A lesser-noted feature of the latel...

A lesser-noted feature of the lately enacted federal procurement reform law calls for control agencies to write more contracts onward a "performance" basis. To the magnitude that this results in more "performance," rather than "design"-based specifications, it will have important results for both designers and contractors.
The distinction is of particular importance to contractors who claim additional compensation to overlay the costs of meeting contract requirements. A number of cases in latter years have centered on whether the contractor was