Todd Overman, chair of the Bass, Berry & Sims Government Contracts Practice Group, authored an article for Law360’s Expert Analysis column outlining a joint notice issued by the Information Security Oversight Office (ISOO), which offers guidance to government contractors regarding entity eligibility determination (EED) requirements for joint ventures.
Separate decisions from the Small Business Administration and the Government Accountability Office created confusion about whether the joint venture itself or the individual entities must hold an Entity Eligibility Determination. As Todd explains, “[t]he guidance provides helpful instructions as to how contractors submitting proposals as JVs should approach obtaining an EED. These clarified requirements mark a change from prior cognizant security agency practices, where any entity — unpopulated or not — that was awarded a classified contract was required to obtain an EED.”
Todd added, “the guidance clearly states that entities must only obtain an EED prior to performing on a classified contract rather than the award of the contract. Moreover, the guidance specifies that this is the timing necessary for any U.S. legal entity, and not exclusively for JVs.” The joint notice also clarified there is no requirement for a JV formed by contract to hold an EED. Instead, the JV members must possess the required EED and will be directly awarded the classified contract.
The full article, “Inside New Classified Contract Guidance For Joint Ventures,” was published by Law360 on December 15 and is available online. Todd also wrote on this topic for the firm’s GovCon & Trade blog in a November 20 post titled, “New Guidance Clarifies Facility Clearance Eligibility Determination Requirements for Joint Ventures.”