Georgia Tech Procurement Assistance Center

Who is a subcontractor under a federal government contract?

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If you are a a vendor or supplier, are you a “subcontractor” under a federal government contract?

Sometimes the answer is easy — e.g., you are a subcontractor when a prime contractor contracts directly with a vendor or supplier (hereinafter “vendor”) to perform a federal contract.

But the lines become less clear when a prime contractor does not inform the vendor that the subcontract is being entered into in furtherance of a federal government contract or where the vendor supplies goods that the prime contractor uses to perform commercial and government contracts.

Subcontractor status is important to prime and subcontractors. A federal prime contractor is required to flow-down multiple Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) clauses to its subcontractors.

Keep reading this article at: https://governmentcontractsnavigator.com/2019/01/28/who-is-a-subcontractor-under-a-federal-government-contract/

Congress aims to redefine ‘subcontract’

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If an agreement qualifies as a “subcontract” under a government contract, then it may be subject to certain flow-down, compliance, and reporting requirements.  These requirements are intended to protect the government’s interests, and have significant ramifications for contractors, e.g., increasing transaction costs, expanding potential areas of exposure.

These compliance obligations and risks can even deter some companies from performing under government contracts, especially those companies offering commercial items.

Currently, there is no uniform definition of “subcontract” in the applicable procurement regulations or in the procurement chapters under Titles 10 and 41 of the U.S. Code.  Indeed, there are more than twenty varying definitions of “subcontract” in the FAR and DFARS, with many clauses failing to specify which definition applies.  Now Congress is looking to address this lack of uniformity through the FY 2019 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).

Keep reading this article at: https://www.insidegovernmentcontracts.com/2018/06/congress-aims-to-redefine-the-subcontract/

Deadlines approach for government contractors on cybersecurity compliance

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Government contractors are subject to cybersecurity requirements, found in the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) and each agency’s supplement to the FAR, and some important deadlines are fast approaching. Set forth below is a high-level overview of cybersecurity requirements found in the FAR and the Department of Defense (DoD) FAR Supplement (DFARS).

The FAR requires government contractors that handle “federal contract information” to comply with 15 requirements for safeguarding that information. These requirements are similar to certain requirements found in NIST SP 800-171.

Under the FAR, “federal contract information” is defined as:

information, not intended for public release, that is provided by or generated for the Government under a contract to develop or deliver a product or service to the Government, but not including information provided by the Government to the public (such as on public Web sites) or simple transactional information, such as necessary to process payments.

This is a broad category of information, and some commentators have suggested that it would apply to “virtually all” federal contracts.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/deadlines-approach-for-government-74231/

What’s that cybersecurity FAR clause doing in my contract?

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Many contractors we talk to believe that cybersecurity requirements are exclusively a concern of contractors working with DoD or with highly-classified, top secret projects. While perhaps true to some degree in the past, that belief is now outdated. In recent years, the federal government has steadily expanded the reach of cybersecurity requirements imposed on contractors and contracts of all shapes and sizes, and that trend is expected to continue.

As an example, one year ago this month the government implemented a new FAR clause, FAR 52.204-21, entitled “Basic Safeguarding of Covered Contractor Information Systems.” This clause, which went into effect on May 16, 2016, brings basic cybersecurity requirements to many federal contracts. The clause is supposed to be inserted in every solicitation and contract where a contractor or subcontractor at any tier may have federal contract information (FCI) residing in or transitioning through its information system.

FCI is broadly defined as “information, not intended for public release, that is provided by or generated for the Government under a contract to develop or deliver a product or service to the Government, but not including information provided by the Government to the public.”

Prime contractors are also expected to flow down the clause to subcontracts at all tiers that may have FCI in their systems, including subcontracts for commercial items (but not subcontracts for commercial off-the-shelf items).

Keep reading this article at: http://www.mondaq.com/article.asp?articleid=602460

Note: Georgia Tech is sponsoring a free cybersecurity briefing on Aug. 9, 2017.  For details, visit: http://gtpac.org/2017/06/30/georgia-tech-sponsors-cybersecurity-briefing-in-august-for-manufacturers/

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