the
Government also uses other means of
identifying sources using market
research (see FAR part 10).
As stated in FAR clause 52.204–7(e),
offerors that are not registered in SAM
should consider applying for
registration immediately upon issuance
of a solicitation. Offerors or potential
contractors needing assistance in
responding to SAM registration
questions should contact the Federal
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Service Desk at https://www.fsd.gov/fsdgov/home.do if they need assistance.
2. The SAM Repository
Comment: One respondent stated that,
while they fully supported the
improvements in the SAM registration
system requirements, they strongly
recommended that agencies take time to
address all of the inconsistencies and
ambiguities at once as a piecemeal
approach exacerbates the problems with
SAM and creates substantial additional
work in terms of revising processes,
reviewing answers for accuracy, etc.
Some of the concerns expressed by this
respondent related to the interrelationship between the various
elements of SAM (i.e., the former CCR
and the Online Representations and
Certifications) the difficulty of
interpreting and understanding new
fields in SAM; and concern about
several specific representations and
certifications required or proposed for
inclusion in SAM.
Response: The concerns of the
respondent are outside the scope of this
case. It is not relevant whether a
question in SAM arose from the CCR or
another system in SAM, since SAM is
now a unified repository. This rule
cannot provide an interpretation of, or
justification for, individual
representations and certifications. These
representations and certifications were
all developed and published in the
Federal Register for public comment
through various individual FAR cases.
This rule corrects the known
inconsistencies relating to the timing of
registration in SAM, not the content of
SAM. As stated in section II.B.1. of this
preamble, offerors needing assistance in
responding to SAM registration
questions should contact the Federal
Service Desk at https://www.fsd.gov/fsdgov/home.do.
3. Exception for Joint Ventures
Comment: One respondent expressed
support for the proposed rule; however,
the respondent suggested an exception
for newly formed joint ventures as a
direct result of a procurement
opportunity. The respondent suggested
that the Government could either
require proof of submission for SAM
registration as of the date of offer, or
could require proof/verification that
each joint venture entity has an active
SAM registration at the time of proposal
submission.
Response: An exception to SAM
registration requirements to provide for
registration of joint ventures after
submission of offers but prior to award
is not practicable, because the
contracting officer needs to review the
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annual representations and
certifications to evaluate the offers. Joint
venture agreements should be in place
more than 48–72 hours in advance of
proposal submission, which allows
adequate time for completion of
registration in SAM. It is also not
feasible to rely on the SAM registration
of separate members of the joint
venture, because the Government
collects specific part 19-related joint
venture information in the
representations and certifications
(52.219–1) part of SAM, and the
contracting activity works with Small
Business Administration to validate that
joint ventures meet the requirements of
the small business category which they
have provided in SAM. Offerors that are
not registered in SAM should apply for
registration immediately upon issuance
of the solicitation so that there should
be time for a joint venture or any other
type of business to be registered in SAM
at the time of the submission of an offer.
4. Public Burden
Comment: Several respondents
commented on the public burden that
the proposed rule would impose. One
respondent stated that for larger
companies, the effort to complete a
SAM registration can take many weeks.
This respondent also stated that it had
commented on a proposed FAR rule
covering debarment and suspension,
and had shared in that comment that the
Federal Government had vastly
underestimated the burden associated
with compiling and reporting requisite
information to complete registration in
SAM.
Another respondent stated that this
added requirement may serve to impose
a potential cost on those that otherwise
may have been willing to submit a R&D
idea for funding consideration via long
standing streamlined R&D solicitation
procedures.
Response: As previously stated, this
rule does not impose a new requirement
and is therefore not an impediment for
businesses, because registration in SAM
at time of offer submission is already
required by FAR provision 52.204–8(b)
and (d), if the provision FAR 52.204–7
is in the solicitation.
SAM is the single entry point for the
representations and certifications used
in Federal contracting. This one-time
investment of time of completing the
annual representations and
certifications at time of registration is
less than the time that would be needed
to prepare and submit representations
and certifications manually on paper
and in response to each Government
solicitation. Once a business is
registered in SAM there is an annual
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renewal requirement to update the
annual representations and
certifications, and a requirement for
entities to update throughout the year
only if an entity’s information has
changed. This eliminates the need for
potential offerors to complete full
representations and certifications on
paper multiple times a year when
responding to solicitations.
5. Applicability to Subcontractors
Comment: One respondent
recommended that the rule clarify that
the prime and any key subcontractors
are required to be registered upon
proposal submission, but that lesser
subcontractors or consultants are only
required to be registered prior to receipt
of a subaward.
Response: Subcontractors or
consultants to prime contractors are not
required to be registered in SAM.
6. Impact on Small Businesses
See the analysis of public comments
on the initial regulatory flexibility
analysis in section VI. of this preamble.
C. Other Changes From the Proposed
Rule
1. Baseline
There have been many FAR baseline
changes since publication of the
proposed rule in May 2016, due to
publication of Federal Acquisition
Circulars 2005–89 through the present
one. In particular, the issuance of the
final rule under FAR Case 2015–022,
Unique Identification of Entities
Receiving Federal Awards, published in
FAC 2005–91 on September 30, 2016
(81 FR 67736), changed the term ‘‘DUNS
number’’ to ‘‘unique entity identifier’’.
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2. Exemptions at FAR 4.1102 and 18.102
The exemption at FAR 4.1102(a)(5) is
an inaccurate rewording of the
exemption at FAR 6.302–2, which
addresses needs of unusual and
compelling urgency. FAR 4.1102(a)(5)
and 18.102(a)(1) have been reworded to
accurately reflect this exception to
include ‘‘urgency’’. In addition FAR
18.102(a) has been corrected to indicate
that 4.1102 exempts contractors from
the requirements to be registered at time
of submission of offers or quotations.
However, 4.1103(b) requires subsequent
registration for those offers exempted on
the basis of 6.302–2. FAR 18.102 has
also been amplified to include the
exemptions for contracts awarded by
contracting officers deployed in certain
difficult situations.
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3. Use and Content of 52.204–7 and
52.204–13
The final rule changes the structure
and presentation of the requirements of
FAR provisions 52.204–7, System for
Award Management, and FAR clause
52.204–13, System for Award
Management Maintenance, as well as
the means of inclusion of those
requirements in solicitations and
contracts for the acquisition of
commercial items. There were several
structural and technical issues that
required resolution, without any change
in the stated policies of the proposed
rule.
a. Prescription for use of 52.204–7 and
52.204–13 and the associated
requirements for acquisitions of
commercial items. FAR 4.1105(a)
requires use of the provision at FAR
52.204–7 in all solicitations unless an
exception at FAR 4.1102(a) applies. The
provision is used with its Alternate I if
the solicitation is for a contract to
support needs of unusual and
compelling urgency in accordance with
FAR 4.1102(a)(5), the exception for
contracts to support needs of unusual
and compelling urgency in accordance
with 6.302–2 (see section II.C.2. of this
preamble). Likewise, FAR 4.1105(b)
requires use of the clause at FAR
52.204–13 in solicitations that contain
the provision at 52.204–7, and resulting
contracts (i.e., it will not be used if an
exception at FAR 4.1102 applies).
However, when this provision and
clause are incorporated in paragraph (k)
of FAR provision 52.212–1, Instruction
to Offerors—Commercial Items; and
paragraph (t) of FAR clause 52.212–4,
Contract terms and Conditions—
Commercial Items, the exceptions must
be applied by an addendum to the
solicitation and resultant contract,
inserted by the contracting officer to
exclude applicability of paragraphs (k)
and (t), respectively. There are no other
paragraphs in 52.212–1 and 52.212–4
that rely on an addendum by the
contracting officer to establish
inapplicability of the entire paragraph.
Nor is there an instruction in the clause
prescription alerting the contracting
officer to the requirement to include
such an addendum. There is high risk
that the addendum will not be
consistently inserted as required.
Furthermore, with regard to
implementation of the equivalent of
Alternate I in solicitations for the
acquisition of commercial items, the
current FAR does not specifically
address how to implement Alternate I,
but apparently also relies on an
addendum to the contract to specify the
conditions applicable if the contract is
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48693
in support of needs of unusual or
compelling urgency. The proposed rule
just inserted the terms ‘‘except in
instances of urgency,’’ apparently
leaving it to the contractor to determine,
and not providing the process to be
applied if there are instances of urgency
(which is not the same as the
terminology at 4.1102(a)(5)) or 6.302–2.
The final rule resolves these issues by
removing paragraph (k) from FAR
52.212–1 and paragraph (t) from FAR
52.212–4, and clearly prescribes at
12.301(d) the use of the correct
provision or clause at 12.301(d) by
referencing the prescriptions at
4.1105(a) and (b) for appropriate use of
FAR 52.204–7 (including use with its
Alternate I) and FAR 52.204–13.
b. Text of 52.204–7, its Alternate I,
and 52.204–13. The text of 52.204–7
included various acknowledgements,
which became more awkward when
requiring the offeror to acknowledge
that the offeror is registered in SAM at
time of submission of the offer. These
acknowledgements were inconsistent
with the location of the provisions in
52.212–1, which is supposed to be
instructions to the offeror. The
acknowledgements have been replaced
with instructions to the offeror, relating
to preaward requirements. The
postaward requirements have been
moved to the FAR clause 52.204–13.
There were some errors made in the
proposed changes to Alternate I, which
is applicable in the circumstances
where registration in SAM may be
delayed until after award due to
urgency. Therefore, if Alternate I is
included by the contracting officer in
the solicitation, it is not required to be
registered in SAM at time of submission
of the offer. The only requirement prior
to award is that the offeror complete the
registration as soon as possible. If
registration has not yet occurred at time
of award, the offeror is directed to the
postaward requirements, which have
been moved to the clause 52.204–13.
4. Active in SAM
The language at FAR 4.1103(a)(1) has
been changed to specify that offerors
must have status designation of ‘‘active’’
in SAM at the time of offer or quotation
submission, to distinguish active from
inactive registrants in SAM. The
‘‘active’’ state is the normal state for the
contractor account. In this state,
contractors can log in to SAM and
perform all necessary functions.
Contractor accounts become inactive
either after an extensive period of user
inactivity, or if the contractor chooses to
manually deactivate the account. To
prevent the account from becoming
inactive, contractors should log in to
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SAM at least once every 13 months (395
days).
5. SAM Website and Terminology
The final rule changes the referenced
website ‘‘acquisition.gov’’ to ‘‘sam.gov’’
to be consistent with the rest of the
FAR. ‘‘Database’’ is also removed from
‘‘SAM’’ for consistency throughout.
6. ‘‘Offeror’’ vs. ‘‘Prospective
Contractor’’
Previously, we noted that the
prospective contractor had to register in
SAM prior to contract award; not all
prospective contractors are required to
be registered. Only the offeror/quoter is
required to be registered in SAM at time
of submission of the offer.
7. Exclusions
The final rule amends 9.405, 17.207,
and 22.1025 to match the terminology
proposed at 9.404 with regard to
exclusions in SAM.
8. Miscellaneous Edits
The final rule contains other
miscellaneous edits relating to word
usage (e.g., ‘‘must’’ vs. ‘‘shall’’ and
‘‘quote’’ vs. ‘‘quotation’’), punctuation,
and capitalization.
III. Applicability to Contracts at or
Below the Simplified Acquisition
Threshold and for Commercial Items,
Including Commercially Available Offthe Shelf Items
This rule is not statutory and is not
subject to 41 U.S.C. 1905 through 1907.
This rule clarifies the timing of existing
SAM registration requirements. It does
not impact the applicability at or below
the simplified acquisition threshold or
applicability to commercial items. The
affected clauses are FAR 52.204–7,
System for Award Management; FAR
52.204–8, Annual Representations and
Certifications; FAR 52.204–13, System
for Award Management Maintenance;
FAR 52.212–1, Instructions to
Offerors—Commercial Items; FAR
52.212–4, Contract Terms and
Conditions—Commercial Items; and
52.212–5, Contract Terms and
Conditions Required to Implement
Statutes or Executive Orders—
Commercial Items.
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IV. Executive Orders 12866 and 13563
Executive Orders (E.O.s) 12866 and
13563 direct agencies to assess all costs
and benefits of available regulatory
alternatives and, if regulation is
necessary, to select regulatory
approaches that maximize net benefits
(including potential economic,
environmental, public health and safety
effects, distributive impacts, and
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equity). E.O. 13563 emphasizes the
importance of quantifying both costs
and benefits, of reducing costs, of
harmonizing rules, and of promoting
flexibility. This is not a significant
regulatory action and, therefore, was not
subject to review under Section 6(b) of
E.O. 12866, Regulatory Planning and
Review, dated September 30, 1993. This
rule is not a major rule under 5 U.S.C.
804.
V. Executive Order 13771
This rule is not subject to the
requirements of E.O. 13771, because this
rule is not a significant regulatory action
under E.O. 12866.
VI. Regulatory Flexibility Act
DoD, GSA, and NASA have prepared
a Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis
(FRFA) consistent with the Regulatory
Flexibility Act, 5 U.S.C. 601 et seq. The
FRFA is summarized as follows:
This rule amends the FAR to update the
instructions for System for Award
Management (SAM) registration and to
clarify the required timing of SAM
registration. The objective of the rule is to
clarify that the offeror must be registered in
SAM at the time of offer submission in order
to complete the required annual
representations and certifications.
Comments: Several respondents submitted
public comments in response to the initial
regulatory flexibility analysis with regard to
the impact the rule would have on small
businesses. A discussion of the comments is
provided as follows:
According to the respondents, the
requirement to be registered in SAM at time
of offer submission would—
• Further restrict competition among small
businesses;
• Discriminate against the small business
owner;
• Effectively shut out small businesses
from submitting offers as they generally are
not registered in SAM;
• Slow the procurement processes and not
give fair opportunity to all small businesses;
and
• Place an undue burden on small
businesses, because the window to
participate in a solicitation is short, and for
a small business there are competing
demands for developing an adequate
proposal and completing the SAM
registration.
One respondent recommended that small
businesses should be allowed extra time to
complete their SAM registration, which
would promote small business participation.
Response: The Government notes that most
of these respondents were not small entities.
The requirement for offerors to be registered
in SAM at time of submission of an offer is
not new. All vendors (unless an exception
cited in FAR 4.1102 applies) are required to
be registered in SAM in order to complete the
annual representations and certifications
when responding to a Government
solicitation. Therefore, clarifying the required
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timing of SAM registration will not restrict
competition and will not limit the number of
offerors, whether the business is large or
small. About 75 percent of the current
registrants in SAM meet the small business
size code for their primary North American
Industry Classification System (NAICS) code,
so there is no indication that required
registration in SAM creates an unreasonable
impediment to small businesses.
Once a business, including a small
business, is registered in SAM, there is an
annual renewal requirement to update the
annual representations and certifications,
and a requirement for entities to update
throughout the year only if an entity’s
information has changed. This eliminates the
need for potential offerors to complete full
representations and certifications on paper
multiple times a year when responding to
multiple solicitations. There were no changes
from the proposed rule in response to these
comments.
The final rule applies, with some
exceptions, to small businesses that submit
offers to the Federal Government for
acquisitions that exceed the micro-purchase
threshold. Currently, of the 452,310 active
registrants in SAM for ‘‘all awards,’’ 338,207
(75 percent) certified to meeting the size
standard as small for their primary NAICS
code. We estimate that not more than half of
those small businesses will submit an offer
in a given year.
The rule contains information collection
requirements. OMB has cleared this
information collection requirement under
OMB Control Number 9000–0159, titled:
System for Award Management Registration
(SAM).
No alternative approaches were identified
that would meet the objectives of the rule.
This rule requires offerors to be registered in
SAM at the time of submission of an offer,
which is necessary in order to submit the
required representations and certifications
electronically with submission of the offer. It
is not anticipated that the rule will have a
significant economic impact on small
entities, because this is already required by
FAR 52.204–8. This approach is less
burdensome than submitting annual
representations and certifications manually
on paper in response to every solicitation.
Interested parties may obtain a copy
of the FRFA from the Regulatory
Secretariat Division. The Regulatory
Secretariat Division has submitted a
copy of the FRFA to the Chief Counsel
for Advocacy of the Small Business
Administration.
VII. Paperwork Reduction Act
The Paperwork Reduction Act (44
U.S.C. Chapter 35) applies. The rule
contains information collection
requirements. OMB has cleared this
information collection requirement
under OMB Control Number 9000–0159;
‘‘System for Award Management
Registration’’.
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List of Subjects in 48 CFR Parts 1, 2, 4,
7, 8, 9, 12, 13, 16, 17, 18, 19, 22, 23, 25,
26, 28, 32, 44, and 52
Government procurement.
Dated: September 17, 2018.
William F. Clark,
Director, Office of Government-wide
Acquisition Policy, Office of Acquisition
Policy, Office of Government-wide Policy.
Therefore, DoD, GSA, and NASA
amend 48 CFR parts 1, 2, 4, 7, 8, 9, 12,
13, 16, 17, 18, 19, 22, 23, 25, 26, 28, 32,
44, and 52 as set forth below:
■ 1. The authority citation for parts 1, 2,
4, 7, 8, 9, 12, 13, 16, 17, 18, 19, 22, 23,
25, 26, 28, 32, 44, and 52 continues to
read as follows:
Authority: 40 U.S.C. 121(c); 10 U.S.C.
chapter 137; and 51 U.S.C. 20113.
PART 1—FEDERAL ACQUISITION
REGULATIONS SYSTEM
1.106
[Amended]
2. Amend section 1.106 by removing
from the table the entries for FAR
segments ‘‘52.212–1(k)’’ and ‘‘52.212–
4(t)’’.
■
PART 2—DEFINITIONS OF WORDS
AND TERMS
2.101
[Amended]
3. Amend section 2.101 in paragraph
(b)(2) revising the defined term
‘‘Registered in the System for Award
Management (SAM) database’’ to read
‘‘Registered in the System for Award
Management (SAM)’’ and by removing
from paragraphs (1) and (2), ‘‘the SAM
database;’’ and adding ‘‘SAM;’’ in their
places.
■
PART 4—ADMINISTRATIVE MATTERS
4.605
[Amended]
4. Amend section 4.605 by removing
from paragraph (b), in the third
sentence, ‘‘database’’.
■
4.1100
[Amended]
5. Amend section 4.1100 by removing
from the introductory text ‘‘database’’.
■ 6. Amend section 4.1102 by—
■ a. Revising paragraph (a) introductory
text;
■ b. Removing from paragraph (a)(2)
‘‘the SAM database;’’ and adding
‘‘SAM;’’ in its place;
■ c. Revising paragraphs (a)(5) and (6);
■ d. Redesignating paragraph (c) as
paragraph (d);
■ e. Adding a new paragraph (c);
■ f. Revising newly redesignated
paragraph (d)(1); and
■ g. Removing from newly redesignated
paragraph (d)(3) ‘‘the SAM database’’
and adding ‘‘SAM’’ in its place.
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■
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Jkt 244001
The revisions and addition reads as
follows.
4.1102
Policy.
(a) Offerors and quoters are required
to be registered in SAM at the time an
offer or quotation is submitted in order
to comply with the annual
representations and certifications
requirements except for—
*
*
*
*
*
(5) Contracts awarded without
providing for full and open competition
due to unusual or compelling urgency
(see 6.302–2);
(6) Contract actions at or below
$30,000 awarded to foreign vendors for
work performed outside the United
States, if it is impractical to obtain SAM
registration; and
*
*
*
*
*
(c) Contracting officers shall use the
legal business name or ‘‘doing business
as’’ name and physical address from the
contractor’s SAM registration for the
provided unique entity identifier to
identify the contractor in section A of
the contract schedule, similar sections
of non-uniform contract formats and
agreements, and all corresponding forms
and data exchanges. Contracting officers
shall make no changes to the data
retrieved from SAM.
(d)(1)(i) If a contractor has legally
changed its business name or ‘‘doing
business as’’ name (whichever is shown
on the contract), or has transferred the
assets used in performing the contract,
but has not completed the necessary
requirements regarding novation and
change-of-name agreements in subpart
42.12, the contractor is required to
provide the responsible contracting
officer a minimum of one business day’s
written notification of its intention to
change the name in SAM, comply with
the requirements of subpart 42.12, and
agree in writing to the timeline and
procedures specified by the responsible
contracting officer. Along with the
notification, the contractor is required to
provide the contracting officer sufficient
documentation to support the legally
changed name.
(ii) If the contractor fails to comply
with the requirements of paragraph
(d)(1)(i) of the clause at 52.204–13,
System for Award Management
Maintenance, or fails to perform the
agreement at 52.204–13, paragraph
(d)(1)(i)(C), and, in the absence of a
properly executed novation or changeof-name agreement, the SAM
information that shows the contractor to
be other than the contractor indicated in
the contract will be considered to be
incorrect information within the
meaning of the ‘‘Suspension of
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Payment’’ paragraph of the EFT clause
of the contract.
*
*
*
*
*
■ 7. Revise section 4.1103 to read as
follows:
4.1103
Procedures.
(a) Unless the acquisition is exempt
under 4.1102(a), the contracting
officer—
(1) Shall verify that the offeror or
quoter is registered in SAM (see
paragraph (b) of this section) at the time
an offer or quotation is submitted;
(2) Should use the unique entity
identifier to verify SAM registration—
(i) Via https://www.sam.gov; or
(ii) As otherwise provided by agency
procedures; or
(3) Need not verify SAM registration
before placing an order or call if the
contract or agreement includes the
provision at 52.204–7, System for
Award Management, or the clause at
52.212–4, Contract Terms and
Conditions—Commercial Items, or a
similar agency clause, except when use
of the Governmentwide commercial
purchase card is contemplated as a
method of payment. (See 32.1108(b)(2).)
(b) If the contract action is being
awarded in accordance with
4.1102(a)(5), the contractor is required
to be registered in SAM within 30 days
after contract award, or at least three
days prior to submission of the first
invoice, whichever occurs first.
(c) Agencies shall protect against
improper disclosure of information
contained in SAM.
(d) The contracting officer shall, on
contractual documents transmitted to
the payment office, provide the unique
entity identifier, or, if applicable, the
Electronic Funds Transfer indicator, in
accordance with agency procedures.
4.1104
[Amended]
8. Amend section 4.1104 by removing
‘‘https://www.acquisition.gov’’ and
adding ‘‘https://www.sam.gov, Search
Records, Advanced Search, Disaster
Response Registry Search’’ in its place.
■ 9. Revise section 4.1105 to read as
follows:
■
4.1105 Solicitation provision and contract
clauses.
(a)(1) Insert the provision at 52.204–
7, System for Award Management, in all
solicitations except when the conditions
in 4.1102(a) apply.
(2) Insert the provision at 52.204–7,
System for Award Management, with its
Alternate I when the solicitation is
anticipated to be awarded in accordance
with 4.1102(a)(5).
(b) Insert the clause at 52.204–13,
System for Award Management
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Maintenance, in solicitations that
contain the provision at 52.204–7, and
resulting contracts.
■ 10. Revise section 4.1201 to read as
follows:
4.1201
PART 7—ACQUISITION PLANNING
Policy.
(a) Offerors and quoters are required
to complete electronic annual
representations and certifications in
SAM accessed via https://www.sam.gov
as a part of required registration (see
FAR 4.1102).
(b)(1) All registrants are required to
review and update the representations
and certifications submitted to SAM as
necessary, but at least annually, to
ensure they are kept current, accurate,
and complete. The representations and
certifications are effective until one year
from date of submission or update to
SAM.
(2) A contractor that represented itself
as a small business prior to award of a
contract must update the
representations and certifications in
SAM in accordance with 52.219–28. A
contractor that represented itself as
other than small business before
contract award and qualifies as a small
business may update its representations
and certifications in SAM in accordance
with 52.219–28.
(c) Data in SAM is archived and is
electronically retrievable. Therefore,
when a prospective contractor has
completed representations and
certifications electronically in SAM, the
contracting officer must reference the
date of SAM verification in the contract
file to satisfy contract file
documentation requirements of
4.803(a)(11). However, if an offeror
identifies changes to SAM data pursuant
to the FAR provisions at 52.204–8(d) or
52.212–3(b), the contracting officer must
include a copy of the changes in the
contract file.
(d) The contracting officer shall
incorporate the representations and
certifications by reference in the
contract (see 52.204–19, or for
acquisitions of commercial items see
52.212–4(v)).
■ 11. Amend section 4.1202 by revising
paragraph (a) introductory text to read
as follows:
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4.1202 Solicitation provision and contract
clause.
(a) Insert the provision at 52.204–8,
Annual Representations and
Certifications, in solicitations, except for
commercial item solicitations issued
under FAR part 12. The contracting
officer shall check the applicable
provisions at 52.204–8(c)(2). When the
provision at 52.204–7, System for
Award Management, is included in the
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19:41 Sep 25, 2018
solicitation, do not separately include
the following representations and
certifications:
*
*
*
*
*
Jkt 244001
7.103
[Amended]
12. Amend section 7.103 by removing
from paragraph (y) ‘‘https://
www.acquisition.gov’’ and adding
‘‘https://www.sam.gov, Search Records,
Advanced Search, Disaster Response
Registry Search’’ in its place.
■
PART 8—REQUIRED SOURCES OF
SUPPLIES AND SERVICES
8.402
[Amended]
13. Amend section 8.402 by removing
from paragraph (g) ‘‘database’’.
■
PART 9—CONTRACTOR
QUALIFICATIONS
9.109–2
[Amended]
14. Amend section 9.109–2 by
removing ‘‘database’’.
■
9.109–4
[Amended]
15. Amended section 9.109–4 by
removing from paragraph (b)
‘‘database’’.
■ 16. Amend section 9.404 by—
■ a. Revising the section heading;
■ b. Revising paragraph (a)(1);
■ c. Removing from paragraph (b)
introductory text ‘‘The SAM
Exclusions’’ and adding ‘‘An exclusion
record in SAM’’ in its place;
■ d. Removing from paragraph (b)(1) ‘‘of
all contractors debarred’’ and adding ‘‘of
the entities debarred’’ in its place;
■ e. Revising paragraph (c); and
■ f. Removing from paragraph (d)
‘‘https://www.acquisition.gov’’ and
adding ‘‘https://www.sam.gov’’ in its
place.
The revisions read as follows:
(ii) Determine whether it is legally
permitted to enter the SSN, EIN, or
other TIN, under agency authority to
suspend or debar; and
(iii) Update the exclusion record in
SAM, generally within 5 working days
after modifying or rescinding an action;
(4) In accordance with internal
retention procedures, maintain records
relating to each debarment, suspension,
or proposed debarment taken by the
agency;
(5) Establish procedures to ensure that
the agency does not solicit offers from,
award contracts to, or consent to
subcontracts with contractors who have
an active exclusion record in SAM,
except as otherwise provided in this
subpart;
(6) Direct inquiries concerning listed
contractors and other entities to the
agency or other authority that took the
action; and
(7) Contact GSA for technical
assistance with SAM, via the support
email address or on the technical
support phone line.
*
*
*
*
*
■
9.404 Exclusions in the System for Award
Management.
(a) * * *
(1) Operates the web-based System for
Award Management (SAM), which
contains exclusion records; and
*
*
*
*
*
(c) Each agency shall—
(1) Identify the individual(s)
responsible for entering and updating
exclusions data in SAM and assign the
appropriate roles;
(2) Remove the exclusion roles in
SAM when the individual leaves the
organization or changes functions;
(3) For each exclusion accomplished
by the Agency—
(i) Enter the information required by
paragraph (b) of this section within 3
working days after the action becomes
effective;
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9.405
[Amended]
17. Amend section 9.405 by—
■ a. Removing from paragraph (b)
‘‘Contractors included in the SAM
Exclusions as having’’ and adding
‘‘Contractors and other entities that have
an active exclusion record in SAM
because they have’’ in its place;
■ b. Removing from paragraph (d)(1)
‘‘proposals, the contracting officer shall
review the SAM Exclusions’’ and
adding ‘‘proposals or quotes, the
contracting officer shall review the
exclusion records in SAM’’ in its place;
and
■ c. Removing from paragraph (d)(4)
‘‘SAM Exclusions’’ and adding ‘‘the
exclusion records in SAM’’ in its place.
■
9.405–2
[Amended]
18. Amend section 9.405–2 by—
■ a. Removing from paragraph (b)
introductory text ‘‘the parties’ listing in
SAM Exclusions’’ and adding ‘‘the
party’s having an active exclusion
record in SAM’’ in its place;
■ b. Removing from paragraph (b)(2)
‘‘being listed in SAM Exclusions’’ and
adding ‘‘having an active exclusion
record in SAM’’ in its place; and
■ c. Removing from paragraph (b)(3)
‘‘listing in SAM Exclusions’’ and adding
‘‘having an active exclusion record in
SAM’’ in its place.
■
PART 12—ACQUISITION OF
COMMERCIAL ITEMS
■
19. Amend section 12.301 by—
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a. Redesignating paragraphs (d)(1)
through (9) as (d)(3) through (11),
respectively;
■ b. Adding new paragraphs (d)(1) and
(2);
■ c. Revising newly redesignated
paragraphs (d)(3) and (4); and
■ d. Removing from paragraph (e)(4)
‘‘database’’.
The additions and revisions read as
follows:
■
*
*
*
*
(d) * * *
(1) Insert the provision at 52.204–7,
System for Award Management, as
prescribed in 4.1105(a).
(2) Insert the clause at 52.204–13,
System for Award Management
Maintenance, as prescribed in 4.1105(b).
(3) Insert the provision at 52.204–16,
Commercial and Government Entity
Code Reporting, as prescribed in
4.1804(a).
(4) Insert the clause at 52.204–18,
Commercial and Government Entity
Code Maintenance, as prescribed in
4.1804(c).
*
*
*
*
*
PART 13—SIMPLIFIED ACQUISITION
PROCEDURES
[Amended]
20. Amend section 13.102 by
removing from paragraph (a) ‘‘database
(see subpart 4.11) via https://
www.acquisition.gov’’ and adding ‘‘(see
subpart 4.11) via https://www.sam.gov’’
in its place.
■
13.201
21. Amend section 13.201 by
removing from paragraph (h)
‘‘database’’.
[Amended]
19.703
[Amended]
26. Amend section 19.703 by
removing from paragraph (d)(1)
introductory text ‘‘database’’.
■
PART 17—SPECIAL CONTRACTING
METHODS
23. Amend section 17.207 by revising
paragraph (c)(5) to read as follows:
■
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[Amended]
25. Amend section 19.308 by
removing from paragraph (i)(3)(iii) ‘‘the
System for Award Management (SAM)’’
and adding ‘‘SAM’’ in its place.
22. Amend section 16.505 by
removing from paragraph (a)(12)
‘‘database’’.
PART 22—APPLICATION OF LABOR
LAWS TO GOVERNMENT
ACQUISITIONS
27. Amend section 22.1025 by
revising the first sentence to read as
follows:
■
Exercise of options.
*
*
*
*
*
(c) * * *
(5) The contractor does not have an
active exclusion record in the System
for Award Management (see FAR 9.405–
1);
*
*
*
*
*
19:41 Sep 25, 2018
System for Award Management.
(a) In accordance with 4.1102,
contractors are not required to be
registered in the System for Award
Management (SAM) at the time of
submission of offers or quotations for—
(1) Contracts awarded without
providing for full and open competition
due to unusual and compelling urgency
(see 6.302–2); or
(2) Contracts awarded by a contracting
officer—
(i) Deployed in the course of military
operations;
(ii) Located outside the United States
and its outlying areas, for work to be
performed in support of diplomatic or
developmental operations, in an area
that has been designated by the
Department of State as a danger pay
post; or
(iii) In the conduct of emergency
operations.
(b) However, contractors are required
to be registered in SAM in order to gain
access to the Disaster Response Registry.
(c) Contracting officers shall consult
the Disaster Response Registry via
https://www.sam.gov, Search Records,
Advanced Search, Disaster Response
Registry Search to determine the
availability of contractors for debris
removal, distribution of supplies,
reconstruction, and other disaster or
emergency relief activities inside the
United States and outlying areas. (See
26.205).
■
■
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PART 23—ENVIRONMENT, ENERGY
AND WATER EFFICIENCY,
RENEWABLE ENERGY
TECHNOLOGIES, OCCUPATIONAL
SAFETY, AND DRUG–FREE
WORKPLACE
19.308
PART 16—TYPES OF CONTRACTS
17.207
24. Revise section 18.102 to read as
follows:
PART 19—SMALL BUSINESS
PROGRAMS
[Amended]
■
16.505
System for Award Management (see
9.404). * * *
18.102
*
13.102
PART 18—EMERGENCY
ACQUISITIONS
■
12.301 Solicitation provisions and
contract clauses for the acquisition of
commercial items.
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22.1025
Ineligibility of violators.
Persons or firms found to be in
violation of the Service Contract Labor
Standards statute will have an active
exclusion record contained in the
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23.802
[Amended]
28. Amend section 23.802 by
removing from paragraph (d)
introductory text ‘‘database’’.
■
PART 25—FOREIGN ACQUISITION
29. Amend section 25.703–3 by
revising paragraph (a) to read as follows:
■
25.703–3 Prohibition on contracting with
entities that export sensitive technology to
Iran.
(a) The head of an executive agency
may not enter into or extend a contract
for the procurement of goods or services
with a person that exports certain
sensitive technology to Iran, as
determined by the President, and has an
active exclusion in the System for
Award Management at https://
www.sam.gov (22 U.S.C. 8515).
*
*
*
*
*
PART 26—OTHER SOCIOECONOMIC
PROGRAMS
26.205
[Amended]
30. Amended section 26.205 by
removing from paragraph (a) ‘‘https://
www.acquisition.gov’’ and adding
‘‘https://www.sam.gov’’ in its place; and
removing from paragraph (b) ‘‘https://
www.acquisition.gov’’ and ‘‘register with
SAM’’ and adding ‘‘https://
www.sam.gov, Search Records,
Advanced Search, Disaster Response
Registry Search’’ and ‘‘in SAM’’ in their
places, respectively.
■
PART 28—BONDS AND INSURANCE
31. Amend section 28.203–7 by
revising paragraph (c) and removing
from paragraph (d) ‘‘the System for
Award Management Exclusions (see
9.404)’’ and adding ‘‘an active exclusion
record in the System for Award
Management (see 9.404),’’ in its place.
The revision reads as follows:
■
28.203–7
Exclusion of individual sureties.
*
*
*
*
*
(c) An individual surety excluded
pursuant to this subsection shall be
entered as an exclusion in the System
for Award Management (see 9.404).
*
*
*
*
*
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System for Award Management (Oct
2018)
PART 32—CONTRACT FINANCING
32.1108
[Amended]
32. Amend section 32.1108 by
removing from paragraph (b)(2)(i) ‘‘(by
looking in the System for Award
Management (SAM))’’ and adding ‘‘by
looking in the System for Award
Management (SAM)’’ in its place.
■ 33. Amend section 32.1110 by
revising paragraph (a)(1) introductory
text and removing from (a)(2)(i) ‘‘the
SAM database’’ and adding ‘‘SAM’’ in
its place.
The revision reads as follows:
■
32.1110 Solicitation provision and
contract clauses.
(a) * * *
(1) 52.232–33, Payment by Electronic
Funds Transfer—System for Award
Management, in solicitations and
contracts that include the provision at
52.204–7, System for Award
Management, or an agency clause that
requires a contractor to be registered in
SAM and maintain registration until
final payment, unless—
*
*
*
*
*
PART 44—SUBCONTRACTING
POLICIES AND PROCEDURES
34. Amend section 44.202–2 by
revising paragraph (a)(13) to read as
follows:
■
44.202–2
Considerations.
*
*
*
*
(b)(1) An Offeror is required to be
registered in SAM when submitting an
offer or quotation, and shall continue to
be registered until time of award, during
performance, and through final payment
of any contract, basic agreement, basic
ordering agreement, or blanket
purchasing agreement resulting from
this solicitation.
*
*
*
*
*
(d) Processing time should be taken
into consideration when registering.
Offerors who are not registered in SAM
should consider applying for
registration immediately upon receipt of
this solicitation. See https://
www.sam.gov for information on
registration.
(End of provision)
Alternate I (Oct 2018). * * *
(b)(1) An Offeror is required to be
registered in SAM as soon as possible.
If registration is not possible when
submitting an offer or quotation, the
awardee shall be registered in SAM in
accordance with the requirements of
clause 52.204–13, System for Award
Management Maintenance.
■ 36. Amend section 52.204–8 by
revising the date of the provision and
paragraphs (b)(2) introductory text and
(d) to read as follows:
(a) * * *
(13) Is the proposed subcontractor
listed as excluded in the System for
Award Management (see subpart 9.4)?
*
*
*
*
*
52.204–8 Annual Representations and
Certifications.
PART 52—SOLICITATION PROVISIONS
AND CONTRACT CLAUSES
*
*
35. Amend section 52.204–7 by—
a. Revising the date of the provision;
b. In paragraph (a), revising the
defined term ‘‘Registered in the System
for Award Management (SAM)
database’’ to read ‘‘Registered in the
System for Award Management (SAM)’’;
■ c. Removing from paragraphs (a)(1)
and (2) ‘‘the SAM database;’’ and adding
‘‘SAM;’’ in their places;
■ d. Revising paragraph (b)(1);
■ e. Removing from paragraph (b)(2)
‘‘the SAM database’’ and adding ‘‘SAM’’
in its place;
■ f. Revising paragraph (d);
■ g. Removing paragraphs (e) and (f);
and
■ h. Revising the date of Alternate I and
paragraph (b)(1).
The revisions read as follows.
52.204–7
*
*
System for Award Management.
*
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*
*
19:41 Sep 25, 2018
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*
*
*
*
Annual Representations and
Certifications (Oct 2018)
■
■
■
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*
*
*
*
*
(b) * * *
(2) If the provision at 52.204–7,
System for Award Management, is not
included in this solicitation, and the
Offeror has an active registration in the
System for Award Management (SAM),
the Offeror may choose to use paragraph
(d) of this provision instead of
completing the corresponding
individual representations and
certifications in the solicitation. The
Offeror shall indicate which option
applies by checking one of the following
boxes:
*
*
*
*
*
(d) The Offeror has completed the
annual representations and
certifications electronically in SAM
accessed through https://www.sam.gov.
After reviewing the SAM information,
the Offeror verifies by submission of the
offer that the representations and
certifications currently posted
electronically that apply to this
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solicitation as indicated in paragraph (c)
of this provision have been entered or
updated within the last 12 months, are
current, accurate, complete, and
applicable to this solicitation (including
the business size standard applicable to
the NAICS code referenced for this
solicitation), as of the date of this offer
and are incorporated in this offer by
reference (see FAR 4.1201); except for
the changes identified below [offeror to
insert changes, identifying change by
clause number, title, date]. These
amended representation(s) and/or
certification(s) are also incorporated in
this offer and are current, accurate, and
complete as of the date of this offer.
*
*
*
*
*
■ 37. Amend section 52.204–10 by—
■ a. Revising the date of the clause;
■ b. Removing from paragraph (d)(1)
introductory text ‘‘database’’; and
■ c. Revising paragraph (h).
The revisions read as follows:
52.204–10 Reporting Executive
Compensation and First-Tier Subcontract
Awards.
*
*
*
*
*
Reporting Executive Compensation and
First-Tier Subcontract Awards (Oct
2018)
*
*
*
*
*
(h) The FSRS database at https://
www.fsrs.gov will be prepopulated with
some information from SAM and the
FPDS database. If FPDS information is
incorrect, the contractor should notify
the contracting officer. If the SAM
information is incorrect, the contractor
is responsible for correcting this
information.
*
*
*
*
*
■ 38. Amend section 52.204–13 by—
■ a. Revising the date of the clause;
■ b. In paragraph (a), revising the
defined term ‘‘Registered in the System
for Award Management (SAM)
database’’ to read ‘‘Registered in the
System for Award Management (SAM)’’;
■ c. Removing from paragraphs (a)(1)
and (2) ‘‘the SAM database’’ and adding
‘‘SAM’’ in their places;
■ d. Redesignating paragraphs (b)
through (d) as paragraphs (c) through
(e);
■ e. Adding a new paragraph (b);
■ f. Revising newly redesignated
paragraphs (c) and (d)(1)(i) introductory
text;
■ g. Removing from newly redesignated
paragraph (d)(1)(i)(A) ‘‘the SAM
database’’ and adding ‘‘SAM’’ in its
place;
■ h. Removing from newly redesignated
paragraph (d)(1)(ii) ‘‘(c)(1)(i)’’ and
‘‘(c)(1)(i)(C)’’ and adding ‘‘(d)(1)(i)’’ and
‘‘(d)(1)(i)(C)’’ in their places,
respectively;
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i. Removing from newly redesignated
paragraph (d)(2) ‘‘in the SAM’’ and
adding ‘‘in SAM’’ in its place; and
■ j. Removing from newly redesignated
paragraph (e) ‘‘https://
www.acquisition.gov’’ and adding
‘‘https://www.sam.gov’’ in its place.
The addition and revisions read as
follows:
■
52.204–13 System for Award Management
Maintenance.
*
*
*
*
*
System for Award Management
Maintenance (Oct 2018)
daltland on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with RULES2
*
*
*
*
*
(b) If the solicitation for this contract
contained the provision 52.204–7 with
its Alternate I, and the Contractor was
unable to register prior to award, the
Contractor shall be registered in SAM
within 30 days after award or before
three days prior to submission of the
first invoice, whichever occurs first.
(c) The Contractor shall maintain
registration in SAM during contract
performance and through final payment
of any contract, basic agreement, basic
ordering agreement, or blanket
purchasing agreement. The Contractor is
responsible for the currency, accuracy
and completeness of the data within
SAM, and for any liability resulting
from the Government’s reliance on
inaccurate or incomplete data. To
remain registered in SAM after the
initial registration, the Contractor is
required to review and update on an
annual basis, from the date of initial
registration or subsequent updates, its
information in SAM to ensure it is
current, accurate and complete.
Updating information in SAM does not
alter the terms and conditions of this
contract and is not a substitute for a
properly executed contractual
document.
(d) * * *
(1) * * *
(i) If a Contractor has legally changed
its business name or ‘‘doing business
as’’ name (whichever is shown on the
contract), or has transferred the assets
used in performing the contract, but has
not completed the necessary
requirements regarding novation and
change-of-name agreements in subpart
42.12, the Contractor shall provide the
responsible Contracting Officer a
minimum of one business day’s written
notification of its intention to—
*
*
*
*
*
■ 39. Amend section 52.209–7 by
revising the date of the provision and
removing from paragraph (d)
‘‘Management database via https://
www.acquisition.gov’’ and adding
VerDate Sep<11>2014
19:41 Sep 25, 2018
Jkt 244001
‘‘Management, which can be accessed
via https://www.sam.gov’’ in its place.
The revision reads as follows:
52.209–7 Information Regarding
Responsibility Matters.
*
*
*
*
*
Information Regarding Responsibility
Matters (Oct 2018)
*
*
*
*
*
40. Amend section 52.209–9 by
revising the date of the clause and
removing from paragraph (a)
‘‘Management database via https://
www.acquisition.gov’’ and adding
‘‘Management via https://www.sam.gov’’
in its place.
The revision reads as follows:
■
52.209–9 Updates of Publicly Available
Information Regarding Responsibility
Matters.
*
*
*
*
*
Updates of Publicly Available
Information Regarding Responsibility
Matters (Oct 2018)
*
*
*
*
*
41. Amend section 52.212–1 by—
a. Revising the date of provision;
b. Removing from paragraph (j)
‘‘(SAM) database’’ and adding ‘‘(SAM)’’
in its place; and
■ c. Removing and reserving paragraph
(k).
The revision reads as follows:
■
■
■
52.212–1 Instructions to Offerors—
Commercial Items.
*
*
*
*
*
Instructions to Offerors—Commercial
Items (Oct 2018)
*
*
*
*
*
42. Amend section 52.212–3 by—
a. Revising the date and the
introductory text of the provision;
■ b. Revising paragraph (b);
■ c. Removing from paragraph (l)
introductory text ‘‘the SAM database’’
and adding ‘‘SAM’’ in its place; and
■ d. Removing from paragraph (t)
introductory text ‘‘(52.212–1(k))’’ and
adding ‘‘(12.301(d)(1))’’ in its place.
The revisions read as follows:
■
■
52.212–3 Offeror Representations and
Certifications—Commercial Items.
*
*
*
*
*
Offeror Representations and
Certifications—Commercial Items (Oct
2018)
The Offeror shall complete only
paragraph (b) of this provision if the
Offeror has completed the annual
representations and certification
electronically in the System for Award
Management (SAM) accessed through
PO 00000
Frm 00011
Fmt 4701
Sfmt 4700
48699
https://www.sam.gov. If the Offeror has
not completed the annual
representations and certifications
electronically, the Offeror shall
complete only paragraphs (c) through
(u)) of this provision.
*
*
*
*
*
(b)(1) Annual Representations and
Certifications. Any changes provided by
the Offeror in paragraph (b)(2) of this
provision do not automatically change
the representations and certifications in
SAM.
(2) The offeror has completed the
annual representations and
certifications electronically in SAM
accessed through https://www.sam.gov.
After reviewing SAM information, the
Offeror verifies by submission of this
offer that the representations and
certifications currently posted
electronically at FAR 52.212–3, Offeror
Representations and Certifications—
Commercial Items, have been entered or
updated in the last 12 months, are
current, accurate, complete, and
applicable to this solicitation (including
the business size standard applicable to
the NAICS code referenced for this
solicitation), at the time this offer is
submitted and are incorporated in this
offer by reference (see FAR 4.1201),
except for paragraphs ll.
[Offeror to identify the applicable
paragraphs at (c) through (u) of this
provision that the offeror has completed
for the purposes of this solicitation only,
if any.
These amended representation(s)
and/or certification(s) are also
incorporated in this offer and are
current, accurate, and complete as of
the date of this offer.
Any changes provided by the offeror
are applicable to this solicitation only,
and do not result in an update to the
representations and certifications
posted electronically on SAM.]
*
*
*
*
*
■ 43. Amend section 52.212–4 by
revising the date of the clause and
removing and reserving paragraph (t).
The revision reads as follows:
52.212–4 Contract Terms and
Conditions—Commercial Items.
*
*
*
*
*
Contract Terms and Conditions—
Commercial Items (Oct 2018)
*
*
*
*
*
44. Amend section 52.212–5 by—
a. Revising the date of the clause and
paragraphs (b)(4), (b)(9), (b)(16), (b)(55),
(e)(1)(iv), Alternate II heading and
introductory text, and paragraph
(e)(1)(ii)(D) of Alternate II to read as
follows:
■
■
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52.212–5 Contract Terms and Conditions
Required To Implement Statutes or
Executive Orders—Commercial Items.
52.213–4 Terms and Conditions—
Simplified Acquisitions (Other Than
Commercial Items).
*
*
*
*
*
*
Contract Terms and Conditions
Required To Implement Statutes or
Executive Orders—Commercial Items
(Oct 2018)
daltland on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with RULES2
*
19:41 Sep 25, 2018
Jkt 244001
*
*
*
Terms and Conditions—Simplified
Acquisitions (Other Than Commercial
Items) (Oct 2018)
*
*
*
*
(b) * * *
*
*
*
*
*
ll(4) 52.204–10, Reporting
Executive Compensation and First-Tier
Subcontract Awards (Oct 2018) (Pub. L.
109–282) (31 U.S.C. 6101 note).
*
*
*
*
*
ll(9) 52.209–9, Updates of Publicly
Available Information Regarding
Responsibility Matters (Oct 2018) (41
U.S.C. 2313).
*
*
*
*
*
ll(16) 52.219–8, Utilization of
Small Business Concerns (Oct 2018) (15
U.S.C. 637(d)(2) and (3)).
*
*
*
*
*
ll(55) 52.232–33, Payment by
Electronic Funds Transfer—System for
Award Management (Oct 2018) (31
U.S.C. 3332).
*
*
*
*
*
(e)(1) * * *
(iv) 52.219–8, Utilization of Small
Business Concerns (Oct 2018) (15 U.S.C.
637(d)(2) and (3)), in all subcontracts
that offer further subcontracting
opportunities. If the subcontract (except
subcontracts to small business concerns)
exceeds $700,000 ($1.5 million for
construction of any public facility), the
subcontractor must include 52.219–8 in
lower tier subcontracts that offer
subcontracting opportunities.
*
*
*
*
*
Alternate II (Oct 2018). As prescribed
in 12.301(b)(4)(ii), substitute the
following paragraphs (d)(1) and (e)(1)
for paragraphs (d)(1) and (e)(1) of the
basic clause as follows:
*
*
*
*
*
(e)(1) * * *
(ii) * * *
(D) 52.219–8, Utilization of Small
Business Concerns (Oct 2018) (15 U.S.C.
637(d)(2) and (3)), in all subcontracts
that offer further subcontracting
opportunities. If the subcontract (except
subcontracts to small business concerns)
exceeds $700,000 ($1.5 million for
construction of any public facility), the
subcontractor must include 52.219–8 in
lower tier subcontracts that offer
subcontracting opportunities.
*
*
*
*
*
■ 45. Amend section 52.213–4 by
revising the date of the clause and
paragraphs (a)(2)(viii), (b)(1)(i), and
(b)(1)(xix) to read as follows:
VerDate Sep<11>2014
*
(a) * * *
(2) * * *
(viii) 52.244–6, Subcontracts for
Commercial Items (Oct 2018).
*
*
*
*
*
(b) * * *
(1) * * *
(i) 52.204–10, Reporting Executive
Compensation and First-Tier
Subcontract Awards (Oct 2018) (Pub. L.
109–282) (31 U.S.C. 6101 note) (Applies
to contracts valued at $30,000 or more).
*
*
*
*
*
(xix) 52.232–33, Payment by
Electronic Funds Transfer—System for
Award Management (Oct 2018) (Applies
when the payment will be made by
electronic funds transfer (EFT) and the
payment office uses the System for
Award Management (SAM) as its source
of EFT information).
*
*
*
*
*
■ 46. Amend section 52.219–8 by
revising the date of the clause and
removing from paragraph (d)(5)
introductory text ‘‘database’’.
The revision reads as follows:
52.219–8 Utilization of Small Business
Concerns.
*
*
*
*
*
Utilization of Small Business Concerns
(Oct 2018)
*
*
*
*
*
47. Amend section 52.232–33 by—
a. Revising the date of the clause;
b. Removing from paragraph (b)
‘‘(SAM) database’’ and ‘‘the SAM
database’’ and adding ‘‘(SAM)’’ and
‘‘SAM’’ in their places, respectively;
■ c. Removing from paragraph (d) ‘‘the
SAM database’’ and adding ‘‘SAM’’ in
two places; and
■ d. Removing from paragraphs (g) and
(i) ‘‘the SAM database’’ and adding
‘‘SAM’’ in their places, respectively.
The revision reads as follows:
■
■
■
52.232–33 Payment by Electronic Funds
Transfer-System for Award Management.
*
*
*
*
*
Payment by Electronic Funds TransferSystem for Award Management (Oct
2018)
*
*
*
*
*
48. Amend section 52.244–6 by
revising the date of the clause and
paragraph (c)(1)(vi) to read as follows:
■
PO 00000
Frm 00012
Fmt 4701
Sfmt 4700
52.244–6
Items.
*
*
Subcontracts for Commercial
*
*
*
Subcontracts for Commercial Items (Oct
2018)
*
*
*
*
*
(c)(1) * * *
(vi) 52.219–8, Utilization of Small
Business Concerns (Oct 2018) (15 U.S.C.
637(d)(2) and (3)), if the subcontract
offers further subcontracting
opportunities. If the subcontract (except
subcontracts to small business concerns)
exceeds $700,000 ($1.5 million for
construction of any public facility), the
subcontractor must include 52.219–8 in
lower tier subcontracts that offer
subcontracting opportunities.
*
*
*
*
*
[FR Doc. 2018–20706 Filed 9–25–18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6820–EP–P
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
GENERAL SERVICES
ADMINISTRATION
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND
SPACE ADMINISTRATION
48 CFR Parts 37 and 52
[FAC 2005–101; FAR Case 2018–009; Item
II; Docket No. 2018–0009; Sequence No. 1]
RIN 9000–AN70
Federal Acquisition Regulations: One
Dollar Coins
Department of Defense (DoD),
General Services Administration (GSA),
and National Aeronautics and Space
Administration (NASA).
ACTION: Final rule.
AGENCY:
DoD, GSA, and NASA are
issuing a final rule amending the
Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to
implement a section of the National
Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal
Year 2018 that provides an exception for
business operations conducted by a
contractor while performing under a
Government contract from the
requirement to accept and dispense $1
coins.
DATES: Effective October 26, 2018.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr.
Curtis E. Glover, Sr., Procurement
Analyst, at 202–501–1448 for
clarification of content. For information
pertaining to status or publication
schedules, contact the Regulatory
Secretariat Division at 202–501–4755.
Please cite FAC 2005–101, FAR Case
2018–009.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
SUMMARY:
E:\FR\FM\26SER2.SGM
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Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 187 (Wednesday, September 26, 2018)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 48691-48700]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-20706]
[[Page 48691]]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
48 CFR Parts 1, 2, 4, 7, 8, 9, 12, 13, 16, 17, 18, 19, 22, 23, 25,
26, 28, 32, 44, and 52
[FAC 2005-101; FAR Case 2015-005; Item I; Docket No. 2015-0005,
Sequence No. 1]
RIN 9000-AN19
Federal Acquisition Regulation: System for Award Management
Registration
AGENCY: Department of Defense (DoD), General Services Administration
(GSA), and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
ACTION: Final rule.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: DoD, GSA, and NASA are issuing a final rule amending the
Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to update the instructions for
registration in the System for Award Management and clarify the timing
of registration in the System for Award Management.
DATES: Effective October 26, 2018.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Curtis E. Glover, Sr., Procurement
Analyst, at 202-501-1448, for clarification of content. For information
pertaining to status or publication schedules, contact the Regulatory
Secretariat Division at 202-501-4755. Please cite FAC 2005-101, FAR
Case 2015-005.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
DoD, GSA, and NASA published a proposed rule in the Federal
Register at 81 FR 31895 on May 20, 2016, to update the instructions for
registration in the System for Award Management (SAM) and correct an
inconsistency involving the timing of registration. In order to correct
this inconsistency, the rule proposed changes to FAR 4.1102, 4.1103,
52.204-7, and 52.212-1(k) to require offeror registration in SAM prior
to submission of an offer. In addition, the proposed rule also required
contracting officers to use the name and physical address from the
contractor's SAM registration for the provided Data Universal Numbering
System (DUNS) (now the unique entity identifier). The proposed rule
also removed the term ``division name'' from the FAR text at FAR
4.1102, clause 52.204-13, and provision 52.212-4. These proposed
changes have been implemented in the final rule. Ten respondents
submitted comments on the proposed rule.
II. Discussion and Analysis
The Civilian Agency Acquisition Council and the Defense Acquisition
Regulations Council (the Councils) reviewed the public comments in the
development of the final rule. A discussion of the comments and changes
to the rule is provided as follows:
A. Summary of Significant Changes in Response to Public Comments
There are no changes from the proposed rule as a result of the
public comments received.
B. Analysis of Public Comments
The concerns of many respondents were based on the perception that
this rule creates a new requirement for offerors. The Councils
emphasize that this rulemaking effort does not create a new requirement
for offerors, large or small. The purpose of this rule is to clarify
for offerors the required timing of SAM registration, i.e., when should
offerors register in SAM. This clarification is necessary because of
the following inconsistencies in current FAR language:
FAR 4.1102 states that prospective contractors shall be
registered in SAM (which includes online representations and
certifications) prior to contract award (with some exceptions) and FAR
clause 52.204-7(b)(1) currently requires the offeror to acknowledge the
requirements that a prospective awardee shall be registered in SAM
prior to award.
However, paragraphs (b) and (d) of FAR clause 52.204-8,
require that if the provision 52.204-7, System for Award Management, is
included in the solicitation, then the offeror shall have completed the
annual representations and certifications electronically via the SAM
website (which would require registration in SAM). The offeror then
verifies, by submission of its offer, that the representations and
certifications in SAM are current, accurate, and complete, except for
changes identified by the offeror in its offer. This requirement has
been in the FAR since 2005, when registering in the legacy Central
Contractor Registration (CCR). Along with representations required by
FAR 52.212-3 for offers of commercial item acquisitions, these
provisions have generally made registration in SAM at the time of offer
the de facto requirement, despite the language in FAR 4.1102(a) and
52.204-7 speaking to registration in SAM prior to award.
This final rule corrects the inconsistency. The rule requires all
offerors (except as provided at FAR 4.1102) to be registered in SAM at
the time of submission of an offer or quotation, consistent with the
requirements of FAR clause 52.204-8. Offerors can complete their
representations and certifications as part of their SAM registration.
1. Effect on Offers and Competition
Comments: A number of comments were received regarding the effect
of this rule on submission of offers.
One respondent stated that the change could have a
potential impact on the prime contractor's ability to respond in a
timely manner to a Request for Technical Proposal (RFTP) on an
indefinite-delivery indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract where small
businesses are used as subcontractors.
One respondent was concerned that many offerors would not
want to register in SAM with submission of the offer, because they
would want to wait until they had the incentive of knowing that they
were going to receive the award.
Another respondent stated that the proposed change
requiring offerors to be registered in SAM prior to submitting an offer
would increase the possibility of the Government receiving only one bid
(the ``one bid'' issue) in response to a solicitation and would
especially impact simplified procurements. Still another respondent
stated that the rule will severely limit the number of potential
offerors.
Another respondent was concerned that the reduction of
competition would put the Government in a situation where SAM-
registered vendors could charge exorbitant prices.
One respondent commented that the rule would hamper
Government efforts to maintain an adequate list of SAM-registered
vendors to obtain offers, which could in turn hamper efforts to prevent
damage to the Government's real property loan security while seeking a
SAM-registered vendor to perform the work.
Another respondent stated that requiring SAM registration
prior to submitting an offer would potentially restrict a newly formed
company, a new division of an existing company, or an existing company
that is pursuing its first Government contract from responding to a
solicitation. According to the respondent, newly established entities
or business units would be disadvantaged, because the proposed rule
fails to address how they should respond to certain questions, thereby
disadvantaging otherwise qualified
[[Page 48692]]
entities from participating in competitions until they resolve how to
complete the complicated SAM registration. The respondent stated that
the proposed change would, in effect, limit competition to existing
SAM-registered companies, and eliminate new creative solutions.
One respondent stated that restricting business
opportunities to those companies that have completed SAM registration
prior to submitting an offer would undoubtedly work against the Better
Buying Power initiative (DoD's implementation of best practices to
strengthen the Defense Department's buying power, improve industry
productivity, and provide an affordable, value-added military
capability to the Warfighter, including promoting effective competition
and increasing small business participation).
Another respondent commented that the rule would severely
limit the contracting officer's ability to solicit offers from vendors
who may be willing to register in SAM, but do not know about Government
requirements until the Government contract office asks them for quotes
for the new work.
Finally, a respondent stated that mandating registration
in SAM prior to proposal submission, in comparison to current practice
of ensuring that parties are registered prior to receipt of contract
award, may significantly discourage non-traditional suppliers from
responding to broad agency announcements and other research and
development (R&D) type solicitation opportunities of interest.
Response: As stated at the beginning of section II.B. of this
preamble, the requirement for offerors to be registered in SAM at time
of submission of an offer is not new. All vendors (unless an exception
cited in FAR 4.1102 applies) are required to be registered in SAM in
order to complete the annual representations and certifications when
responding to a Government solicitation. Therefore, clarifying the
required timing of SAM registration will not restrict competition and
will not limit the number of offerors.
Although SAM can be used as a Government source list for
procurements (see FAR 13.103), the Government also uses other means of
identifying sources using market research (see FAR part 10).
As stated in FAR clause 52.204-7(e), offerors that are not
registered in SAM should consider applying for registration immediately
upon issuance of a solicitation. Offerors or potential contractors
needing assistance in responding to SAM registration questions should
contact the Federal Service Desk at https://www.fsd.gov/fsd-gov/home.do
if they need assistance.
2. The SAM Repository
Comment: One respondent stated that, while they fully supported the
improvements in the SAM registration system requirements, they strongly
recommended that agencies take time to address all of the
inconsistencies and ambiguities at once as a piecemeal approach
exacerbates the problems with SAM and creates substantial additional
work in terms of revising processes, reviewing answers for accuracy,
etc. Some of the concerns expressed by this respondent related to the
inter-relationship between the various elements of SAM (i.e., the
former CCR and the Online Representations and Certifications) the
difficulty of interpreting and understanding new fields in SAM; and
concern about several specific representations and certifications
required or proposed for inclusion in SAM.
Response: The concerns of the respondent are outside the scope of
this case. It is not relevant whether a question in SAM arose from the
CCR or another system in SAM, since SAM is now a unified repository.
This rule cannot provide an interpretation of, or justification for,
individual representations and certifications. These representations
and certifications were all developed and published in the Federal
Register for public comment through various individual FAR cases. This
rule corrects the known inconsistencies relating to the timing of
registration in SAM, not the content of SAM. As stated in section
II.B.1. of this preamble, offerors needing assistance in responding to
SAM registration questions should contact the Federal Service Desk at
https://www.fsd.gov/fsd-gov/home.do.
3. Exception for Joint Ventures
Comment: One respondent expressed support for the proposed rule;
however, the respondent suggested an exception for newly formed joint
ventures as a direct result of a procurement opportunity. The
respondent suggested that the Government could either require proof of
submission for SAM registration as of the date of offer, or could
require proof/verification that each joint venture entity has an active
SAM registration at the time of proposal submission.
Response: An exception to SAM registration requirements to provide
for registration of joint ventures after submission of offers but prior
to award is not practicable, because the contracting officer needs to
review the annual representations and certifications to evaluate the
offers. Joint venture agreements should be in place more than 48-72
hours in advance of proposal submission, which allows adequate time for
completion of registration in SAM. It is also not feasible to rely on
the SAM registration of separate members of the joint venture, because
the Government collects specific part 19-related joint venture
information in the representations and certifications (52.219-1) part
of SAM, and the contracting activity works with Small Business
Administration to validate that joint ventures meet the requirements of
the small business category which they have provided in SAM. Offerors
that are not registered in SAM should apply for registration
immediately upon issuance of the solicitation so that there should be
time for a joint venture or any other type of business to be registered
in SAM at the time of the submission of an offer.
4. Public Burden
Comment: Several respondents commented on the public burden that
the proposed rule would impose. One respondent stated that for larger
companies, the effort to complete a SAM registration can take many
weeks. This respondent also stated that it had commented on a proposed
FAR rule covering debarment and suspension, and had shared in that
comment that the Federal Government had vastly underestimated the
burden associated with compiling and reporting requisite information to
complete registration in SAM.
Another respondent stated that this added requirement may serve to
impose a potential cost on those that otherwise may have been willing
to submit a R&D idea for funding consideration via long standing
streamlined R&D solicitation procedures.
Response: As previously stated, this rule does not impose a new
requirement and is therefore not an impediment for businesses, because
registration in SAM at time of offer submission is already required by
FAR provision 52.204-8(b) and (d), if the provision FAR 52.204-7 is in
the solicitation.
SAM is the single entry point for the representations and
certifications used in Federal contracting. This one-time investment of
time of completing the annual representations and certifications at
time of registration is less than the time that would be needed to
prepare and submit representations and certifications manually on paper
and in response to each Government solicitation. Once a business is
registered in SAM there is an annual
[[Page 48693]]
renewal requirement to update the annual representations and
certifications, and a requirement for entities to update throughout the
year only if an entity's information has changed. This eliminates the
need for potential offerors to complete full representations and
certifications on paper multiple times a year when responding to
solicitations.
5. Applicability to Subcontractors
Comment: One respondent recommended that the rule clarify that the
prime and any key subcontractors are required to be registered upon
proposal submission, but that lesser subcontractors or consultants are
only required to be registered prior to receipt of a subaward.
Response: Subcontractors or consultants to prime contractors are
not required to be registered in SAM.
6. Impact on Small Businesses
See the analysis of public comments on the initial regulatory
flexibility analysis in section VI. of this preamble.
C. Other Changes From the Proposed Rule
1. Baseline
There have been many FAR baseline changes since publication of the
proposed rule in May 2016, due to publication of Federal Acquisition
Circulars 2005-89 through the present one. In particular, the issuance
of the final rule under FAR Case 2015-022, Unique Identification of
Entities Receiving Federal Awards, published in FAC 2005-91 on
September 30, 2016 (81 FR 67736), changed the term ``DUNS number'' to
``unique entity identifier''.
2. Exemptions at FAR 4.1102 and 18.102
The exemption at FAR 4.1102(a)(5) is an inaccurate rewording of the
exemption at FAR 6.302-2, which addresses needs of unusual and
compelling urgency. FAR 4.1102(a)(5) and 18.102(a)(1) have been
reworded to accurately reflect this exception to include ``urgency''.
In addition FAR 18.102(a) has been corrected to indicate that 4.1102
exempts contractors from the requirements to be registered at time of
submission of offers or quotations. However, 4.1103(b) requires
subsequent registration for those offers exempted on the basis of
6.302-2. FAR 18.102 has also been amplified to include the exemptions
for contracts awarded by contracting officers deployed in certain
difficult situations.
3. Use and Content of 52.204-7 and 52.204-13
The final rule changes the structure and presentation of the
requirements of FAR provisions 52.204-7, System for Award Management,
and FAR clause 52.204-13, System for Award Management Maintenance, as
well as the means of inclusion of those requirements in solicitations
and contracts for the acquisition of commercial items. There were
several structural and technical issues that required resolution,
without any change in the stated policies of the proposed rule.
a. Prescription for use of 52.204-7 and 52.204-13 and the
associated requirements for acquisitions of commercial items. FAR
4.1105(a) requires use of the provision at FAR 52.204-7 in all
solicitations unless an exception at FAR 4.1102(a) applies. The
provision is used with its Alternate I if the solicitation is for a
contract to support needs of unusual and compelling urgency in
accordance with FAR 4.1102(a)(5), the exception for contracts to
support needs of unusual and compelling urgency in accordance with
6.302-2 (see section II.C.2. of this preamble). Likewise, FAR 4.1105(b)
requires use of the clause at FAR 52.204-13 in solicitations that
contain the provision at 52.204-7, and resulting contracts (i.e., it
will not be used if an exception at FAR 4.1102 applies).
However, when this provision and clause are incorporated in
paragraph (k) of FAR provision 52.212-1, Instruction to Offerors--
Commercial Items; and paragraph (t) of FAR clause 52.212-4, Contract
terms and Conditions--Commercial Items, the exceptions must be applied
by an addendum to the solicitation and resultant contract, inserted by
the contracting officer to exclude applicability of paragraphs (k) and
(t), respectively. There are no other paragraphs in 52.212-1 and
52.212-4 that rely on an addendum by the contracting officer to
establish inapplicability of the entire paragraph. Nor is there an
instruction in the clause prescription alerting the contracting officer
to the requirement to include such an addendum. There is high risk that
the addendum will not be consistently inserted as required.
Furthermore, with regard to implementation of the equivalent of
Alternate I in solicitations for the acquisition of commercial items,
the current FAR does not specifically address how to implement
Alternate I, but apparently also relies on an addendum to the contract
to specify the conditions applicable if the contract is in support of
needs of unusual or compelling urgency. The proposed rule just inserted
the terms ``except in instances of urgency,'' apparently leaving it to
the contractor to determine, and not providing the process to be
applied if there are instances of urgency (which is not the same as the
terminology at 4.1102(a)(5)) or 6.302-2.
The final rule resolves these issues by removing paragraph (k) from
FAR 52.212-1 and paragraph (t) from FAR 52.212-4, and clearly
prescribes at 12.301(d) the use of the correct provision or clause at
12.301(d) by referencing the prescriptions at 4.1105(a) and (b) for
appropriate use of FAR 52.204-7 (including use with its Alternate I)
and FAR 52.204-13.
b. Text of 52.204-7, its Alternate I, and 52.204-13. The text of
52.204-7 included various acknowledgements, which became more awkward
when requiring the offeror to acknowledge that the offeror is
registered in SAM at time of submission of the offer. These
acknowledgements were inconsistent with the location of the provisions
in 52.212-1, which is supposed to be instructions to the offeror. The
acknowledgements have been replaced with instructions to the offeror,
relating to preaward requirements. The postaward requirements have been
moved to the FAR clause 52.204-13. There were some errors made in the
proposed changes to Alternate I, which is applicable in the
circumstances where registration in SAM may be delayed until after
award due to urgency. Therefore, if Alternate I is included by the
contracting officer in the solicitation, it is not required to be
registered in SAM at time of submission of the offer. The only
requirement prior to award is that the offeror complete the
registration as soon as possible. If registration has not yet occurred
at time of award, the offeror is directed to the postaward
requirements, which have been moved to the clause 52.204-13.
4. Active in SAM
The language at FAR 4.1103(a)(1) has been changed to specify that
offerors must have status designation of ``active'' in SAM at the time
of offer or quotation submission, to distinguish active from inactive
registrants in SAM. The ``active'' state is the normal state for the
contractor account. In this state, contractors can log in to SAM and
perform all necessary functions. Contractor accounts become inactive
either after an extensive period of user inactivity, or if the
contractor chooses to manually deactivate the account. To prevent the
account from becoming inactive, contractors should log in to
[[Page 48694]]
SAM at least once every 13 months (395 days).
5. SAM Website and Terminology
The final rule changes the referenced website ``acquisition.gov''
to ``sam.gov'' to be consistent with the rest of the FAR. ``Database''
is also removed from ``SAM'' for consistency throughout.
6. ``Offeror'' vs. ``Prospective Contractor''
Previously, we noted that the prospective contractor had to
register in SAM prior to contract award; not all prospective
contractors are required to be registered. Only the offeror/quoter is
required to be registered in SAM at time of submission of the offer.
7. Exclusions
The final rule amends 9.405, 17.207, and 22.1025 to match the
terminology proposed at 9.404 with regard to exclusions in SAM.
8. Miscellaneous Edits
The final rule contains other miscellaneous edits relating to word
usage (e.g., ``must'' vs. ``shall'' and ``quote'' vs. ``quotation''),
punctuation, and capitalization.
III. Applicability to Contracts at or Below the Simplified Acquisition
Threshold and for Commercial Items, Including Commercially Available
Off-the Shelf Items
This rule is not statutory and is not subject to 41 U.S.C. 1905
through 1907. This rule clarifies the timing of existing SAM
registration requirements. It does not impact the applicability at or
below the simplified acquisition threshold or applicability to
commercial items. The affected clauses are FAR 52.204-7, System for
Award Management; FAR 52.204-8, Annual Representations and
Certifications; FAR 52.204-13, System for Award Management Maintenance;
FAR 52.212-1, Instructions to Offerors--Commercial Items; FAR 52.212-4,
Contract Terms and Conditions--Commercial Items; and 52.212-5, Contract
Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive
Orders--Commercial Items.
IV. Executive Orders 12866 and 13563
Executive Orders (E.O.s) 12866 and 13563 direct agencies to assess
all costs and benefits of available regulatory alternatives and, if
regulation is necessary, to select regulatory approaches that maximize
net benefits (including potential economic, environmental, public
health and safety effects, distributive impacts, and equity). E.O.
13563 emphasizes the importance of quantifying both costs and benefits,
of reducing costs, of harmonizing rules, and of promoting flexibility.
This is not a significant regulatory action and, therefore, was not
subject to review under Section 6(b) of E.O. 12866, Regulatory Planning
and Review, dated September 30, 1993. This rule is not a major rule
under 5 U.S.C. 804.
V. Executive Order 13771
This rule is not subject to the requirements of E.O. 13771, because
this rule is not a significant regulatory action under E.O. 12866.
VI. Regulatory Flexibility Act
DoD, GSA, and NASA have prepared a Final Regulatory Flexibility
Analysis (FRFA) consistent with the Regulatory Flexibility Act, 5
U.S.C. 601 et seq. The FRFA is summarized as follows:
This rule amends the FAR to update the instructions for System
for Award Management (SAM) registration and to clarify the required
timing of SAM registration. The objective of the rule is to clarify
that the offeror must be registered in SAM at the time of offer
submission in order to complete the required annual representations
and certifications.
Comments: Several respondents submitted public comments in
response to the initial regulatory flexibility analysis with regard
to the impact the rule would have on small businesses. A discussion
of the comments is provided as follows:
According to the respondents, the requirement to be registered
in SAM at time of offer submission would--
Further restrict competition among small businesses;
Discriminate against the small business owner;
Effectively shut out small businesses from submitting
offers as they generally are not registered in SAM;
Slow the procurement processes and not give fair
opportunity to all small businesses; and
Place an undue burden on small businesses, because the
window to participate in a solicitation is short, and for a small
business there are competing demands for developing an adequate
proposal and completing the SAM registration.
One respondent recommended that small businesses should be
allowed extra time to complete their SAM registration, which would
promote small business participation.
Response: The Government notes that most of these respondents
were not small entities. The requirement for offerors to be
registered in SAM at time of submission of an offer is not new. All
vendors (unless an exception cited in FAR 4.1102 applies) are
required to be registered in SAM in order to complete the annual
representations and certifications when responding to a Government
solicitation. Therefore, clarifying the required timing of SAM
registration will not restrict competition and will not limit the
number of offerors, whether the business is large or small. About 75
percent of the current registrants in SAM meet the small business
size code for their primary North American Industry Classification
System (NAICS) code, so there is no indication that required
registration in SAM creates an unreasonable impediment to small
businesses.
Once a business, including a small business, is registered in
SAM, there is an annual renewal requirement to update the annual
representations and certifications, and a requirement for entities
to update throughout the year only if an entity's information has
changed. This eliminates the need for potential offerors to complete
full representations and certifications on paper multiple times a
year when responding to multiple solicitations. There were no
changes from the proposed rule in response to these comments.
The final rule applies, with some exceptions, to small
businesses that submit offers to the Federal Government for
acquisitions that exceed the micro-purchase threshold. Currently, of
the 452,310 active registrants in SAM for ``all awards,'' 338,207
(75 percent) certified to meeting the size standard as small for
their primary NAICS code. We estimate that not more than half of
those small businesses will submit an offer in a given year.
The rule contains information collection requirements. OMB has
cleared this information collection requirement under OMB Control
Number 9000-0159, titled: System for Award Management Registration
(SAM).
No alternative approaches were identified that would meet the
objectives of the rule. This rule requires offerors to be registered
in SAM at the time of submission of an offer, which is necessary in
order to submit the required representations and certifications
electronically with submission of the offer. It is not anticipated
that the rule will have a significant economic impact on small
entities, because this is already required by FAR 52.204-8. This
approach is less burdensome than submitting annual representations
and certifications manually on paper in response to every
solicitation.
Interested parties may obtain a copy of the FRFA from the
Regulatory Secretariat Division. The Regulatory Secretariat Division
has submitted a copy of the FRFA to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of
the Small Business Administration.
VII. Paperwork Reduction Act
The Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35) applies. The
rule contains information collection requirements. OMB has cleared this
information collection requirement under OMB Control Number 9000-0159;
``System for Award Management Registration''.
[[Page 48695]]
List of Subjects in 48 CFR Parts 1, 2, 4, 7, 8, 9, 12, 13, 16, 17,
18, 19, 22, 23, 25, 26, 28, 32, 44, and 52
Government procurement.
Dated: September 17, 2018.
William F. Clark,
Director, Office of Government-wide Acquisition Policy, Office of
Acquisition Policy, Office of Government-wide Policy.
Therefore, DoD, GSA, and NASA amend 48 CFR parts 1, 2, 4, 7, 8, 9,
12, 13, 16, 17, 18, 19, 22, 23, 25, 26, 28, 32, 44, and 52 as set forth
below:
0
1. The authority citation for parts 1, 2, 4, 7, 8, 9, 12, 13, 16, 17,
18, 19, 22, 23, 25, 26, 28, 32, 44, and 52 continues to read as
follows:
Authority: 40 U.S.C. 121(c); 10 U.S.C. chapter 137; and 51
U.S.C. 20113.
PART 1--FEDERAL ACQUISITION REGULATIONS SYSTEM
1.106 [Amended]
0
2. Amend section 1.106 by removing from the table the entries for FAR
segments ``52.212-1(k)'' and ``52.212-4(t)''.
PART 2--DEFINITIONS OF WORDS AND TERMS
2.101 [Amended]
0
3. Amend section 2.101 in paragraph (b)(2) revising the defined term
``Registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) database'' to
read ``Registered in the System for Award Management (SAM)'' and by
removing from paragraphs (1) and (2), ``the SAM database;'' and adding
``SAM;'' in their places.
PART 4--ADMINISTRATIVE MATTERS
4.605 [Amended]
0
4. Amend section 4.605 by removing from paragraph (b), in the third
sentence, ``database''.
4.1100 [Amended]
0
5. Amend section 4.1100 by removing from the introductory text
``database''.
0
6. Amend section 4.1102 by--
0
a. Revising paragraph (a) introductory text;
0
b. Removing from paragraph (a)(2) ``the SAM database;'' and adding
``SAM;'' in its place;
0
c. Revising paragraphs (a)(5) and (6);
0
d. Redesignating paragraph (c) as paragraph (d);
0
e. Adding a new paragraph (c);
0
f. Revising newly redesignated paragraph (d)(1); and
0
g. Removing from newly redesignated paragraph (d)(3) ``the SAM
database'' and adding ``SAM'' in its place.
The revisions and addition reads as follows.
4.1102 Policy.
(a) Offerors and quoters are required to be registered in SAM at
the time an offer or quotation is submitted in order to comply with the
annual representations and certifications requirements except for--
* * * * *
(5) Contracts awarded without providing for full and open
competition due to unusual or compelling urgency (see 6.302-2);
(6) Contract actions at or below $30,000 awarded to foreign vendors
for work performed outside the United States, if it is impractical to
obtain SAM registration; and
* * * * *
(c) Contracting officers shall use the legal business name or
``doing business as'' name and physical address from the contractor's
SAM registration for the provided unique entity identifier to identify
the contractor in section A of the contract schedule, similar sections
of non-uniform contract formats and agreements, and all corresponding
forms and data exchanges. Contracting officers shall make no changes to
the data retrieved from SAM.
(d)(1)(i) If a contractor has legally changed its business name or
``doing business as'' name (whichever is shown on the contract), or has
transferred the assets used in performing the contract, but has not
completed the necessary requirements regarding novation and change-of-
name agreements in subpart 42.12, the contractor is required to provide
the responsible contracting officer a minimum of one business day's
written notification of its intention to change the name in SAM, comply
with the requirements of subpart 42.12, and agree in writing to the
timeline and procedures specified by the responsible contracting
officer. Along with the notification, the contractor is required to
provide the contracting officer sufficient documentation to support the
legally changed name.
(ii) If the contractor fails to comply with the requirements of
paragraph (d)(1)(i) of the clause at 52.204-13, System for Award
Management Maintenance, or fails to perform the agreement at 52.204-13,
paragraph (d)(1)(i)(C), and, in the absence of a properly executed
novation or change-of-name agreement, the SAM information that shows
the contractor to be other than the contractor indicated in the
contract will be considered to be incorrect information within the
meaning of the ``Suspension of Payment'' paragraph of the EFT clause of
the contract.
* * * * *
0
7. Revise section 4.1103 to read as follows:
4.1103 Procedures.
(a) Unless the acquisition is exempt under 4.1102(a), the
contracting officer--
(1) Shall verify that the offeror or quoter is registered in SAM
(see paragraph (b) of this section) at the time an offer or quotation
is submitted;
(2) Should use the unique entity identifier to verify SAM
registration--
(i) Via https://www.sam.gov; or
(ii) As otherwise provided by agency procedures; or
(3) Need not verify SAM registration before placing an order or
call if the contract or agreement includes the provision at 52.204-7,
System for Award Management, or the clause at 52.212-4, Contract Terms
and Conditions--Commercial Items, or a similar agency clause, except
when use of the Governmentwide commercial purchase card is contemplated
as a method of payment. (See 32.1108(b)(2).)
(b) If the contract action is being awarded in accordance with
4.1102(a)(5), the contractor is required to be registered in SAM within
30 days after contract award, or at least three days prior to
submission of the first invoice, whichever occurs first.
(c) Agencies shall protect against improper disclosure of
information contained in SAM.
(d) The contracting officer shall, on contractual documents
transmitted to the payment office, provide the unique entity
identifier, or, if applicable, the Electronic Funds Transfer indicator,
in accordance with agency procedures.
4.1104 [Amended]
0
8. Amend section 4.1104 by removing ``https://www.acquisition.gov'' and
adding ``https://www.sam.gov, Search Records, Advanced Search, Disaster
Response Registry Search'' in its place.
0
9. Revise section 4.1105 to read as follows:
4.1105 Solicitation provision and contract clauses.
(a)(1) Insert the provision at 52.204-7, System for Award
Management, in all solicitations except when the conditions in
4.1102(a) apply.
(2) Insert the provision at 52.204-7, System for Award Management,
with its Alternate I when the solicitation is anticipated to be awarded
in accordance with 4.1102(a)(5).
(b) Insert the clause at 52.204-13, System for Award Management
[[Page 48696]]
Maintenance, in solicitations that contain the provision at 52.204-7,
and resulting contracts.
0
10. Revise section 4.1201 to read as follows:
4.1201 Policy.
(a) Offerors and quoters are required to complete electronic annual
representations and certifications in SAM accessed via https://www.sam.gov as a part of required registration (see FAR 4.1102).
(b)(1) All registrants are required to review and update the
representations and certifications submitted to SAM as necessary, but
at least annually, to ensure they are kept current, accurate, and
complete. The representations and certifications are effective until
one year from date of submission or update to SAM.
(2) A contractor that represented itself as a small business prior
to award of a contract must update the representations and
certifications in SAM in accordance with 52.219-28. A contractor that
represented itself as other than small business before contract award
and qualifies as a small business may update its representations and
certifications in SAM in accordance with 52.219-28.
(c) Data in SAM is archived and is electronically retrievable.
Therefore, when a prospective contractor has completed representations
and certifications electronically in SAM, the contracting officer must
reference the date of SAM verification in the contract file to satisfy
contract file documentation requirements of 4.803(a)(11). However, if
an offeror identifies changes to SAM data pursuant to the FAR
provisions at 52.204-8(d) or 52.212-3(b), the contracting officer must
include a copy of the changes in the contract file.
(d) The contracting officer shall incorporate the representations
and certifications by reference in the contract (see 52.204-19, or for
acquisitions of commercial items see 52.212-4(v)).
0
11. Amend section 4.1202 by revising paragraph (a) introductory text to
read as follows:
4.1202 Solicitation provision and contract clause.
(a) Insert the provision at 52.204-8, Annual Representations and
Certifications, in solicitations, except for commercial item
solicitations issued under FAR part 12. The contracting officer shall
check the applicable provisions at 52.204-8(c)(2). When the provision
at 52.204-7, System for Award Management, is included in the
solicitation, do not separately include the following representations
and certifications:
* * * * *
PART 7--ACQUISITION PLANNING
7.103 [Amended]
0
12. Amend section 7.103 by removing from paragraph (y) ``https://www.acquisition.gov'' and adding ``https://www.sam.gov, Search Records,
Advanced Search, Disaster Response Registry Search'' in its place.
PART 8--REQUIRED SOURCES OF SUPPLIES AND SERVICES
8.402 [Amended]
0
13. Amend section 8.402 by removing from paragraph (g) ``database''.
PART 9--CONTRACTOR QUALIFICATIONS
9.109-2 [Amended]
0
14. Amend section 9.109-2 by removing ``database''.
9.109-4 [Amended]
0
15. Amended section 9.109-4 by removing from paragraph (b)
``database''.
0
16. Amend section 9.404 by--
0
a. Revising the section heading;
0
b. Revising paragraph (a)(1);
0
c. Removing from paragraph (b) introductory text ``The SAM Exclusions''
and adding ``An exclusion record in SAM'' in its place;
0
d. Removing from paragraph (b)(1) ``of all contractors debarred'' and
adding ``of the entities debarred'' in its place;
0
e. Revising paragraph (c); and
0
f. Removing from paragraph (d) ``https://www.acquisition.gov'' and
adding ``https://www.sam.gov'' in its place.
The revisions read as follows:
9.404 Exclusions in the System for Award Management.
(a) * * *
(1) Operates the web-based System for Award Management (SAM), which
contains exclusion records; and
* * * * *
(c) Each agency shall--
(1) Identify the individual(s) responsible for entering and
updating exclusions data in SAM and assign the appropriate roles;
(2) Remove the exclusion roles in SAM when the individual leaves
the organization or changes functions;
(3) For each exclusion accomplished by the Agency--
(i) Enter the information required by paragraph (b) of this section
within 3 working days after the action becomes effective;
(ii) Determine whether it is legally permitted to enter the SSN,
EIN, or other TIN, under agency authority to suspend or debar; and
(iii) Update the exclusion record in SAM, generally within 5
working days after modifying or rescinding an action;
(4) In accordance with internal retention procedures, maintain
records relating to each debarment, suspension, or proposed debarment
taken by the agency;
(5) Establish procedures to ensure that the agency does not solicit
offers from, award contracts to, or consent to subcontracts with
contractors who have an active exclusion record in SAM, except as
otherwise provided in this subpart;
(6) Direct inquiries concerning listed contractors and other
entities to the agency or other authority that took the action; and
(7) Contact GSA for technical assistance with SAM, via the support
email address or on the technical support phone line.
* * * * *
9.405 [Amended]
0
17. Amend section 9.405 by--
0
a. Removing from paragraph (b) ``Contractors included in the SAM
Exclusions as having'' and adding ``Contractors and other entities that
have an active exclusion record in SAM because they have'' in its
place;
0
b. Removing from paragraph (d)(1) ``proposals, the contracting officer
shall review the SAM Exclusions'' and adding ``proposals or quotes, the
contracting officer shall review the exclusion records in SAM'' in its
place; and
0
c. Removing from paragraph (d)(4) ``SAM Exclusions'' and adding ``the
exclusion records in SAM'' in its place.
9.405-2 [Amended]
0
18. Amend section 9.405-2 by--
0
a. Removing from paragraph (b) introductory text ``the parties' listing
in SAM Exclusions'' and adding ``the party's having an active exclusion
record in SAM'' in its place;
0
b. Removing from paragraph (b)(2) ``being listed in SAM Exclusions''
and adding ``having an active exclusion record in SAM'' in its place;
and
0
c. Removing from paragraph (b)(3) ``listing in SAM Exclusions'' and
adding ``having an active exclusion record in SAM'' in its place.
PART 12--ACQUISITION OF COMMERCIAL ITEMS
0
19. Amend section 12.301 by--
[[Page 48697]]
0
a. Redesignating paragraphs (d)(1) through (9) as (d)(3) through (11),
respectively;
0
b. Adding new paragraphs (d)(1) and (2);
0
c. Revising newly redesignated paragraphs (d)(3) and (4); and
0
d. Removing from paragraph (e)(4) ``database''.
The additions and revisions read as follows:
12.301 Solicitation provisions and contract clauses for the
acquisition of commercial items.
* * * * *
(d) * * *
(1) Insert the provision at 52.204-7, System for Award Management,
as prescribed in 4.1105(a).
(2) Insert the clause at 52.204-13, System for Award Management
Maintenance, as prescribed in 4.1105(b).
(3) Insert the provision at 52.204-16, Commercial and Government
Entity Code Reporting, as prescribed in 4.1804(a).
(4) Insert the clause at 52.204-18, Commercial and Government
Entity Code Maintenance, as prescribed in 4.1804(c).
* * * * *
PART 13--SIMPLIFIED ACQUISITION PROCEDURES
13.102 [Amended]
0
20. Amend section 13.102 by removing from paragraph (a) ``database (see
subpart 4.11) via https://www.acquisition.gov'' and adding ``(see
subpart 4.11) via https://www.sam.gov'' in its place.
13.201 [Amended]
0
21. Amend section 13.201 by removing from paragraph (h) ``database''.
PART 16--TYPES OF CONTRACTS
16.505 [Amended]
0
22. Amend section 16.505 by removing from paragraph (a)(12)
``database''.
PART 17--SPECIAL CONTRACTING METHODS
0
23. Amend section 17.207 by revising paragraph (c)(5) to read as
follows:
17.207 Exercise of options.
* * * * *
(c) * * *
(5) The contractor does not have an active exclusion record in the
System for Award Management (see FAR 9.405-1);
* * * * *
PART 18--EMERGENCY ACQUISITIONS
0
24. Revise section 18.102 to read as follows:
18.102 System for Award Management.
(a) In accordance with 4.1102, contractors are not required to be
registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) at the time of
submission of offers or quotations for--
(1) Contracts awarded without providing for full and open
competition due to unusual and compelling urgency (see 6.302-2); or
(2) Contracts awarded by a contracting officer--
(i) Deployed in the course of military operations;
(ii) Located outside the United States and its outlying areas, for
work to be performed in support of diplomatic or developmental
operations, in an area that has been designated by the Department of
State as a danger pay post; or
(iii) In the conduct of emergency operations.
(b) However, contractors are required to be registered in SAM in
order to gain access to the Disaster Response Registry.
(c) Contracting officers shall consult the Disaster Response
Registry via https://www.sam.gov, Search Records, Advanced Search,
Disaster Response Registry Search to determine the availability of
contractors for debris removal, distribution of supplies,
reconstruction, and other disaster or emergency relief activities
inside the United States and outlying areas. (See 26.205).
PART 19--SMALL BUSINESS PROGRAMS
19.308 [Amended]
0
25. Amend section 19.308 by removing from paragraph (i)(3)(iii) ``the
System for Award Management (SAM)'' and adding ``SAM'' in its place.
19.703 [Amended]
0
26. Amend section 19.703 by removing from paragraph (d)(1) introductory
text ``database''.
PART 22--APPLICATION OF LABOR LAWS TO GOVERNMENT ACQUISITIONS
0
27. Amend section 22.1025 by revising the first sentence to read as
follows:
22.1025 Ineligibility of violators.
Persons or firms found to be in violation of the Service Contract
Labor Standards statute will have an active exclusion record contained
in the System for Award Management (see 9.404). * * *
PART 23--ENVIRONMENT, ENERGY AND WATER EFFICIENCY, RENEWABLE ENERGY
TECHNOLOGIES, OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY, AND DRUG-FREE WORKPLACE
23.802 [Amended]
0
28. Amend section 23.802 by removing from paragraph (d) introductory
text ``database''.
PART 25--FOREIGN ACQUISITION
0
29. Amend section 25.703-3 by revising paragraph (a) to read as
follows:
25.703-3 Prohibition on contracting with entities that export
sensitive technology to Iran.
(a) The head of an executive agency may not enter into or extend a
contract for the procurement of goods or services with a person that
exports certain sensitive technology to Iran, as determined by the
President, and has an active exclusion in the System for Award
Management at https://www.sam.gov (22 U.S.C. 8515).
* * * * *
PART 26--OTHER SOCIOECONOMIC PROGRAMS
26.205 [Amended]
0
30. Amended section 26.205 by removing from paragraph (a) ``https://www.acquisition.gov'' and adding ``https://www.sam.gov'' in its place;
and removing from paragraph (b) ``https://www.acquisition.gov'' and
``register with SAM'' and adding ``https://www.sam.gov, Search Records,
Advanced Search, Disaster Response Registry Search'' and ``in SAM'' in
their places, respectively.
PART 28--BONDS AND INSURANCE
0
31. Amend section 28.203-7 by revising paragraph (c) and removing from
paragraph (d) ``the System for Award Management Exclusions (see
9.404)'' and adding ``an active exclusion record in the System for
Award Management (see 9.404),'' in its place.
The revision reads as follows:
28.203-7 Exclusion of individual sureties.
* * * * *
(c) An individual surety excluded pursuant to this subsection shall
be entered as an exclusion in the System for Award Management (see
9.404).
* * * * *
[[Page 48698]]
PART 32--CONTRACT FINANCING
32.1108 [Amended]
0
32. Amend section 32.1108 by removing from paragraph (b)(2)(i) ``(by
looking in the System for Award Management (SAM))'' and adding ``by
looking in the System for Award Management (SAM)'' in its place.
0
33. Amend section 32.1110 by revising paragraph (a)(1) introductory
text and removing from (a)(2)(i) ``the SAM database'' and adding
``SAM'' in its place.
The revision reads as follows:
32.1110 Solicitation provision and contract clauses.
(a) * * *
(1) 52.232-33, Payment by Electronic Funds Transfer--System for
Award Management, in solicitations and contracts that include the
provision at 52.204-7, System for Award Management, or an agency clause
that requires a contractor to be registered in SAM and maintain
registration until final payment, unless--
* * * * *
PART 44--SUBCONTRACTING POLICIES AND PROCEDURES
0
34. Amend section 44.202-2 by revising paragraph (a)(13) to read as
follows:
44.202-2 Considerations.
(a) * * *
(13) Is the proposed subcontractor listed as excluded in the System
for Award Management (see subpart 9.4)?
* * * * *
PART 52--SOLICITATION PROVISIONS AND CONTRACT CLAUSES
0
35. Amend section 52.204-7 by--
0
a. Revising the date of the provision;
0
b. In paragraph (a), revising the defined term ``Registered in the
System for Award Management (SAM) database'' to read ``Registered in
the System for Award Management (SAM)'';
0
c. Removing from paragraphs (a)(1) and (2) ``the SAM database;'' and
adding ``SAM;'' in their places;
0
d. Revising paragraph (b)(1);
0
e. Removing from paragraph (b)(2) ``the SAM database'' and adding
``SAM'' in its place;
0
f. Revising paragraph (d);
0
g. Removing paragraphs (e) and (f); and
0
h. Revising the date of Alternate I and paragraph (b)(1).
The revisions read as follows.
52.204-7 System for Award Management.
* * * * *
System for Award Management (Oct 2018)
* * * * *
(b)(1) An Offeror is required to be registered in SAM when
submitting an offer or quotation, and shall continue to be registered
until time of award, during performance, and through final payment of
any contract, basic agreement, basic ordering agreement, or blanket
purchasing agreement resulting from this solicitation.
* * * * *
(d) Processing time should be taken into consideration when
registering. Offerors who are not registered in SAM should consider
applying for registration immediately upon receipt of this
solicitation. See https://www.sam.gov for information on registration.
(End of provision)
Alternate I (Oct 2018). * * *
(b)(1) An Offeror is required to be registered in SAM as soon as
possible. If registration is not possible when submitting an offer or
quotation, the awardee shall be registered in SAM in accordance with
the requirements of clause 52.204-13, System for Award Management
Maintenance.
0
36. Amend section 52.204-8 by revising the date of the provision and
paragraphs (b)(2) introductory text and (d) to read as follows:
52.204-8 Annual Representations and Certifications.
* * * * *
Annual Representations and Certifications (Oct 2018)
* * * * *
(b) * * *
(2) If the provision at 52.204-7, System for Award Management, is
not included in this solicitation, and the Offeror has an active
registration in the System for Award Management (SAM), the Offeror may
choose to use paragraph (d) of this provision instead of completing the
corresponding individual representations and certifications in the
solicitation. The Offeror shall indicate which option applies by
checking one of the following boxes:
* * * * *
(d) The Offeror has completed the annual representations and
certifications electronically in SAM accessed through https://www.sam.gov. After reviewing the SAM information, the Offeror verifies
by submission of the offer that the representations and certifications
currently posted electronically that apply to this solicitation as
indicated in paragraph (c) of this provision have been entered or
updated within the last 12 months, are current, accurate, complete, and
applicable to this solicitation (including the business size standard
applicable to the NAICS code referenced for this solicitation), as of
the date of this offer and are incorporated in this offer by reference
(see FAR 4.1201); except for the changes identified below [offeror to
insert changes, identifying change by clause number, title, date].
These amended representation(s) and/or certification(s) are also
incorporated in this offer and are current, accurate, and complete as
of the date of this offer.
* * * * *
0
37. Amend section 52.204-10 by--
0
a. Revising the date of the clause;
0
b. Removing from paragraph (d)(1) introductory text ``database''; and
0
c. Revising paragraph (h).
The revisions read as follows:
52.204-10 Reporting Executive Compensation and First-Tier Subcontract
Awards.
* * * * *
Reporting Executive Compensation and First-Tier Subcontract Awards (Oct
2018)
* * * * *
(h) The FSRS database at https://www.fsrs.gov will be prepopulated
with some information from SAM and the FPDS database. If FPDS
information is incorrect, the contractor should notify the contracting
officer. If the SAM information is incorrect, the contractor is
responsible for correcting this information.
* * * * *
0
38. Amend section 52.204-13 by--
0
a. Revising the date of the clause;
0
b. In paragraph (a), revising the defined term ``Registered in the
System for Award Management (SAM) database'' to read ``Registered in
the System for Award Management (SAM)'';
0
c. Removing from paragraphs (a)(1) and (2) ``the SAM database'' and
adding ``SAM'' in their places;
0
d. Redesignating paragraphs (b) through (d) as paragraphs (c) through
(e);
0
e. Adding a new paragraph (b);
0
f. Revising newly redesignated paragraphs (c) and (d)(1)(i)
introductory text;
0
g. Removing from newly redesignated paragraph (d)(1)(i)(A) ``the SAM
database'' and adding ``SAM'' in its place;
0
h. Removing from newly redesignated paragraph (d)(1)(ii) ``(c)(1)(i)''
and ``(c)(1)(i)(C)'' and adding ``(d)(1)(i)'' and ``(d)(1)(i)(C)'' in
their places, respectively;
[[Page 48699]]
0
i. Removing from newly redesignated paragraph (d)(2) ``in the SAM'' and
adding ``in SAM'' in its place; and
0
j. Removing from newly redesignated paragraph (e) ``https://www.acquisition.gov'' and adding ``https://www.sam.gov'' in its place.
The addition and revisions read as follows:
52.204-13 System for Award Management Maintenance.
* * * * *
System for Award Management Maintenance (Oct 2018)
* * * * *
(b) If the solicitation for this contract contained the provision
52.204-7 with its Alternate I, and the Contractor was unable to
register prior to award, the Contractor shall be registered in SAM
within 30 days after award or before three days prior to submission of
the first invoice, whichever occurs first.
(c) The Contractor shall maintain registration in SAM during
contract performance and through final payment of any contract, basic
agreement, basic ordering agreement, or blanket purchasing agreement.
The Contractor is responsible for the currency, accuracy and
completeness of the data within SAM, and for any liability resulting
from the Government's reliance on inaccurate or incomplete data. To
remain registered in SAM after the initial registration, the Contractor
is required to review and update on an annual basis, from the date of
initial registration or subsequent updates, its information in SAM to
ensure it is current, accurate and complete. Updating information in
SAM does not alter the terms and conditions of this contract and is not
a substitute for a properly executed contractual document.
(d) * * *
(1) * * *
(i) If a Contractor has legally changed its business name or
``doing business as'' name (whichever is shown on the contract), or has
transferred the assets used in performing the contract, but has not
completed the necessary requirements regarding novation and change-of-
name agreements in subpart 42.12, the Contractor shall provide the
responsible Contracting Officer a minimum of one business day's written
notification of its intention to--
* * * * *
0
39. Amend section 52.209-7 by revising the date of the provision and
removing from paragraph (d) ``Management database via https://www.acquisition.gov'' and adding ``Management, which can be accessed
via https://www.sam.gov'' in its place.
The revision reads as follows:
52.209-7 Information Regarding Responsibility Matters.
* * * * *
Information Regarding Responsibility Matters (Oct 2018)
* * * * *
0
40. Amend section 52.209-9 by revising the date of the clause and
removing from paragraph (a) ``Management database via https://www.acquisition.gov'' and adding ``Management via https://www.sam.gov''
in its place.
The revision reads as follows:
52.209-9 Updates of Publicly Available Information Regarding
Responsibility Matters.
* * * * *
Updates of Publicly Available Information Regarding Responsibility
Matters (Oct 2018)
* * * * *
0
41. Amend section 52.212-1 by--
0
a. Revising the date of provision;
0
b. Removing from paragraph (j) ``(SAM) database'' and adding ``(SAM)''
in its place; and
0
c. Removing and reserving paragraph (k).
The revision reads as follows:
52.212-1 Instructions to Offerors--Commercial Items.
* * * * *
Instructions to Offerors--Commercial Items (Oct 2018)
* * * * *
0
42. Amend section 52.212-3 by--
0
a. Revising the date and the introductory text of the provision;
0
b. Revising paragraph (b);
0
c. Removing from paragraph (l) introductory text ``the SAM database''
and adding ``SAM'' in its place; and
0
d. Removing from paragraph (t) introductory text ``(52.212-1(k))'' and
adding ``(12.301(d)(1))'' in its place.
The revisions read as follows:
52.212-3 Offeror Representations and Certifications--Commercial Items.
* * * * *
Offeror Representations and Certifications--Commercial Items (Oct 2018)
The Offeror shall complete only paragraph (b) of this provision if
the Offeror has completed the annual representations and certification
electronically in the System for Award Management (SAM) accessed
through https://www.sam.gov. If the Offeror has not completed the
annual representations and certifications electronically, the Offeror
shall complete only paragraphs (c) through (u)) of this provision.
* * * * *
(b)(1) Annual Representations and Certifications. Any changes
provided by the Offeror in paragraph (b)(2) of this provision do not
automatically change the representations and certifications in SAM.
(2) The offeror has completed the annual representations and
certifications electronically in SAM accessed through https://www.sam.gov. After reviewing SAM information, the Offeror verifies by
submission of this offer that the representations and certifications
currently posted electronically at FAR 52.212-3, Offeror
Representations and Certifications--Commercial Items, have been entered
or updated in the last 12 months, are current, accurate, complete, and
applicable to this solicitation (including the business size standard
applicable to the NAICS code referenced for this solicitation), at the
time this offer is submitted and are incorporated in this offer by
reference (see FAR 4.1201), except for paragraphs __.
[Offeror to identify the applicable paragraphs at (c) through (u)
of this provision that the offeror has completed for the purposes of
this solicitation only, if any.
These amended representation(s) and/or certification(s) are also
incorporated in this offer and are current, accurate, and complete as
of the date of this offer.
Any changes provided by the offeror are applicable to this
solicitation only, and do not result in an update to the
representations and certifications posted electronically on SAM.]
* * * * *
0
43. Amend section 52.212-4 by revising the date of the clause and
removing and reserving paragraph (t).
The revision reads as follows:
52.212-4 Contract Terms and Conditions--Commercial Items.
* * * * *
Contract Terms and Conditions--Commercial Items (Oct 2018)
* * * * *
0
44. Amend section 52.212-5 by--
0
a. Revising the date of the clause and paragraphs (b)(4), (b)(9),
(b)(16), (b)(55), (e)(1)(iv), Alternate II heading and introductory
text, and paragraph (e)(1)(ii)(D) of Alternate II to read as follows:
[[Page 48700]]
52.212-5 Contract Terms and Conditions Required To Implement Statutes
or Executive Orders--Commercial Items.
* * * * *
Contract Terms and Conditions Required To Implement Statutes or
Executive Orders--Commercial Items (Oct 2018)
* * * * *
(b) * * *
* * * * *
__(4) 52.204-10, Reporting Executive Compensation and First-Tier
Subcontract Awards (Oct 2018) (Pub. L. 109-282) (31 U.S.C. 6101 note).
* * * * *
__(9) 52.209-9, Updates of Publicly Available Information Regarding
Responsibility Matters (Oct 2018) (41 U.S.C. 2313).
* * * * *
__(16) 52.219-8, Utilization of Small Business Concerns (Oct 2018)
(15 U.S.C. 637(d)(2) and (3)).
* * * * *
__(55) 52.232-33, Payment by Electronic Funds Transfer--System for
Award Management (Oct 2018) (31 U.S.C. 3332).
* * * * *
(e)(1) * * *
(iv) 52.219-8, Utilization of Small Business Concerns (Oct 2018)
(15 U.S.C. 637(d)(2) and (3)), in all subcontracts that offer further
subcontracting opportunities. If the subcontract (except subcontracts
to small business concerns) exceeds $700,000 ($1.5 million for
construction of any public facility), the subcontractor must include
52.219-8 in lower tier subcontracts that offer subcontracting
opportunities.
* * * * *
Alternate II (Oct 2018). As prescribed in 12.301(b)(4)(ii),
substitute the following paragraphs (d)(1) and (e)(1) for paragraphs
(d)(1) and (e)(1) of the basic clause as follows:
* * * * *
(e)(1) * * *
(ii) * * *
(D) 52.219-8, Utilization of Small Business Concerns (Oct 2018) (15
U.S.C. 637(d)(2) and (3)), in all subcontracts that offer further
subcontracting opportunities. If the subcontract (except subcontracts
to small business concerns) exceeds $700,000 ($1.5 million for
construction of any public facility), the subcontractor must include
52.219-8 in lower tier subcontracts that offer subcontracting
opportunities.
* * * * *
0
45. Amend section 52.213-4 by revising the date of the clause and
paragraphs (a)(2)(viii), (b)(1)(i), and (b)(1)(xix) to read as follows:
52.213-4 Terms and Conditions--Simplified Acquisitions (Other Than
Commercial Items).
* * * * *
Terms and Conditions--Simplified Acquisitions (Other Than Commercial
Items) (Oct 2018)
(a) * * *
(2) * * *
(viii) 52.244-6, Subcontracts for Commercial Items (Oct 2018).
* * * * *
(b) * * *
(1) * * *
(i) 52.204-10, Reporting Executive Compensation and First-Tier
Subcontract Awards (Oct 2018) (Pub. L. 109-282) (31 U.S.C. 6101 note)
(Applies to contracts valued at $30,000 or more).
* * * * *
(xix) 52.232-33, Payment by Electronic Funds Transfer--System for
Award Management (Oct 2018) (Applies when the payment will be made by
electronic funds transfer (EFT) and the payment office uses the System
for Award Management (SAM) as its source of EFT information).
* * * * *
0
46. Amend section 52.219-8 by revising the date of the clause and
removing from paragraph (d)(5) introductory text ``database''.
The revision reads as follows:
52.219-8 Utilization of Small Business Concerns.
* * * * *
Utilization of Small Business Concerns (Oct 2018)
* * * * *
0
47. Amend section 52.232-33 by--
0
a. Revising the date of the clause;
0
b. Removing from paragraph (b) ``(SAM) database'' and ``the SAM
database'' and adding ``(SAM)'' and ``SAM'' in their places,
respectively;
0
c. Removing from paragraph (d) ``the SAM database'' and adding ``SAM''
in two places; and
0
d. Removing from paragraphs (g) and (i) ``the SAM database'' and adding
``SAM'' in their places, respectively.
The revision reads as follows:
52.232-33 Payment by Electronic Funds Transfer-System for Award
Management.
* * * * *
Payment by Electronic Funds Transfer-System for Award Management (Oct
2018)
* * * * *
0
48. Amend section 52.244-6 by revising the date of the clause and
paragraph (c)(1)(vi) to read as follows:
52.244-6 Subcontracts for Commercial Items.
* * * * *
Subcontracts for Commercial Items (Oct 2018)
* * * * *
(c)(1) * * *
(vi) 52.219-8, Utilization of Small Business Concerns (Oct 2018)
(15 U.S.C. 637(d)(2) and (3)), if the subcontract offers further
subcontracting opportunities. If the subcontract (except subcontracts
to small business concerns) exceeds $700,000 ($1.5 million for
construction of any public facility), the subcontractor must include
52.219-8 in lower tier subcontracts that offer subcontracting
opportunities.
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 2018-20706 Filed 9-25-18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6820-EP-P