Overview
FAR Subpart 4.17 implements statutory requirements for non-DoD executive agencies to submit annual inventories of service contract activities to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). This subpart ensures transparency regarding the government’s reliance on service contractors and makes the resulting data available to the public.
Key Rules
- Applicability: Applies to all FAIR Act agencies (except the Department of Defense) and their service contractors/first-tier subcontractors.
- Thresholds for Reporting:
- Cost-reimbursement, Time-and-Materials, and Labor-Hour contracts: All contracts/orders exceeding the Simplified Acquisition Threshold (SAT).
- Fixed-price contracts: All contracts/orders with an estimated total value of $500,000 or greater (for awards made in FY 2016 and subsequent years).
- Reporting Mechanism: Data is pulled from the Federal Procurement Data System (FPDS) and supplemented by direct contractor reporting via SAM.gov.
- Exemptions: Requirements do not apply to actions entirely funded by DoD, classified contracts, or contracts awarded with a generic entity identifier.
- Review Timeline: Agencies must review contractor data by November 15; contractors must resolve discrepancies by November 30.
Responsibilities
- Contracting Officers (COs):
- Must insert clause 52.204-14 (standard service contracts) or 52.204-15 (indefinite-delivery contracts) into qualifying solicitations and awards.
- Responsible for verifying reporting compliance at the task order level for IDIQs.
- Must exercise contractual remedies for non-compliance and document failures in the contractor’s past performance record (CPARS).
- Agencies:
- Review contractor-reported information for "reasonableness and consistency."
- Compile the annual inventory and submit it to OMB by January 15.
- Post the inventory publicly and publish a Federal Register notice by February 15.
- Contractors:
- Must report required service contract data annually in SAM.gov.
- Responsible for ensuring first-tier subcontractors provide necessary data for reporting.
Practical Implications
- Administrative Burden: Contractors winning service awards over $500k must build internal processes to track and report labor hours and dollar amounts for both their own performance and that of their first-tier subcontractors.
- Past Performance Risks: Failure to comply with these reporting requirements is a matter of record; COs are explicitly directed to use "appropriate contractual remedies" and reflect the delinquency in CPARS, which can damage a contractor's ability to win future work.
- Public Scrutiny: Because these inventories are publicly accessible, the types of services outsourced and the degree of agency reliance on specific vendors are open to analysis by competitors, oversight bodies, and the public.
- Data Accuracy: Contractors should expect agency inquiries every November if their reported SAM.gov data does not align with the agency's internal contract records or FPDS data.