[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 17 (Friday, January 25, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5450-5451]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-01565]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

[Docket 2012-0076; Sequence 49; OMB Control No. 9000-0102]


Information Collection; Prompt Payment

AGENCY: Department of Defense (DOD), General Services Administration 
(GSA), and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

ACTION: Notice of request for public comments regarding an extension to 
an existing OMB clearance.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: Under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act, the 
Regulatory Secretariat will be submitting to the Office of Management 
and Budget (OMB) a request to review and approve an extension to a 
previously approved information collection requirement concerning 
prompt payment.

DATES: Submit comments on or before March 26, 2013.

ADDRESSES: Submit comments identified by Information Collection 9000-
0102, Prompt Payment, by any of the following methods:
     Regulations.gov: http://www.regulations.gov. Submit 
comments via the Federal eRulemaking portal by searching the OMB 
control number. Select the link ``Submit a Comment'' that corresponds 
with ``Information Collection 9000-0102, Prompt Payment''. Follow the 
instructions provided at the ``Submit a Comment'' screen. Please 
include your name, company name (if any), and ``Information Collection 
9000-0102, Prompt Payment'' on your attached document.
     Fax: 202-501-4067.
     Mail: General Services Administration, Regulatory 
Secretariat (MVCB), 1275 First Street NE., Washington, DC 20417. ATTN: 
Hada Flowers/IC 9000-0102, Prompt Payment.
    Instructions: Please submit comments only and cite Information 
Collection 9000-0102, Prompt Payment, in all correspondence related to 
this collection. All comments received will be posted without change to 
http://www.regulations.gov, including any personal and/or business 
confidential information provided.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Edward Chambers, Procurement 
Analyst, Office of Acquisition Policy, GSA, (202) 501-3221 or email 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

A. Purpose

    Part 32 of the FAR and the clause at FAR 52.232-5, Payments Under 
Fixed-Price Construction Contracts, require that contractors under 
fixed-price construction contracts certify, for every progress payment 
request, that payments to subcontractors/suppliers have been made from 
previous payments received under the contract and timely payments will 
be made from the proceeds of the payment covered by the certification, 
and that this payment request does not include any amount which the 
contractor intends to withhold from a subcontractor/supplier. Part 32 
of the FAR and the clause at 52.232-27, Prompt Payment for Construction 
Contracts, further require

[[Page 5451]]

that contractors on construction contracts--
    (a) Notify subcontractors/suppliers of any amounts to be withheld 
and furnish a copy of the notification to the contracting officer;
    (b) Pay interest to subcontractors/suppliers if payment is not made 
by 7 days after receipt of payment from the Government, or within 7 
days after correction of previously identified deficiencies;
    (c) Pay interest to the Government if amounts are withheld from 
subcontractors/suppliers after the Government has paid the contractor 
the amounts subsequently withheld, or if the Government has 
inadvertently paid the contractor for nonconforming performance; and
    (d) Include a payment clause in each subcontract which obligates 
the contractor to pay the subcontractor for satisfactory performance 
under its subcontract not later than 7 days after such amounts are paid 
to the contractor, include an interest penalty clause which obligates 
the contractor to pay the subcontractor an interest penalty if payments 
are not made in a timely manner, and include a clause requiring each 
subcontractor to include these clauses in each of its subcontractors 
and to require each of its subcontractors to include similar clauses in 
their subcontracts.
    These requirements are imposed by Public Law 100-496, the Prompt 
Payment Act Amendments of 1988.
    Contracting officers will be notified if the contractor withholds 
amounts from subcontractors/suppliers after the Government has already 
paid the contractor the amounts withheld. The contracting officer must 
then charge the contractor interest on the amounts withheld from 
subcontractors/suppliers. Federal agencies could not comply with the 
requirements of the law if this information were not collected.

B. Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping Burden

    Data from the Federal Procurement Data System (FPDS) regarding 
fixed price construction contracts for Fiscal Year (FY) 2011 revealed 
that the number of affected contracts and, therefore, respondents has 
been reduced from the previously approved information collection. Time 
required to assemble and prepare notification or certification 
regarding withhold is estimated at .11 hours per notice. This estimate 
is based on the assumption that some construction contractors will be 
required to notify the Government of withholding and others will have 
to provide their payment certification, and that 2,679 contractors 
under a total of 4,450 contracts will have to notify the Government 11 
times per year. This estimate assumes automation of contractor records. 
The recordkeeping burden is based on the revised number of contracts 
for FY11 and the estimated hours from the previously approved 
collection.

Annual Reporting Burden

    Respondents: 2,679.
    Responses per Respondent: 18.27.
    Total Responses: 48,950.
    Hours per Response: .11.
    Total Burden Hours: 5,384.

Annual Recordkeeping Burden

    Recordkeepers: 4,450.
    Hours per Recordkeeper: 18.
    Total Recordkeeping Burden Hours: 80,100.
    Obtaining Copies of Proposals: Requesters may obtain a copy of the 
information collection documents from the General Services 
Administration, Regulatory Secretariat (MVCB), 1275 First Street NE., 
Washington, DC 20417, telephone (202) 501-4755. Please cite OMB Control 
No. 9000-0102, Prompt Payment, in all correspondence.

    Dated: January 18, 2013.
William Clark,
Acting Director, Federal Acquisition Policy Division, Office of 
Governmentwide Acquisition Policy, Office of Governmentwide Policy.
[FR Doc. 2013-01565 Filed 1-24-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6820-EP-P