In case you weren’t watching, there were some significant
changes to the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) recently.The Secretary of Defense issued a Federal
Acquisition Circular Number 2005-37 on October 14, 2009.Of the 7 changes implemented in this
document, item V (Limitations on Pass-Through Charges (Interim)) has the most
severe impact.This change restricts
what they call “excessive pass thru charges”by contractors from subcontractors.Basically if the contractor has a subcontractor with more than 70
percent of the total cost of work to be performed on the contract, the
contractor cannot receive indirect costs or profits on this subcontract.This restriction is effective October 14,
2009 (it is now in effect)!Many
contractors may not be aware of the change.So the amount of work put on the
contractor just grows.It is becoming more
difficult for the average small business owner to know how to safely fulfill
requirements of government contracting.It is clear small business needs help in the area of government
contracting now more than ever.