FAR Interim Rule Clarifies SAM Registration Requirement For Contract Awards
On November 12, 2024, the FAR Council (the Department of Defense, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and General Services Administration) published an Interim Rule that clarifies the System for Award Management (SAM) registration requirement for contract awards.
Currently, FAR clause 52.204-7 states that a contractor “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” under the contract. As the preamble to the interim rule explains, the language in that clause has been the basis for decisions by the Government Accountability Office (in TLS Joint Venture, LLC, B-422275, April 1, 2024) and the United States Court of Federal Claims (in Myriddian, LLC v. The United States, 165 Fed. Cl. 650 (May 23, 2023), upholding protests against contractors that suffered lapses in their registrations after offer submission and before contract award.
However, as the preamble to the Interim Rule explains also, the underlying implementing regulations under FAR Part 4 only require SAM registration at the time an offer is submitted and from the time of contract performance through final contract payment. FAR Part 4 omits any requirement that a contractor be continuously registered between the time an offer is submitted and the time of award. Under the Interim Rule, FAR clause 52.204-7 has now been amended to state that a contractor is only “required to be registered in SAM when submitting an offer or quotation and at time of award.”
Although lapses in SAM registration between the time a contractor submits a bid and the time an agency makes its award will no longer be fatal, the interim rule acknowledges that continuous active registration should be the “normal state” for government contractors.
The Interim Rule becomes immediately effective on November 12, 2024, and comments to the rule must be submitted by January 13, 2025, in order to be considered in any final rule.
