DFARS

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The Department of Defense (DoD) recently announced that it seeks public comments on a proposed change to the contractor business systems regime.  The proposed rule would amend the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) by replacing the phrase “significant deficiency” with the new defined term “material weakness,” to mean “a deficiency or combination of deficiencies in the internal control over information in contractor business systems, such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of such information will not be prevented, or detected and corrected, on a timely basis.”  In addition, the term would provide that a “reasonable possibility exists when the likelihood of an event occurring is— (1) Probable; or (2) More than remote but less than likely.” Continue Reading Taking Care of Business (Systems): DoD Proposes to Change the Definition of a Business System Deficiency 

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On May 30, 2024, the Department of Defense (DoD) issued a final rule amending the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) to implement Section 803 of the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act, which modified 10 U.S.C. § 3455 to provide additional guidance regarding data requirements needed to support determinations of commerciality and price reasonableness under procurements for major weapon systems.  The rule applies to products that (i) have not previously been deemed commercial by the DoD; and (ii) are proposed as either a subsystem of a major weapon system or as a component or spare part of a major weapon system or subsystem. Continue Reading Commerciality Guidance for Major Weapon System Procurements

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On March 22, 2023, the Department of Defense (DoD) issued a final rule amending the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) to allow a procuring contracting officer (PCO) to delegate the authority to the contract administration office (CAO) to negotiate and settle direct costs questioned in an indirect cost rate proposal audit.  After the delegation…

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On March 22, 2023, the Department of Defense (DoD) issued a proposed rule that would amend the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) to require certain contractors to provide export authorizations to the Defense Authorization Management Agency (DCMA).

DCMA performs quality assurance reviews for manufacturing operations to ensure contractors have the appropriate systems in place to meet quality and functionality standards along with contractual requirements regarding testing and validation.  In some cases, DCMA will engage a foreign auditor to perform the quality assurance review.  However, to do so DCMA needs insight into applicable export authorizations to see if engaging the foreign auditor is permissible.      

The proposed rule would require contractors to provide export authorizations to DCMA when the contract requires (i) government quality assurance surveillance oversight and (ii) performance in or delivery to a government quality assurance country (Australia, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Israel, Italy, Republic of Korea, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, and the United Kingdom).  Export authorizations include export licenses, exemptions, exceptions, and other approvals.  The contractor must also provide the contact information for an empowered official or export point of contact.   Continue Reading Proposed Rule Requires Certain Contractors to Provide Export Authorizations to DCMA

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This week’s episode covers a final rule amending the DFARS to incorporate the expanded capabilities of the Supplier Performance Risk System and requirements on contracting officers, a bid protest decision at the Court of Federal Claims regarding standing, and a GAO protest decision about the Procurement Integrity Act, and is hosted by Peter Eyre and…

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On December 19, 2022, DoD issued a DFARS proposed rule that seeks to (1) implement the data-rights portions of the May 2, 2019 Small Business Innovation Research Program and Small Business Technology Transfer Program Policy Directive (SBIR/STTR Policy Directive), and (2) impose significant changes to technical data and computer software marking requirements.  The SBIR/STTR portion of the proposed rule follows DoD’s advance notice of proposed rulemaking issued on August 31, 2020 (see 85 FR 53758) and incorporates the eight written public comments that DoD received. The proposed changes to marking requirements go beyond the SBIR/STTR Policy Directive and respond to the Federal Circuit’s decision in The Boeing Co. v. Secretary of the Air Force, 983 F.3d 1321 (Fed. Cir. 2020). Continue Reading DFARS Proposed Rule on SBIR/STTR Data Rights and the Marking of Unlimited Rights Data

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On October 28, 2022, the Department of Defense (DoD) amended the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) by issuing two final rules related to contract cost and pricing.  Specifically:

  • Requiring Data Other Than Certified Cost or Pricing Data – DoD issued a final rule to implement a section of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2020 National
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This week’s episode covers a new Executive Order on Climate-Related Financial Risk, the final DFARS provision on contract closeout, a new SBA decision involving a mentor-protégé joint venture, and a FedRAMP update, and is hosted by partners Peter Eyre and Olivia Lynch. Crowell & Moring’s “Fastest 5 Minutes” is a biweekly podcast that provides a…

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Crowell & Moring’s “All Things Protest” podcast keeps you up to date on major trends in bid protest litigation, key developments in high-profile cases, and best practices in state and federal procurement. In this episode, hosts Christian Curran and Olivia Lynch discuss a proposed DFARS rule for enhanced debriefings.

Listen: Crowell.com | PodBean |…

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On May 20, 2021, the FAR Council issued a proposed Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) rule on post-award debriefings that largely codifies—and in a number of ways bolsters—the existing enhanced post-award debriefing rules established by the Department of Defense’s (DoD) March 22, 2018 Class Deviation on Enhanced Postaward Debriefing Rights.  The proposed rule requires…