FAR Council issued FAC 2025-01, an Interim Rule to amend FAR 52.204-7, System for Award Management paragraph (b)(1), effective 11/12/12024
FAR Council issued FAC 2025-01, an Interim Rule to amend FAR 52.204-7, System for Award Management paragraph (b)(1), effective 11/12/12024
FAR 52.204-7(b)(1) was updated in 2018 to require offerors to register in SAM before contract award. This seemingly innocuous requirement was the subject of sometimes viscous GAO protests and Court of Federal Claims cases between offerors and the government in the intervening years. In these cases, the government maintained that offerors were required to be registered in SAM when the offer was submitted and continuously through contract award. Protests were filed by companies whose offers were tossed because they did not maintain continuous SAM registration through the preaward process.
Protests seem almost inevitable when looking at the original text of the clause:
“By submission of an offer, the offeror acknowledges the requirement that a prospective awardee shall be registered in the SAM database prior to award, during performance…”
The ambiguity of this language allowed contracting personnel to require “continuous, uninterrupted registration during the entirety of the pre-award process.”
The FAR Council took heed of offeror complaints and today (11/12/2024) amended the clause to read:
“An Offeror is required to be registered in SAM when submitting an offer or quotation and at time of award.”
This revision removes any doubt about an offeror's registration requirements.
What does this mean for you?
If you submit a proposal to the government, you must be registered with SAM. If your registration lapses between submitting your proposal and contract award the government will not throw out your proposal; however, you need to ensure that you are registered by the time the government awards your contract.
Notably, the update to 52.204(b)(1) does not affect the requirements of 52.204-13(c), System for Award Management Maintenance, which requires that contractors maintain SAM registration for the entire contract performance and through final payment. Under the auspices of this clause, a contracting officer is within their rights to cancel any contracts/agreements of companies that do not maintain continuous, uninterrupted registration through contract closeout and final payment.
How we can help
Our most successful clients have followed these easy tips for maintaining SAM compliance:
Start the process early. Put a reminder in your calendar 60 days before your registration’s expiration date.
Review last year’s registration. Engage Orlaithe to assess your current registration and comparison to the current SAM clauses and provisions.
Submit your registration before the expiration date. Engage Orlaithe to walk you through the registration process. We can help you work through (simple) technical issues and answer any specific questions. Generally, you want to submit your registration 30 days before expiration to account for any hiccups during the registration process.
Orlaithe is here to help with your SAM registration and any other federal contracting compliance issues you may have. Contact us to schedule a compliance discussion today!