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It has been a long time coming, but the Department of Defense, in conjunction with the GSA and NASA, are finally issuing a final rule amending the FAR guidance regarding limitations on subcontracting. In this post, we are going to explore just what these changes are and what they mean for government contractors such as yourself. The hope is this brief summary and analysis will provide you some insight as to just what the new rules do.

If you can believe it, this latest rule change is based on regulatory changes made by the SBA all the way back in May of 2016 to implement statutory requirements from the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013! In fairness, the DoD, GSA, and NASA did propose this rule back in December 2018, although we wonder why it took another two and a half years to reach this point. In any event, this new rule will come into effect on September 10, 2021. Read more here & MEMORANDUM FOR CIVILIAN AGENCIES

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Major Changes Proposed to Buy American Rules Peter Terenzio, Michael Wagner and Nooree Lee, Covington & Burling LLP

On July 30, the Biden administration issued a proposed rule billed as “the most robust changes to the implementation of the Buy American Act in almost 70 years.”

Aimed at strengthening domestic content requirements and bolstering domestic procurement preferences, it comes on the heels of several other actions by the administration to limit reliance on foreign sources of critical components and promote greater economic and national security by supporting domestic manufacturing. The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking proposed three major changes. Read more here.

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New Developments in President Biden’s COVID-19 Requirements for Government Contractors PilieroMazza’s Labor & Employment Group for Government Contractors

On September 16, 2021, President Biden released new guidance on implementing COVID-19 mandates for businesses working with the federal government. PilieroMazza’s Labor & Employment Group highlights important guidelines government contractors need to follow in order to comply. Read more here & Executive Order UPDATE: Contractor Personnel Must Get COVID-19 Vaccines By December 8, 2021 - GovConBrief

SBA Announces Moratorium on Bona Fide Place of Business Requirements for the 8(a) Business Development Program

Release Date: August 26, 2021 ~ Release Number: 21-73

Contact: press_office@sba.gov ~ www.sba.gov/news

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Small Business Administration today announced a moratorium on the requirement that participants in SBA’s 8(a) Business Development Program must establish a bona fide place of business in a specific geographic area in order to be awarded any construction contract through the 8(a) Program due to the ongoing challenges of COVID-19. The moratorium is effective August 25, 2021, and applies to all 8(a) construction contracts offered to the 8(a) Program between August 25, 2021, and September 30, 2022. Read more here.

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SBA Issues New HUBZone Guidance and Map Updates

August 24, 2021, by Jon Williams, Anna R. Wright, PilieroMazza

The Small Business Administration (SBA) has once again updated its HUBZone FAQs—this time with welcome changes for HUBZone firms with principal offices located in Redesignated Areas and / or Qualified Disaster Areas (QDA). The latest FAQs, available here, state that they were effective June 24, 2021, but we saw them for the first time on SBA’s website earlier this month. Read more here.

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Everything You Need to Know About CMMC

Rob Thurston, Chief Technology Officer, Ampersand

With the rollout of the CMMC, contracting with the DoD is more specialized than ever—especially if you’re dealing with controlled unclassified information (CUI). But these new guidelines also means the space will become more lucrative. It’s estimated that 129,810 businesses will likely pursue CMMC certification in the first 5 years. Read more here.