The Obama Administration proposed a series of rule changes to the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) on October 14 that would address several critical components of the federal acquisition system and management of federal employees and private sector contractors.
The first rule would allow the Government Accountability Office to interview current contractor employees during the audit of the contractor's records. A second rule would limit the length of contracts awarded noncompetitively under unusual and compelling circumstances to the minimum contract period necessary to meet the requirements, and no longer than one year, unless the head of the agency determines that exceptional circumstances apply. Both rules were finalized and are now in effect.
Three other proposed rules would affect federal contracting:
- One rule aims to minimize excessive cost of pass-through charges by contractors from subcontractors;
- A second interim rule addresses contract award fees; and
- An interim rule clarifies the definition of commercial services.