CSA APPLAUDS QUICK ACTION ON TASK ORDER RULE 

In comments submitted to the Defense Acquisition Regulation (DFAR) Council, the Contract Services Association (CSA) commended the Council for expeditiously publishing the interim rule, which implements Section 813 of the FY05 National Defense Authorization Act (P.L. 108-375). This section clarifies the contract period for task or delivery order contracts by amending 10 U.S.C. 2304a to permit a total period of up to 10 years, which may be extended if the head of the agency determines in writing that exceptional circumstances require a longer contract period.  
CSA noted in its comments that “by publishing this interim rule, effective upon publication (December 15, 2004), within 60 days of enactment of P.L. 108-375, the DFARS council has acted to ensure that problems encountered with implementation of Section 843 do not recur. In that instance, some military departments were immediately self-executing the limitation before the effective date of the rule (March 23, 2004), and, some were extending its applications to other types of contracts. Lack of uniformity among the military departments in implementing Section 843 created some confusion for Government service contractors with existing contracts that were being modified or where options were exercised.”  CSA had strongly opposed Section 843 of the FY04 National Defense Authorization Act that imposed a five-year limit on period of performance, including all options and modifications, for all task and delivery order contracts awarded by the Department. “We were pleased when the Congress adopted a provision clarifying the language, allowing up to an additional five years for a total of not more than 10 years (or longer in exceptional circumstances),” said Chris Jahn, President of CSA.  

A full copy of the CSA comments can be obtained on the CSA website at www.csa-dc.org.

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CSA is the nation’s oldest and largest association of service contractors representing over 200 companies that provide a wide array of services to Federal, state, and local governments. CSA members do over $40 billion in Government contracts and employ nearly 500,000 workers, with two-thirds of those employees being members of private sector employee unions. CSA members represent the diversity of the government services industry and include small businesses, 8(a)-certified companies, small disadvantaged businesses, women-owned, HubZone, Native American owned firms and global multi-billion dollar corporations. CSA promotes Excellence in Contracting by offering significant professional development opportunities for government contractors and government employees, including the only program manager certification program for service contractors. For more information on CSA, go to: www.csa-dc.org.