AGC cautioned the Obama Administration to reject calls to impose new contracting rules that would allow for blacklisting of companies based on arbitrary reasons, false accusations and unproven anonymous complaints.

The proposed changes, referred to as 'High Road' contracting rules, also have the potential to delay countless federal construction projects by adding new levels of time-consuming and costly bureaucratic reviews.

Read AGC's press release here. The news was covered in Engineering News-Record.

For more information, contact Brian Turmail at (703) 837-5310 or turmailb@agc.org.

The White House on July 29 formally unveiled contracting and workforce reforms that are designed to save the taxpayers at least $40 billion a year. The reforms, released by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), focuses on three areas: improving acquisition, managing the multi-sector workforce, and contractor performance information.

Previously, President Obama established in a March 4 memorandum his principles for contracting reform, and charged the OMB with identifying the best approaches to accomplish his goals.

The guidance requires agencies to reduce contracts by a minimum of seven percent, with special focus on "high-risk" contracts, such as non-competitive contracts and cost-reimbursement contracts. The guidance also requires agencies for the first time to track contractor performance through a new unified database, the Past Performance Information Retrieval System (PPIRS) located at www.ppirs.gov. The White House reports that Federal agencies will be able to check on a contractor's past performance before signing a new contract with it. OMB will be monitoring their compliance with this requirement and will be publicly release statistics on agency compliance.

The guidance on managing the multi-sector workforce lays out a new framework for managing the workforce that evaluates all the functions an organization performs to assess if an agency has achieved the best combination of public and private labor resources to serve the American people. Agencies will be required to pilot this new framework by examining at least one program, project, or activity where the agency has concerns about over-reliance on contractors.

A second phase of contracting guidance is scheduled to be released in September. This next phase will focus on maximizing competition, choosing appropriate contract types, building the capacity of the federal acquisition workforce, and clarifying when outsourcing is appropriate.

AGC will continue to engage with key Administration decision-makers and contracting leaders on Capitol Hill as these issues further develop.

For more information, please contact Marco Giamberardino at (703) 837-5325 or giamberm@agc.org.

Adhering to federal contractual requirements can be complicated as any subcontract or purchase order must follow the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) requirements.  To assist in that effort, ConsensusDOCS has created a guidance document to its newly published 752 Standard Subcontract for Federal Construction Projects.   

The sample exhibit of FAR requirements for federal construction work references more than 50 FAR requirements, and was written for use in conjunction with the ConsensusDOCS 752, specifically section 12.14.  Any contractor considering subcontract work should consider the new ConsensusDOCS standard subcontract and corresponding guidance document as a helpful tool.  

More information can be found at www.consensusdocs.org.

Applies to Recovery Act Funded Federal-Aid Projects 

On June 22, 2009, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) published Implementing Guidance for the Reports on Use of Funds Pursuant to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 ("Recovery Act"). This guidance details the reporting requirements included in Section 1512 of the Recovery Act for recipients of grants, loans and other forms of assistance.  

The reports required by Section 1512 will be submitted by recipients beginning in October 2009 and will provide information to the government, such as:

• Who is receiving Recovery Act dollars and in what amounts?
• What projects or activities are being funded with Recovery Act dollars?
• What is the completion status of such projects or activities and what impact have they had on job creation and retention? 

The reporting framework in the referenced guidance has been updated and enhanced to capture additional spending data from prime recipients and sub-recipients of federal financial assistance Recovery Act awards. Further, OMB has deployed a nationwide data collection system at the Web site www.FederalReporting.gov that will reduce the information reporting burden on recipients by simplifying reporting instructions and providing a user-friendly mechanism for submitting required data. 
 
Read Cover Memo and Guidance

View Recipient Reporting Data Model - Template, Data Dictionary, XML Schema

Read the List of Programs Subject to Recipient Reporting 

For more information, contact Marco Giamberardino at (703) 837-5325 or giamberm@agc.org.

On June 22, AGC submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) written comments for consideration in the interim final regulation on federally-assisted projects. These projects would include building, highway and municipal and utility projects funded by the stimulus.  Read AGC's comments here.

OMB issued guidance on April 23 establishing government-wide guidance and standard award terms for agencies to include in financial assistance awards (namely, grants, cooperative agreements and loans) as part of their implementation of the Recovery Act. AGC is currently reviewing new guidance issued by OMB on June 22 to determine any significant changes to the April 23 guidance and its impact on the construction industry.

For more information, contact Marco Giamberardino at (703) 837-5325 or giamberm@agc.org.

The federal government has agreed to further delay implementation of the E-Verify rule for federal contractors until September 8. Contracts and solicitations issued prior to September 8, 2009, will not contain the mandate.

The Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Council issued the final rule on November 14, 2008, requiring contracting officers to mandate contractor use of E-Verify in solicitations issued and contracts awarded after January 15, 2009. In response to a legal challenge to the rule, the government agreed to suspend the rule until February 20, then extended the decision to May 21, and again until June 30.  The plaintiffs in the lawsuit requested the extension after President Obama's Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel issued a memorandum directing federal agencies to consider extending by 60 days the effective dates of all regulations already issued but not yet in effect, in order to allow the new Administration a chance to review any "questions of law and policy raised."

Click here for a list of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ's) for Federal Contractors & E-Verify. Visit the AGC Web site for critical components of the final rule.

For more information, contact Kelly Knott at (202) 547-4685 or knottk@agc.org.

On June 1, AGC submitted to the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Councils written comments on a series of interim rules amending the FAR in order to implement several key provisions set forth in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The interim rules were issued March 31 without any opportunity for prior public comment.  AGC was the only construction organization to raise concern over the onerous reporting requirements in the interim rules.

To read AGC's comments and view copies of the Interim Rules, please visit the following:

• Recovery Act - Reporting Requirements
• Recovery Act - Buy American Requirements for Construction Material
• Recovery Act - GAO/IG Access

In order to allow AGC members and Chapters to communicate with the government, AGC set up a special portal located at the AGC Legislative Action Center in order to highlight key issues that needed to be addressed.

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) also issued its own guidance on April 23 establishing government-wide guidance and standard award terms for agencies to include in financial assistance awards (namely, grants, cooperative agreements and loans) as part of their implementation of the Recovery Act. Public comments are due by June 22:

• Recovery Act - OMB Interim Guidance

AGC is now preparing to submit comments to OMB on behalf of the entire association by the June 22 deadline.

For more information, contact Marco Giamberardino at (703) 837-5325 or giamberm@agc.org.

In addition to the guidance to Federal contractors issued by the FAR Councils last week, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) published Implementing Guidance for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

This updated guidance applies to Recovery projects that are federally-assisted (grants, SRF loans, etc.) rather than directly funded by the federal government. It seeks to clarify many key positions including the applicability of Buy America provisions, and reporting requirements. Updates to the guidance are based on ongoing input received from the public, Congress, state and local government officials, grant and contract recipients and federal personnel.

AGC is currently reviewing this guidance in detail to determine its impact on construction contractors performing work funded by the recovery plan and will update AGC members on the findings.

For more information, contact Marco Giamberardino at (703) 837-5325 or giamberm@agc.org.

May 27-30, Washington D.C.

Register now for AGC's Federal Contractors Conference at www.agc.org/fedcon. This conference is the only national event where AGC contractors and Federal agency personnel can meet and review procurement and contracting issues from around the United States. This year will include meetings with USACE, NAVFAC, USAF, GSA, OBO and the AGC Federal Owners Advisory Council.  The conference also will include a day of visits to Capitol Hill to discuss increased infrastructure investment and ensuring fair federal contracting opportunities, among other issues.

Sponsorships are also still available and function as a great way to increase your company's brand awareness, create positive public relations, and gain recognition as a key player in federal contracting and procurement. 

For more information, contact Marco Giamberardino at (703) 837-5325 or giamberm@agc.org.

The federal government has agreed to further delay implementation of a rule requiring federal contractors and subcontractors to use the Department of Homeland Security's E-Verify system to verify employment eligibility. An official announcement is expected to be published in the Federal Register on January 30.

The Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Council issued the final rule on November 14, 2008, requiring contracting officers to mandate contractor use of E-Verify in solicitations issued and contracts awarded after January 15, 2009. In response to a legal challenge to the rule, the government agreed two weeks ago to suspend the rule until February 20. Yesterday, the government agreed to delay implementation until May 21. The plaintiffs in the lawsuit requested the extension after President Obama's Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel issued a memorandum directing federal agencies to consider extending by 60 days the effective dates of all regulations already issued but not yet in effect, in order to allow the new Administration a chance to review any "questions of law and policy raised."

Click here for a list of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ's) for Federal Contractors & E-Verify. Visit the AGC Web site for critical components of the final rule.

For more information, contact Denise Gold at (703) 837-5326 or goldd@agc.org.