How Federal Government Contractors Get Work
A government contract is specifically defined as "any agreement or modification thereof between any contracting agency and any person for the furnishing of supplies or services or for the use of real or personal property including lease arrangements." (41 CFR Part 60-250.2) In other words, if you provide goods, services, or facilities that any given government wants to use, and you can come to an agreement about it, you can be a government contractor. Of course, if the agency in question is part of the federal government, you become a federal government contractor.
The first thing to get is a DUNS number. DUNS stands for "Data Universal Numbering System" and it's used by the federal government to keep track of contractors and their locations. You need this number in order to register with the Central Contractor Register, which is used by the government's information exchange system.
Where most people run into the headaches is all of the regulations the government requires before they'll sign a contract with you. First off, for a lot of government work it helps to have a security clearance. The Lockheed Martin Corporation, just to pick the biggest federal government contractor out there, does not need security breaches when they're working on the latest greatest plane for the Air Force. It wouldn't do our forces much good if opposing military knew all of the specs and capabilities of our new planes. Likewise, in the civilian sector, any federal government contractor in charge of data migration for the CIA or FBI will not get the contract if they can't assure the agency's information security. However, there are plenty of federal government contracts that only require a minimal security clearance, such as leasing out office space to a local branch or building new roads.
The other regulations that can get entertaining are the employment requirements. In order to get federal contracts, you must abide by the Federal Contractor Job Listing Program. You have to try and hire a certain percentage of your total work force from disabled, Vietnam-era, and other eligible veterans. In addition, you're required to immediately list any and all job openings with the nearest State Job Service Office. Exceptions to that requirement are jobs that are executive, top management, filled from within the company or that will last less than three days. If a given job doesn't fit one of those categories, you have to give the State Job Office a chance to fill it. Qualified special disabled veterans, Vietnam veterans, and veterans who served on active duty in any war or action for which a campaign badge was authorized get priority referral. This doesn't mean that you have to hire them, but it does mean that they'll get first crack at it. In addition, if you're a federal contractor that hires subcontractors, you may have to make sure that your subcontractors follow these requirements as well. If your subcontractor gets more than $25, 000 from you, they have to abide by these requirements or both of you are held accountable. You also have to have written affirmative action plans if you have 50 or more employees and $50, 000 or more in federal government contracts.
Then, of course, there's the specific regulations you'll need to know for your particular business specialty, which is way too huge to get into here. The most important thing to know about federal contracting is that it can be a quite fulfilling way to serve your country while making a living as long as you don't mind study. You have to keep up with all the latest regulation and policy changes, you have to know how to structure your bids, and of course you have to do your market research. Best of luck!
Written by Sabre Consulting, Copyright 2008, All rights reserved. If you'd like to find out more about how
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