§8703 Contractor Responsibilities

Summary

Federal agencies must put a clause in prime contracts that requires the main contractor to have and follow reasonable steps to prevent and find violations of section 8702 in its own work and in the businesses it deals with. The main contractor must fully cooperate with any federal agency that is investigating such a violation, even if the contract would otherwise be exempt. If a prime contractor or a subcontractor has good reason to think a violation may have happened, they must quickly report it in writing to the agency inspector general, the agency head if there is no inspector general, or the Attorney General. Giving such a report counts in the sender’s favor if the government later considers suspending or banning them from federal contracts. The duty to include prevention steps does not apply to prime contracts of $100,000 or less or to contracts for commercial products or services.