Government Contracts MonitorGAO DecisionsIdentifying Unequal Access OCIs Is Harder Than It looksJuly 26, 2018 Unequal access to competitively useful, non-public information can give contractors an unfair advantage in the procurement process. Accordingly, the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) requires contracting officers to identify and evaluate potential “unequal access” organizational conflicts of interest (OCIs) and directs agencies to avoid or mitigate potential conflicts. Following this… Error 101: Late Afternoon Technical Difficulty Leads to Untimely ProtestJuly 19, 2018 A new system often inspires new hope, at least some of which results from the expectation of a reasonable grace period that allows some trial and error while learning the ropes. As the recent Government Accounting Office (GAO) decision in CWIS, LLC (CWIS), B-416544 (July 12, 2018) revealed, such optimism is misguided in the context of the GAO’s new electronic protest docketing system (EPDS). The… Beware: Your Protest Can Lead to Corrective Actions That You Don't LikeJuly 12, 2018 Disappointed offerors sometimes adopt a protest “strategy” that goes something like this: (1) protest on the basis of a known or suspected problem with the procurement; (2) convince the agency to take corrective action to address the problem you identified; (3) reap the rewards as the agency’s corrective action improves your competitive position with respect to the problem you pointed out. Just… Government Matchmaking Is Not "Government Involvement"June 14, 2018 Disappointed bidders seeking to challenge an award decision naturally often look to precedent to guide their arguments. When available precedent is ambiguous, however, they may resort to crafting particularly creative arguments. While this strategy makes sense in most cases, the recent Government Accounting Office (GAO) decision in Management Sciences for Health, B-416041; B-416041.2 (May 25,… An Old-Fashioned Protest Ground--Unduly Restrictive Requirements--Still Alive and WellJune 6, 2018 Successfully protesting the terms of a solicitation as being unduly restrictive is still possible--this protest ground is alive and well. However, it requires more than just showing that you are not capable of meeting the objectionable requirements. You must establish that the solicitation includes requirements that both limit the field of competition and are not necessary to meet the agency’s… Protest Timing and the Goldilocks ProblemMay 31, 2018 Offerors seeking to protest an agency decision face a number of important decisions. One of the most fundamental--and potentially tricky--such issues is when to file the protest. File before an adverse decision by the agency and the protest will be dismissed as premature. But wait too long and it will be dismissed as untimely. While the general rules of protest timing may seem relatively… Dun & Bradstreet Reports Have Limited Utility When Challenging Responsibility Determinations at the GAOMay 24, 2018 Disappointed bidders seeking to challenge a contracting officer’s affirmative responsibility determination will attempt to rely on any information that appears even arguably relevant. One common source of information to which such offerors turn is the Dun & Bradstreet (D&B) report on the awardee, under the theory that its contents can help demonstrate a lack of financial wherewithal. As the… In the Absence of a Definition, the Agency's Reasonable Interpretation of Terms ControlsMay 3, 2018 It’s essentially impossible to submit a winning proposal if you don’t understand what the procuring agency wants to buy. But understanding what a solicitation is saying is sometimes more difficult than it seems. Offerors pursuing a contract award are sometimes disappointed to learn that their understanding of a word or phrase does not match the meaning the procuring agency intended it to convey.… If It's Not Equal or Comparable, It's Not AwardableApril 24, 2018 When an agency issues a request for quotations (“RFQ”) for a product with certain technical specifications, but then awards a purchase order based on an allegedly equal or comparable product, the Government must ensure the quoted products are, in fact, equal and comparable. Otherwise, the RFQ must be amended to allow all bidders to provide quotes based on the less exacting technical… 44 Minutes Is Not Much Response Time, But It Can Be EnoughApril 19, 2018 One of the first things offerors look for upon receipt of a new solicitation is the response due date. Given the critical importance of timing to the proposal preparation process, offerors are naturally disappointed when the amount of time allowed is shorter than they think necessary. In cases where an offeror believes the response time is so short that it robs them of the opportunity to… DoD Enhances Post-Award Debriefing RightsMarch 29, 2018 Last Monday, the Department of Defense (DoD) Director of Defense Pricing / Defense Procurement and Acquisition Policy issued a class deviation to implement paragraph (b) and (c) of Section 818 of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2018. That Section of the NDAA amends 10 U.S.C. 2305(b)(5) and 31 U.S.C. 3553(d)(4) to provide enhanced post-award debriefing rights for… If You Think Some Corrective Action Is Overly Restrictive, You're RightFebruary 15, 2018 In general, when a procuring agency responds to a protest by taking corrective action, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) does not object to the specific corrective action, so long as it is appropriate to remedy the concern that caused the agency to opt for corrective action. The recent GAO decision in Castro & Company, LLC, B-415508.4 (February 13, 2018) reminds us, however, that… |
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