Overview
This section prescribes procedures for Contracting Officers (CO) to ensure compliance with Service Contract Labor Standards when the specific geographic location of service performance cannot be determined before issuing a solicitation. It establishes a framework for identifying potential performance areas and incorporating the appropriate Department of Labor wage determinations for all competing offerors.
Key Rules
- Identification Effort: The CO must first attempt to identify possible performance locations by researching previous contractors, searching electronic databases, and reviewing responses to presolicitation notices.
- Wage Determination (WD) Requirements:
- If all possible locations are identified, the CO must obtain and include a WD for every single locality in the solicitation.
- If new locations are identified before the closing date, the CO must obtain additional WDs, amend the solicitation, and extend the offer due date if necessary.
- Procedural Requirements for Unknown Locations: When potential locations remain unidentified, the CO must:
- Include FAR clause 52.222-49, Service Contract Labor Standards–Place of Performance Unknown.
- Specify in the solicitation a deadline (typically 10 to 15 days) for offerors to notify the government of additional places of performance.
- Late Requests: While late requests for WDs do not disqualify an offeror, they are subject to specific "late receipt" rules and may result in the offeror losing price adjustment protections.
- Retroactive Incorporation: If a successful offeror performs in a location for which no WD was requested timely, the CO must incorporate the WD after award retroactively to the date of award with no adjustment to the contract price.
Practical Implications
- Shifted Responsibility: The burden of risk is placed on the offeror to proactively identify their intended place of performance and request a wage determination within the specified window (usually 10-15 days from solicitation issuance).
- Financial Risk: Failure by a contractor to request a wage determination for their specific area in a timely manner can lead to mandatory retroactive wage increases that must be absorbed entirely by the contractor without a price adjustment to the government.