DoD Increases the Justification and Approval Threshold for Its Sole Source Contract Awards to 8(a) Contractors to $100 Million

Stinson LLP – Implementing Section 823 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 (NDAA FY ‘20), on July 5, 2020, the Department of Defense (DoD) amended the DoD Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) to increase the threshold for requiring sole source justifications of awards to Small Business Administration (SBA) certified 8(a) small disadvantaged businesses.  Under the new DFARS final rule, DFARS 206.303-1, no formal justification and approval (J&A) will be required for a sole source award of $100 million or less to such an 8(a) small business.  This final rule is a significant increase over the current $22 million threshold which applies to procurements covered by the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 6.3 rule.