Bass, Berry & Sims attorney Richard Arnholt authored an article for Federal News Network outlining the clarifications the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Council have made related to the System for Award Management (SAM) registration rule and when an offeror must be listed as “active” in SAM.
The FAR Council stated that an offeror must be active at “two-points” of the process, the moment an offer is submitted and at the time of an award. Now, contractors do not have to worry that a temporary lapse in registration will result in their disqualification. Richard shared details on the history of FAR confusion and provided clarification on the two-point rule, including the fact that it only applies to the pre-award stage. Contractors will still have to maintain active SAM registration throughout an active contract all the way through the final payment.
Richard provided insight on how to stay compliant with the two-point rule and stressed the importance of documentation to ensure no issues arise in the process of securing an award. It is important that companies keep records of “active” SAM status to give to agencies in the case a protest needs to be made to prove that compliance has been maintained.
“Eligibility now hinges on a ‘two-point’ gate, submission and award, while contract performance continues to require uninterrupted registration,” said Richard. “With basic internal controls, contractors of all sizes can reliably satisfy these obligations, minimize protest risk, and allow acquisition teams to concentrate on substantive procurement decisions.”
The full article, “FAR Council finalizes ’two-point’ SAM registration rule, ending years of confusion,” was published by Federal News Network on November 6 and is available online.