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On November 12, the Department of Defense, General Services Administration, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (together, the "FAR Council") issued an interim rule, effective November 12, 2024, to amend the Federal Acquisition Regulation ("FAR") clause regarding System for Award Management ("SAM") registration. The interim rule is welcome news for contractors of all sizes, as the prior version has resulted in contractors being ineligible on what some have called a technicality.

As many contractors are aware, the SAM registration requirements under FAR 52.204-7 have regularly surfaced in bid protests before GAO and COFC. Indeed, the FAR Council recognized as much by pointing to decisions from each tribunal in its prefatory comments, including TLS Joint Venture, LLC, B-422275, April 1, 2024 and Myriddian, LLC v. The United States, 165 Fed. Cl. 650 (May 23, 2023) (order granting preliminary injunction).  These decisions, and others cited, have consistently found that a lapse in SAM registration (even for only one day) can sink a bid because of the continuity language in the prior version of the rule.  Specifically, the prior rule said that "[a]n Offeror is required to be registered in SAM when submitting an offer or quotation, and shall continue to be registered until time of award . . . ."  FAR 52.204-7(b)(1) (emphasis added).  

The interim rule removes the continuity requirement and instead "makes clear that a lapse in registration that occurs after offer submission and is corrected before contract award will not render an offeror ineligible for award under FAR 52.204-7(b)(1)."  Therefore, with the new rule, the amended clause at FAR 52.204-7(b)(1) only requires contractors to be registered in SAM.gov when submitting an offer (or quotation) and at time of award.

Takeaway

The decision by the FAR Council to issue an interim rule (effective immediately) to change the SAM registration requirements under FAR 52.204-7 is welcome news for contractors both large and small.  By cutting out the continuity language, contractors can breathe a sigh of relief as the new regulatory text now ties the SAM registration requirements to only two points in time.