Tom Pettit Discusses FAR Rewrite and Small Business Implications in Law360

Arnold & Porter Government Contracts senior associate Thomas A. Pettit was quoted in the Law360 article, “FAR Rewrite Could Cut Small Biz From Task Orders.” The article discussed how updates to the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) may create conflicts with Small Business Administration (SBA) rules and affect small business participation in federal contracting.

Tom noted that the FAR Council’s revisions to Part 19 conflict with existing SBA regulations, particularly regarding small business size recertifications under multiple-award contracts.

“Ultimately, I think what we're going to see is that SBA regulations on that prevail,” he said. “And the main reason for that is that SBA adjudicates size protests. And so, if you have a disappointed offeror in a procurement for a task order, and under SBA regulations an order level size recertification would have been required, SBA is going to likely ignore what the FAR rewrite says and focus on its own regulations.”

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