The General Services Administration announced that changes to the Federal Acquisition Regulation, or FAR, as part of the Revolutionary FAR Overhaul, or RFO, initiative will impact the System for Award Management website.
GSA said Monday SAM.gov includes three types of certifications and representations that a company attests to in order to do business with the government: Type 1: entity-level; Type 2: procurement-specific; and Type 3: By Submission of Offer representations and certifications.
SAM.gov to Stop Collecting Procurement-Specific, By Submission of Offer Representations & Certifications
Under RFO, SAM.gov will continue to collect Type 1 certifications and representations, but will stop gathering Type 2 and Type 3 certifications and representations.
Once removed from SAM.gov, Types 2 and 3 representations and certifications will be included in solicitations and resultant contracts in the future.
At the earliest, GSA noted that SAM.gov system changes are not expected to occur before January 2026.
The Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council and the Office of Federal Procurement Policy are working with the GSA Office of the Integrated Award Environment and the Procurement Committee for e-Government to evaluate the RFO’s impacts on SAM.gov. In the next fiscal year, the FAR Council will issue plans for system changes and implementation timelines and a list of impacted provisions, representations, certifications and clauses.
Until the changes are made in SAM.gov, companies may still be required to submit information that is no longer enforced or required. As agency RFO deviations are issued, contracting officers will likely be required to use the updated clauses and provisions.
Benefits of RFO Changes to Government, Industry Stakeholders
According to GSA, the RFO initiative will bring significant benefits to government and industry participants in the federal procurement process in the long run.
The agency said industry can anticipate a more streamlined registration process in SAM.gov and fewer requests to update company information in the website once procurement-specific certifications and representations are moved to individual solicitations.
Meanwhile, the government can expect more traceable and accurate terms and conditions specific to each procurement as a result of the RFO initiative.
Model Deviation Text for FAR’s 6 Sections
In mid-August, the FAR Council released model deviation text for six parts of the FAR as part of the RFO initiative.
The overhauled FAR parts include sections related to administrative and information matters; required sources of supplies and services; acquisition of commercial products and commercial services; and information security and supply chain security.
The council also announced the removal of FAR Part 51, Use of Government Sources by Contractors, and FAR Part 38, Federal Supply Schedule Contracting.
