Government Contracts MonitorGAO Sustains Ambiguous Specification Challenge After Agency Refused to ClarifyNovember 16, 2015 A recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) decision emphasizes a point that we have often urged – namely, that if you are unclear what an agency requires as set out in its solicitation (1) you need to seek clarification from the agency, and (2) if the agency refuses or fails to provide adequate clarification, you need to protest before the next solicitation closing date. The problem with… Is That Contract Modification Allowable or Not?November 16, 2015 Depending on your perspective, a contract modification that adds work to the existing contract may be either absolutely and “obviously” appropriate (if you’re the contractor) or an improper method of avoiding the fair and open competition required by the Competition in Contracting Act (CICA) (if you’d like an opportunity to compete for the new work). Choosing between these two extremes can be… Exactly What Does the Solicitation require? Know it and Meet itNovember 10, 2015 Companies assessing and working to respond to solicitations need to be careful not to fall prey to “aspirational analysis” – finding what they want to find in the stated requirements instead of understanding and accepting what those requirements actually say. Of course, contractors sometimes decide to ignore the solicitation terms and pursue the contract anyway, either confident that they have a… Proposal Preparation: Make Clear Your Proposed Personnel Are AvailableNovember 10, 2015 Two recent decisions by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) highlight the importance of making clear, in your proposal, that your proposed staff and key personnel are locked-in and will be available and ready to go at the start of the proposed effort. This is particularly so where the solicitation requires express availability commitment letters. In each of these cases the offeror… DCMA versus DCAA Cost Analysis Functions – Who Is Functioning?November 2, 2015 The Inspector General for the Department of Defense (DoD IG) just completed an evaluation of the corrective actions taken by several DoD components, including the Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA), in response to the IG’s 2012 Report finding significant shortcomings in the “alignment” of DCMA findings with those of the Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA). DoD IG Report 2016-005.… Short Take – Don’t Try to Fake Your Set-Aside StatusNovember 2, 2015 The Department of Justice (DOJ) has another message for anyone contemplating setting up a “sham” business to take advantage of procurement set-asides: Don’t do it. The DOJ recently filed a False Claims Act complaint against a Western New York contracting company, two owners and an employee, alleging that they submitted false claims for federal contracts intended for service-disabled,… Get It Right and Be On Time or Don’t Waste Time ProtestingNovember 2, 2015 A recent GAO decision demonstrates the critical importance of timely submitting and following-up with the Small Business Administration (SBA) on your Joint Venture Agreement (JVA) application if you want to obtain a competitive joint venture (JV) award under SBA’s 8(a) business development program. FedServ-RBS JV, LLC, B-411790, Oct. 26, 2015. In this instance, an 8(a)’s failure to pay… Short Take: GSA OFFICIAL JAILEDOctober 26, 2015 The Justice Department just announced that Cashman, a Building Manager for the General Services Administration (GSA), received a 4½ year sentence (16 months of which will be in custody and the balance in supervised release), for demanding and accepting bribes from government contractors and stealing property owned by the United States. Justice Department Announcement October 23, 2015. During the… FSS: Items Not on Your Schedule? No Problem – Just Add Them!October 26, 2015 It has long been the rule that all items quoted and ordered in a Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) task order competition under FAR Part 8.4 must be on the vendor’s schedule contract at the time the order is awarded. However, a recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) decision clarifies that the critical moment is literally the task order award date, and not the offer or any other… Make Sure Your Interpretation of the RFP Takes All the RFP Language into AccountOctober 26, 2015 Whether preparing proposals or contemplating a protest, offerors sometimes fall into the trap of reading the solicitation’s requirements with a slant that favors the offeror’s proposed solution. It’s all too easy to focus on the solicitation language that readily aligns with the offeror’s proposal – and ignore other portions of the requirements that do not fit as well. The recent decision in C&S… Competitor’s Risky Plan May Provide Basis for ProtestOctober 19, 2015 Disappointed offerors sometimes struggle to find viable protest grounds, but savvy firms know the importance of looking beyond the factual circumstances at the time of award. Depending on the stated evaluation criteria, learning the competition’s plans for the future may hold the key to a successful protest. The value of such an approach was recently demonstrated in the Government Accountability… Getting Credit for Small Business Subcontracting at All LevelsOctober 19, 2015 The Small Business Administration (SBA) recently proposed a rule implementing Section 1614 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2014 (FY14 NDAA) by modifying the rules relating to certain small business subcontracting plans and the use of small businesses as lower tier subcontractors in connection with such plans. More particularly, the proposed rule would allow an… |
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