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ORCA and 52.212-3


Desparado

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FAR 4.1201(a) states the following:

(a) Prospective contractors shall complete electronic annual representations and certifications at http://orca.bpn.gov in conjunction with required registration in the Central Contractor Registration (CCR) database (see FAR 4.1102).

( b )

(1) Prospective contractors shall update the representations and certifications submitted to ORCA as necessary, but at least annually, to ensure they are kept current, accurate, and complete. The representations and certifications are effective until one year from date of submission or update to ORCA.

(2) When the conditions in paragraph ( b ) of the clause at 52.219-28, Post-Award Small Business Program Rerepresentation, apply, contractors that represented they were small businesses prior to award of a contract must update the representations and certifications in ORCA as directed by the clause. Contractors that represented they were other than small businesses prior to award of a contract may update the representations and certifications in ORCA as directed by the clause, if their size status has changed since contract award.

( c ) Data in ORCA is archived and is electronically retrievable. Therefore, when a prospective contractor has completed representations and certifications electronically via ORCA, the contracting officer must reference the date of ORCA verification in the contract file, or include a paper copy of the electronically-submitted representations and certifications in the file. Either of these actions satisfies contract file documentation requirements of 4.803(a)(11). However, if an offeror identifies changes to ORCA data pursuant to the FAR provisions at 52.204-8( c ) or 52.212-3( b ), the contracting officer must include a copy of the changes in the contract file.

BUT... the beginning of Provision 52.212-3 states:

An offeror shall complete only paragraphs ( b ) of this provision if the offeror has completed the annual representations and certificates electronically at http://orca.bpn.gov . If an offeror has not completed the annual representations and certifications electronically at the ORCA website, the offeror shall complete only paragraphs © through (m) of this provision.

If I am soliciting for a commercial item and include 52.212-3, are the prospective contractors required to complete ORCA or can they simply complete paragraphs ( c ) through (m) of the provision? Seems contradictory to me.

Thank you for any insight you can provide.

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Desparado:

Agree that 4.1201 seems applicable across the board; but the prescription for the clause 52.204-8 (4.1202) starts out "Except for commercial item solicitations..." So to answer your question, I would say the prospective contractors are not required to complete ORCA.

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Guest carl r culham

Desparado - Take your read of FAR Part 4 one step further to 4.1202 to reach the same conclusion. Note that FAR provision 52.204-8 is not to be included in a commercial item procurement.

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Desparado:

Agree that 4.1201 seems applicable across the board; but the prescription for the clause 52.204-8 (4.1202) starts out "Except for commercial item solicitations..." So to answer your question, I would say the prospective contractors are not required to complete ORCA.

FAR 4.1201(a) ties completion of ORCA representations to registration in CCR. FAR 52-204-7, Central Contractor Registration, generally must be included in Part 12 solicitations. The instruction in FAR 4.1104 refers back to FAR 4.1102(a), which doesn't include any exception for commercial items contracts, so the clause is required in commercial item solicitations unless one of the exceptions in 4.1102(a) applies. If FAR 52.204-7 is required, then any prospective awardee would need to register in CCR prior to award, and the prospective awardee would at the same time have to complete the ORCA representations, per FAR 4.1201(a). So the prospective contractor on most Part 12 procurements would have to register in CCR and complete ORCA. That doesn't mean that an offeror has to be registered in CCR or have completed ORCA at the time it submits a proposal. But if the offeror hasn't completed the ORCA representations at the time it submits its proposal, it would have to fill out paragraphs © through (m) of FAR 52.212-3.

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That's wrong. The only FAR clauses required in a commercial solicitation are FAR 52.212-4 and -5. The requirement for CCR registration is stated at FAR 52.212-4(t).

Don, so do you agree with the previous posts that for a Commercial Acquisition, the completion of ORCA is voluntary per 52.212-3?

I can't see how we can "require" them to do it if the provision states that they can fill out the paperwork instead.

Thank you everyone for your input.

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