New Rule, Same Requirements? – The Department of Defense’s New Rule on Voluntary Disclosures of Defective Pricing Matters

The Department of Defense (“DoD”) recently issued a final rule regarding contractor disclosures of defective pricing issues on DoD contracts, which can arise where the contractor’s certified cost or pricing data is inaccurate, incomplete or is not current.  In such cases, these errors and omissions can result in significant contract overpayments by the government.  While the new rule incentivizes contractors to voluntarily disclose defective pricing matters, the rule’s impact may be somewhat muted by contractors’ existing mandatory disclosure obligations under the Federal Acquisition Regulation ("FAR”).