Businesses competing for federal contracts will be successful if they are able to offer high quality products and services for a reasonable price when compared with the offerings of their competitors. A recent bid protest decision issued by the Government Accountability Office offers a poignant reminder about how challenging it can be to come up with a price to perform a federal service contract.
Read MoreHere’s some old news that bears repeating. When it comes to prices offered to the Government to perform a fixed-price service contract, GAO won’t second guess the award of a contract with low-ball prices even though it might appear there’s no way the contractor would pay the minimum wage rates required by the Service Contract Act.
Read MoreA recent decision issued by the Court of Federal Claims discusses what happens if an employee says he plans to leave, but hasn’t departed, the company putting him forward as a key person for a contract. Read on for some thoughts about how this decision affects what can happen if a key person decides to bail.
Read MoreConventional wisdom holds that bid protests are an uphill battle. It can be tough to win them. And sometimes when you win, you still lose because the contract’s still awarded to your competitor. A recent bid protest decision illustrates how a successful protest prompted the agency to appoint a new evaluation team that changed the outcome.
Read MoreContractors are on their own when it comes to determining what wages they must pay under a contract covered by the Service Contract Act. That’s exactly what the Government Accountability Office held when it denied the protest of a prospective contractor that sought a ruling about when under a diving services contract it should pay prevailing wages to its divers.
Read MoreWhen it comes to proposal submission, late is late, for material RFP requirements, even if it is your subcontractor’s data which is untimely. It is a harsh but long-standing rule of law for offerors.
Read MoreThe canon of bid protest decisions is littered with many, many cases in which the Government rejected a proposal due to a technical glitch. A recent decision issued by the Government Accountability Office (“GAO”) demonstrates, once again, that little things can consign a proposal to the waste bin.
Read MoreMany service contracts require that certain jobs, i.e., “key positions,” be held by highly qualified personnel dedicated to the project. So, what happens if that rock star project manager you spent months recruiting for a “key position” bails out on you in the middle of the competition to win the very contract the rock star was proposed to manage?
Read MoreThe Government is entitled to procure supplies and services that are carefully focused to meet its needs. However, if a solicitation’s terms preclude otherwise qualified companies from competing for the award, then the solicitation might unduly restrict competition.
Read MoreThe Court of Federal Claims sustained the protest of a contractor that argued that the Government could not hire a replacement contractor through the use of an improperly justified sole source acquisition. The Court set aside the new award—a result that likely will require the Government to continue working with a contractor with which it allegedly was dissatisfied. Should an agency have the ability to make a change using a sole source procurement? In the commercial world, feathers might get ruffled, but a jilted vendor wouldn’t be able to get a court to throw out a replacement. In our world, it’s all different.
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In tennis, foot faults are minor, yet sometimes game changing, errors. Three recent bid protest decisions demonstrate how seemingly technical glitches in the presentation of key personnel qualifications created potentially insurmountable errors.
Read MoreThe GAO recently found that a contract modification was so far outside the scope of a contract that it should have been the subject of a new procurement. Read on to learn what happened and what to consider when a contract is significantly modified such that it almost seems like a whole new beast.
Read MoreYou just won a contract. You brought that brilliant project manager on board. Then, your competitor files a protest and you have to stop work. What do you do to keep that manager in the stable? A recent case at the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals denied a contractor the cost of doing something quite reasonable—keeping the manager on board.
Read MoreThe National Defense Authorization Act of 2018 (NDAA) was enacted roughly one year ago. In the midst of the NDAA’s customary laundry list of mandates, Congress directed the Department of Defense (DoD) to provide new “enhanced” debriefing rights. Where do things stand today?
Read MoreGAO has implemented a new electronic filing system and a $350 filing fee; DoD will now respond to written questions following a required debriefing.
Read MoreSometimes bid protest “reform” is a clever disguise for anything but reform.
Read MoreAgencies generally can't buy unlisted, off-schedule "open market" items from a Federal Supply Schedule contractor on a noncompetitive basis. Here's how CMS got tripped up by this seemingly simple rule.
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