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ACEC News / Advocacy

October 1, 2021

Council Raises Industry Concerns over Federal Contractor Executive Order

By Dan Hilton

In comments submitted to the FAR Council and the Safer Federal Workforce Task Force, ACEC raised numerous issues the A/E industry has related to Executive Order 14042 ““Ensuring Adequate COVID Safety Protocols for Federal Contractors.”

The executive order, released on September 9th, will require that firms provide adequate COVID-19 safeguards for their workers performing on or in connection with a federal government contract.

As outlined in initial guidance to federal contractors on September 24th, the guidance and EO appear extremely broad, requiring safeguard for those working not just directly on a federal contract, but also those performing support functions, such as HR and IT. 

Our letter makes clear that many firms work on teams, both within their company as well as with other firms, serving as either a prime contractor or a subcontractor. The documentation, transmission, and ultimate safekeeping of this personal information is a concern to many businesses, large and small. For very large companies with locations throughout the United States, verifying vaccination status presents challenges unforeseen or not easily resolved, including what form(s) of documentation is acceptable and how long it must be maintained.

Additional areas of concern include the treatment of ID/IQ and other multi-year contracts within the acquisition threshold of $250,000, as well as how federal and nonfederal contractors will be successfully segregated in order to comply with the executive order.

The FAR Council is expected to release a contract clause on October 8th, ACEC will be hosting a webinar for its members on Monday, October 11th at 1:30 EST with attorneys from Covington and Burling’s Government Contract Practice Group.

Click here to register for the webinar.

Click here to read ACEC’s comments to the FAR Council and the Safer Federal Workforce Task Force.

Dan Hilton is ACEC Director of Procurement Advocacy and International Affairs.


All comments to blog posts will be moderated by ACEC staff.

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Date

October 1, 2021

Category

ACEC NEWS / ADVOCACY

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