SBA offers insights into the HUBZone protest process
The Small Business Administration (SBA) has introduced a new website where visitors can review samples of HUBZone-related protest decisions. Examining these samples can help you learn about how...
View ArticleBidder beware: Mind the details when using a GSA Schedule
The General Service Administration’s Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) is supposed to be a way for agencies to streamline procurement. However, achieving the desired efficiency requires that the Government...
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Defense bill asks if contractors are gaming bid protests
Lawmakers want to know if Defense Department contractors are gaming the bid protest process, according to language included in the National Defense Authorization Act. The NDAA, which passed out of...
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Protest lessons learned: When to challenge corrective action
For Government contractors, it can be a frustrating experience to have your hard-earned contract award sidetracked by a protest – particularly if that protest includes a mandatory performance stay....
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Ten bid protest trends and tips
It is no secret that federal procurement spending has dropped considerably in recent years. With less dollars being spent and fewer procurements, government contracts are increasingly turning to the...
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GAO report is a good reminder to bidders: Agencies don’t always follow the...
The United States government has awarded more than $280 billion in contracts so far this fiscal year — FY2015 ends September 30. Last year, that number was just over $445 billion on September 30....
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Use your own words in proposals
In a recent decision, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) played seventh-grade English teacher, reminding offerors to use their own words to get full proposal-writing credit. In the case of Res...
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Protest lessons learned: Check your spam filter!
Late is late. All government contractors know the rule. Submissions must be received by the Agency at the time indicated, or else risk being excluded. Still, as we start the New Year, it bears...
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Trend? GAO increasingly finding in favor of protesters
Through the first 5 months of FY 2016, GAO is sustaining protests at a 22% clip — a far higher rate than in recent years. GAO’s sustain rate considers only those protests that go to a decision on the...
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Understanding the scope of GSA Schedule labor category descriptions
In a Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) procurement conducted under FAR Subpart 8.4, all items quoted and ordered by the agency are required to be available on the vendor’s schedule contract as a...
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GAO tackles cybersecurity
In two recent decisions, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) denied protest grounds challenging the ability of contract awardees to satisfy government requirements related to cybersecurity....
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Appeals court says extension constitutes new contract for considering bid...
On July 12, 2016, in Coast Professional, Inc. et. al v. United States, No. 2015-5077 (Fed. Cir. July 12, 2016), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit overturned a Court of Federal Claims...
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Post hoc proposal reevaluation exacerbates error in award decision
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released on July 15, 2016 a public version of Delfasco, LLC, B-409514.3 (March 2, 2015), a decision noteworthy because of how the GAO dealt with an agency’s...
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150 protests and counting: GAO suspends ‘frequent protester’
Citing an abuse of the protest process, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has suspended a company’s right to file bid protests for a period of one year. The GAO’s unusual action was taken...
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A road less traveled: Agency-level protests
An agency just messed up a procurement, and you want to protest. Where do you go? The vast majority of bid protests are filed with the Government Accountability Office (GAO). A far smaller percentage...
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Bid protest corrective action: You can’t always get what you want
Every government contractor that files a bid protest has the same goal in mind – corrective action. The agency made a procurement error and changes need to be made. But just because the agency takes...
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Here’s a summary of the changes in government contracting provisions of the NDAA
Steve Koprince is the author of the book entitled “The Small-Business Guide to Government Contracts.” The 2017 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), signed into law on Dec. 23, 2016, contains at...
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Familial relationship affiliation: SBA treats spouses as ‘one party’
The author of this article, Steve Koprince, is also author of the book entitled “The Small-Business Guide to Government Contracts.” One common way that contractors attempt to avoid affiliation is by...
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Contracting dispute delays OPM’s background investigations processing
The federal government’s ongoing efforts to hasten the processing of security clearances hit a speed bump this week, as an auditor ruled the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) unfairly awarded a...
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Government may slip a sole-source award past an unaware contractor
Contractors would be wise to keep a close watch on FedBizOpps.gov, otherwise they run the risk missing the chance to protest a sole source award. When an agency decides to make an award without...
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