The White House Office of Management Budget’s (OMB) Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP) announced significant revisions to Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR), including to Part 36, “Construction and Architect-Engineer Contracts.” OFFP said that the FAR Council also plans to release: (1) the FAR Companion Guide, which provides strategic “how to” tips and other insights from experienced practitioners across the government on using the new streamlined FAR to meet taxpayer needs; (2) Practitioner’s Albums, which provide learning tools to accelerate adoption of innovative practices for getting better contract outcomes; and (3) the Category Guide, which includes practical advice from category managers for getting the most out of best-in-class and other preferred government-wide contracts.
Finally, as part of today’s announcement, OFPP is also directing agencies to use government-wide contracts for common commercial products and services including “best-in-class” and “preferred” contracts, rather than maintaining their own contracts. More information on the FAR Overhaul is available here.