One of the frustrating things we have witnessed over the years as GSA Schedule consultants is ensuring our client has an active SAM.gov registration at the time of offer submission, but the SAM registration lapses or gets close to expiring because GSA (or another federal agency) takes several months to review the contract. Since the System for Award Management (SAM) site has recently become infamous for being backed up and causing delays in contract submissions and awards, the federal government is creating an interim rule to resolve this issue.
The Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Council recently released an interim rule allowing for more flexibility in SAM registration between offer submission and award. This rule went into effect November 12, 2024, so here’s what you need to know.
SAM Registration Interim Rule
Here’s the gist—the Department of Defense (DoD), General Services Administration (GSA), and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) issued an interim rule amending the FAR to clarify SAM pre-award registration requirements.
The purpose of this updated regulation is to give relief from the stringent SAM registration requirements during the period from offer submission to award. Recent protests have been upheld because the offeror was not registered in SAM for the entirety of the process from submission, proposal review, and award. Since SAM must be renewed annually, this can prove to be a difficult requirement for some contractors as award processes can take some time.
This interim rule will amend solicitation provision FAR 52.204–7, System for Award Management, to clarify that an “An Offeror is required to be registered in SAM when submitting an offer or quotation and at time of award,” but doesn’t have to be registered continually between these points of time.
This rule went into effect on November 12 and comments to be considered in the final rule are due on or before January 13, 2025.
Why was the SAM Registration Interim Rule Introduced?
As we’ve seen in past protests, contractors have lost business they would have otherwise been awarded if their SAM registration didn’t lapse after submission, even if it was fixed before award. Losing business on a technicality is a waste of time and resources for both businesses and government agencies, not to mention just plain frustrating. Contracting Officers generally only verify these requirements during offer submission and contract award anyway, meaning this rule wouldn’t have much impact on the solicitation process.
This has also more directly impacted small businesses, generating a loss of income. If the award decision goes to a protest, it can cost time and resources of both the soliciting agency as well as the prospective contractor, delaying procurement.
While continuous and active SAM registration is always the goal to remaining compliant, this rule will allow more flexibility if there’s a temporary roadblock to SAM renewal, or a minor overlook occurs.
Keeping Your SAM Registration Up to Date
How do you ensure you are keeping up with your SAM registration so it’s ready to go for an offer submission or an impending contract award? We suggest you put a date in your calendar once a year to start the renewal process, giving yourself enough time to complete it before the registration lapses. If you anticipate there being a lot of changes in the next year or so, you can even go in there semi-annually to reflect any updates.
During SAM renewal, you have to go through each section and confirm the information is correct as well as revalidate your entity. Some sections we recommend you take the time to fully review and ensure there are no changes are: your Points of Contact, your size metrics (especially if there is an employee or revenue change), and your reps and certs. You may have to re-represent your entity’s agreement if there are new FAR regulations.
Learn more about SAM registration and avoiding registration scams in our blog. If you need help managing your SAM registration and GSA Schedule so you are ready to go after upcoming opportunities, our consultants are here for you.
