The Contract Disputes Act requires a contractor to present a claim to the contracting officer “within 6 years after the accrual of the claim.” 41 U.S.C. 7103(a)(4)(A). But a claim doesn’t typically accrue until the contractor should have known that it was damaged by the Government.
As discussed below, some legal claims might not arise until a contractor takes discovery in an appeal already before the Civilian Board of Contract Appeals.
Continue readingIn late 2018, Congress passed the Small Business Runway Extension Act, which had a single purpose: change the three-year average annual receipts calculation period (for determining small business eligibility) to a five-year calculation period.
Small businesses, for the most part, have been watching with bated breath for the SBA to comply with the Runway Extension Act. But as we’ve previously written, the SBA has thus far refused to do so (albeit under shifting rationale).
Now, the SBA has cemented its position against applying the Runway Extension Act—according to the SBA, “[b]usinesses must continue to report their annual receipts based on a 3-year average until the SBA amends its regulations.”
I’m not convinced the SBA has it right.
Continue readingWhat are federal contractors supposed to do when FedBid (now Unison) requests additional information related to a proposal and the awarding agency ignores that information in its awarding decision?
GAO recently held that the agency must consider all information gathered by reverse auction providers.
Continue readingHappy Friday, everyone! With what seemed like the longest winter ever now officially behind us, it’s getting to be the time of year stuffed with weekend activities. At least that’s the case in my house: this weekend, my son has his first soccer game (and his dad has his first game coaching).
We hope that you’re gearing up for a weekend, too. Before we punch out, though, let’s review the news of the week. In this edition of the Week In Review, we’ll look at proposed improvements to DoD’s procurement process, additional cybersecurity considerations, improvements being made for the DoD procurement process, more cyber security suggestions, efforts to improve the supply chain, and more.
Have a great weekend!
Continue readingFor service-disabled veteran owned small businesses, or SDVOSBs, contracting with the VA, verification by the VA’s Center for Verification and Evaluation, or CVE, is essential. CVE verification is mandatory to compete for VA SDVOSB set-asides and listing on the VA’s Vendor Information Pages (VIP).
The SBA Office of Hearings and Appeals recently confirmed that notice and opportunity to respond to allegations is required before a business’ verification is cancelled.
Continue readingIt’s a rainy Friday here in Lawrence—the perfect type of weather to either take a nap or read something interesting. Because we can’t do the former, we’ll settle on the latter.
In this edition of the Week In Review, we’ll look at a list of the largest government contractors, a new secure cloud, and more examples of #govcon personnel behaving badly.
Have a great weekend!
Continue readingThe Department of Energy has joined the ranks of government agencies aligning part of its respective small business regulations with the SBA.
The DOE has issued a class deviation expanding the pool of companies eligible to be proteges under the DOE mentor-protege program. This deviation comes almost 20 years after DOE first published guidelines for its formal DOE mentor-protégé program and almost three years after SBA formally established a government-wide mentor-protégé program.
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