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ASA Supported: Federal Construction Agencies Post Change Order Policies and Procedures

On September 23, the Federal Acquisition (FAR) Council released the final rule implementing an ASA backed reform that will bring unprecedented transparency and accountability to federal agencies’ change order processes.  ASA, along with the Construction Industry Procurement Coalition (CIPC), successfully led the legislative effort to include these reforms in 2018 in the National Defense Authorization Act responsible for this final rule.

Effective on October 28, this regulation applies to any federal solicitation for small business construction contracts and will require agencies to:

  • Publish their policies and procedures for processing change orders (REAs);
  • Begin to track the time it takes the agency to definitize change orders; and
  • Publish this data on those solicitations and on a public website.

The new regulation will bring transparency to an issue that has long been costing federal contractors time and money. Federal agencies will have to focus on creating coherent policies and procedures for processing change orders.

Finally, ASA successfully advocated to include another change order reform bill, Small Business Payment for Performance Act, in the House version of this year’s National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). If enacted into law, the bill will require agencies to pay upfront at least a portion of directed change orders. ASA will continue to advocate for contractor priorities as the House and Senate work to a final NDAA.

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