GAO generally defers to an agency’s judgment when it comes to the evaluation of proposals. This deference flags, however, when an agency evaluates competing proposals inconsistently; or, in other words, treats offerors disparately.
Let’s take a look at how GAO, in a recently sustained protest, found that the agency’s evaluation was unreasonable.
Continue readingAnother week; another snow storm. As with much of the country, lovely Lawrence Kansas is thawing out from yet another midweek snow deluge.
For those of you looking to escape the snow for a bit, we’ve got a fresh set of stories in this week’s news including misbehaving contractors, the success of PTAC in Little Rock, a contract war in space, and Snoop Dogg giving back to SDVOSBs.
Kick your feet up, put on some D-O-double-G, and have a great weekend!
Continue readingOne GAO protester is starting to feel like Bill Murray’s character from Groundhog Day, and not in a good way. In a recent series of protests, a contractor challenged the terms of various solicitations as unduly restrictive of competition. These protests resulted in successive corrective actions.
Growing weary of continually protesting the same issue without tangible resolution, the protester finally requested GAO recommended it be reimbursed for its costs. Unfortunately for the protester, GAO had less sympathy for its situation.
Continue readingIf a contracting officer determines that a small business offeror is not qualified to perform under a solicitation, that usually means the offeror’s proposal will be rejected. In some instances, however, the offeror gets a second chance through the SBA’s Certificate of Competency (“COC”) program.
Here are five things you should know about the COC program.
Continue readingLet’s wrap up the week as we always do, with the Week In Review. In this edition, we’ll look at GAO’s recommendations for DOD’s planned IT upgrades, additional uncertainty for federal contractor back-pay, and more contractors behaving badly.
Have a great weekend!
Continue readingThe Small Business Runway Extension Act continues to be a hot topic of conversation among small businesses. For good reason: it revised the receipts calculation period for revenue-based size standards from three years to five.
In late 2018, the SBA opined that the Runway Extension Act wasn’t applicable because the SBA had not yet updated its regulations. Following industry pushback, the SBA’s position seems to have evolved. During a panel discussion at this year’s National 8(a) Conference, the SBA said that the Runway Extension Act applies to every agency that might adopt its own size standards . . . just not the SBA itself.
This new justification is a bit of a head-scratcher. And I still don’t think the SBA has it right.
Let’s work through the SBA’s position together.
Continue readingContractor responsibility is to be considered before every federal contract award, but what about task orders issued under an FSS contract? Are contractors still subject to responsibility inquiries when competing for orders?
According to GAO, the answer is, “yes.”
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