New EVM contract standard issued by NASA

An interim rule to apply earned-value management to NASA's major acquisition contracts and to those worth at least $20 million has been issued by the agency.

Under the new rule published earlier this month in the Federal Register:

• NASA will require EVM in all development and production contracts and subcontracts worth $20 million or more; major acquisition contracts valued at less than $20 million will follow the EVM guidelines outlined in the compliance standard already created by the Office of Management and Budget.
  
• Contracts and subcontracts valued at $50 million or more must have the EVM clause formally validated and accepted by the government.
  
• For contracts and subcontracts worth less than $20 million and not classified as major acquisitions, EVM application is not required, and implementation will be left up to the discretion of the program manager.
  
• Contracts for nondevelopmental engineering support services, steady state operations, basic and applied research, and routine services are not required to include EVM.