The Department of Defense has released a final rule that would allow the award of a follow-on production contract to a vendor working on a prototype project without using competitive processes.
The final rule took effect Thursday as an amendment to the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement as part of efforts to implement a provision of the fiscal year 2023 National Defense Authorization Act, according to a Federal Register notice published Thursday.
According to the notice, section 842 of FY 2023 NDAA allows “the award of a follow-on production contract without the use of competitive procedures, even if explicit notification was not listed within the request for proposal for the prototype project transaction.”
“The statutory revision to the criteria does not implement new requirements; instead it removes one of the requirements,” the notice reads.
DOD said the new policy does not impose new requirements on contracts for commercial products and services and for those at or below the simplified acquisition threshold.
