Jump to content

Annual Subcontractor Certifications, Representations & Assurances


Recommended Posts

Just wondering how other contractors manage subcontractor annual certs-n-reps.  Do you have a form developed by your organization that you request subcontractors fill out annually?  If so, is it a standard form or is it tailored to the section K included within the solicitation that they now work on as s subcontractor?  Do you review and keep copies of their SAM.gov current record?

I am thinking that developing a statement similar to that found in FAR 52.204-8 (d) would be sufficient (changing reference to "solicitation" to "subcontract" and "offeror/offer" to "subcontractor/subcontract" to have the subcontractor sign off on annually, with a copy of their current SAM.gov certs-n-reps.

Looking forward to getting your input on how you manage and document annual subcontractor certification after award!!!

Capture1.JPG

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My experience was with two major prime contractors. Standard Reps and Certs were obtained with each transaction over a certain standard dollar threshold. Topics included debarment, payments to influence federal transactions, foreign and small business status with applicable NAICS Code(s), non-segregated facilities, affirmative action, counterfeit parts and other matters. In each case the business determined that annual certs were not as audit defensible to the customer and/or traceable as to the subcontractors response at any give time as needed to best run the business. In addition, on balance, managing to ensure annual certs were on file and covered everything needed in each year, was administratively inconvenient and expensive. Also, there was a view that SAM certified to the Government, not to the contractor and therefore, did not fulfill some government contract requirements to "obtain" this or that rep or cert from a subcontractor.   

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@Neil Roberts, this is helpful though I'm unclear on a few of your comments.  It sounds like these two major prime contractors you worked for would/could then collect updated certs n reps several times a year if a subcontractor was receiving several large payments, because once a year was not sufficient in case the subcontractor's data changed between payments.  Is that correct?  I'm not clear on your point about administratively inconvenient and expensive.

In trying to understand what to include, I looked through the FAR and also looked at a couple of examples in which my company is a subcontractor and were asked to complete annual certifications.  I've compiled it in an Excel doc that I'm attaching here for everyone's use (and hopefully feedback).  There examples of primes who sent us annual certs to complete and sign are in Columns I-L (and the check boxes in each of the columns represent that they had included).  

Please let me know what you think.  As another option, I was wondering if it would be best to tailor each subcontractors annual certs-n-reps to include those FAR provisions that the CO had included in the solicitation.  This could be quite time consuming and labor intensive.

 

Annual Certifications.xlsx

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

@LeighHar, just to clarify:

1. my focus was on FAR 52.204-8 only where the prime is required to obtain a rep and cert from the subcontractor. I do not think it is a good practice for a prime to obtain and rep and cert from a subcontractor unless specifically required to do so in the solicitation and subcontract or reasonably required for related substantiated business reasons. Not every clause/provision listed in 52.204-8 requires prime to obtain a rep and cert from the subcontractor.

2. The approach was to obtain the prime developed standard rep and cert for subcontractor solicitations and transactions where 52.204-8 is applicable. The rep and cert was incorporated into each contract with a subcontractor.

3. I think that "accepting" SAM certifications made by a subcontractor in lieu of obtaining a rep and cert directly from a subcontractor is not what is called for in the requirement. Also, the rep and cert was made to the Government, not the prime. This tends to put the prime in a weak position to sue for contract breach in the event "something goes wrong" relating to the rep and cert.

4. Annual reps and certs were tried many years prior and found to be more costly to enforce, access accurately without questions, and administer the database properly than obtaining individual reps and certs. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Neil Roberts said:

I think that "accepting" SAM certifications made by a subcontractor in lieu of obtaining a rep and cert directly from a subcontractor is not what is called for in the requirement. Also, the rep and cert was made to the Government, not the prime. This tends to put the prime in a weak position to sue for contract breach in the event "something goes wrong" relating to the rep and cert.

I am not questioning what a prime does or does not do but I find this conclusion to be interesting.  It just seems folks do not have a grasp of the FAR and its clauses that appear in prime contracts.  Primes should carry on and do what they feel is best yet I hope they are considering the following.

52.204-19 which has been concluded to provide a nexus to SAM.gov use by primes.

52.219-8 at (e) that does provide a nexus of SAM.gov use by primes.

As I note the above I know requirements regarding excluded parties has change with regard to primes and their due diligence of subs.  I always wonder how a prime checks excluded parties if not SAM?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In my experience, there are a variety of ways that primes execute requirements.

With respect to excluded parties, I am familiar with handling it by contracting for a service that provides the listing to the prime as they are effective. The service may use SAM or perhaps a government generated listing updated and published daily or as required. In any event, the excluded parties list is provided internally to Information Technology to enter the name and other information in the prime's supplier database. Purchase transactions will lock down and not be generated by the procurement system for a supplier identified on the listing until such time as they may be removed. That kind of process is driven by the cost to supplier management if every procurement contract representative had to search SAM.

I can't say how or to what degree primes as a group review existing subcontracting processes against new and changed regulations. Ours were driven by a team that met weekly to plan, brief management and execute processes for new or changed regulations.   

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.
×
×
  • Create New...