New Year, New Rules—Changes Are Coming to the FAR’s Small Business Subcontracting Limits and Nonmanufacturer Rule

On Dec. 4, 2018, the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council finally released a proposed rule to implement changes to certain small business subcontracting regulations required by the 2013 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). 83 Fed. Reg. 62540 (Dec. 4, 2018). This is a welcome, if not long-overdue sign of progress. Over the last half-decade since the passage of the 2013 NDAA, contractors and Government personnel alike have struggled to comply with an amalgam of inconsistent rules regarding the extent to which a small business may subcontract work under a federal small business set-aside contract.