Agency Could Not Accept Price Above Awardee’s FSS Price, GAO Says

If you feel like prices for just about everything are going up, you’re not alone. I recently got my annual property tax bill, and the first thing I did (after recovering from a brief fainting spell) was to start Googling to find out how much I could get for one of my kidneys on the black market.

I get the feeling that my county tax assessor would consider anything less than a double digit increase to be an embarrassing professional failure. In federal government contracting, however, a contractor may not have the same leeway to raise its prices. In a recent bid protest decision, the GAO held that when an agency sought to procure services using the Federal Supply Schedule, the agency could not agree to pay a price higher than the price set forth in the offeror’s underlying FSS contract.

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GAO: Agency Has Discretion on Type of Socioeconomic Set-Aside for Procurement

From a recent GAO decision it appears that the ends can, in fact, justify the means; at least when it comes procurement set-asides for HUBZone companies. The decision is Foxhole Technology, Inc. B-419577 (May 12, 2021). In this matter, Foxhole Technology, Inc., a service-disabled veteran-owned small business, protested the Department of Education’s decision to set aside an RFQ to supply cybersecurity services for HUBZone businesses. In its protest, Foxhole argued that the agency’s decision to set aside the procurement for HUBZone small business concerns was based on inadequate market research and was therefore not justified. GAO denied the protest.

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GovCon Basics: Common Procurement Methods and Terminology

The acronyms and terminology used in federal government contracting can be a labyrinth–one sadly devoid of David Bowie. In this post, we’ll clarify some of the common methods used for government procurements, the regulations defining them, and the terminology associated with them.

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GAO Sustains Protest Where Single FSS Contract Didn’t Extend Long Enough to Cover Awarded BPA

If you are a Federal Supply Schedule contract holder competing for a BPA, then there’s an important principle that you should bear in mind: your underlying FSS contract should cover the entire anticipated duration of the blanket purchase agreement, including all option years.

And don’t try to provide this coverage with two different FSS contracts. That will get you into trouble–as one unfortunate contractor recently found out.

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GAO: Federal Supply Schedule Shorter in Duration than Blanket Purchase Agreement Spells Doom for Protester

Many GAO protests can hinge on fairly minute details that render a proposal unacceptable. A recent GAO case is a reminder that a contractor’s GSA Federal Supply Schedule must have sufficient duration to cover the period of performance for a blanket purchase agreement or the contractor may be ineligible for award.

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Bundling Didn’t Allow Agency to Purchase FSS Open Market Items, GAO Says

An agency cannot buy “Open Market” items from a Federal Supply Schedule vendor when the same items are readily available under another vendor’s FSS contract–even if the vendor selling Open Market items offers them as a discounted bundle and the FSS vendor does not.

In a recent decision, GAO held that it was improper for an agency to buy bundled software packages as Open Market items when another vendor sold the same licenses on its FSS contract as four separate items.

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GAO: Navy Cannot Order Items Not Listed on Vendor’s FSS Schedule

Like many, I enjoy a good meal out on the town. I tend to order strictly from the menu without any additions or substitutions. Perhaps, it is from all my years of waitressing prior to attending law school. In a recent GAO decision, however, the Navy attempted to order items not on the vendor’s menu only to have GAO determine that the order was beyond the scope of that menu.

In Bluewater Management Group, LLC, B-414785 (Sept. 18, 2017), Bluewater protested the Navy’s award of lodging and transportation services to DMC Management Services, LLC, alleging the award was improper because DMC’s GSA Schedule contract did not include transportation services.

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