At any time prior to the closing of the hearing record, the
complaint (notification letter) or answer (response) may be amended with
the permission of the Administrative Law Judge and upon such terms as
he/she may approve. For proceedings pursuant to Sec. 5.11 of part 5 of
this title, such an amendment may include a statement that debarment
action is warranted under Sec. 5.12(a)(1) of part 5 of this title or
under section 3(a) of the Davis-Bacon Act. Such amendments shall be
allowed when justice and the presentation of the merits are served
thereby, provided there is no prejudice to the objecting party's
presentation on the merits. When issues not raised by the pleadings are
reasonably within the scope of the original complaint and are tried by
express or implied consent of the parties, they shall be treated in all
respects as if they had been raised in the pleadings, and such
amendments may be made as necessary to make them conform to the
evidence. The presiding Administrative Law Judge may, upon reasonable
notice and upon such terms as are just, permit supplemental pleadings
setting forth transactions, occurrences or events which have happened
since the date of the pleadings and which are relevant to any of the
issues involved. A continuance in the hearing may be granted or the
record left open to enable the new allegations to be addressed.
