The Labor Day weekend is inching closer! Before you enjoy the unofficial end of summer, let’s take a look at the SmallGovCon Week in Review.
This week’s edition includes suggestions for interacting with a Contracting Officer Representative, a proposed DFARs amendment, contractors behaving badly, and more.
Have a great weekend!
We’re in the final stretch! There are only about 5 weeks left in the fiscal year, which means the lives of government contractors are about to get more chaotic. But as August draws to a close, I hope you’re able to have a relaxing weekend; let’s get it started off right with the SmallGovCon Week in Review.
This week’s edition discusses an update on the ban of Kasperky anti-virus software, continuing uncertainty about GSA’s effort to re-bid SAM.gov, a contractor sentenced under a rent-a-vet scheme, and more.
Have a great weekend!
As the incumbent contractor, you’re excited to bid on the successor contract. The day it’s posted, you dash to fbo.gov, pull up the solicitation, and breathe a sigh of relief: the contract is still exclusively a small business set-aside. But wait! Under the assigned NAICS code your business doesn’t fall below the size standard.
Can the agency change the NAICS code from one iteration of the contract to another? Sure, so long as the selected NAICS code meets the regulatory standard.
If you’ve ever responded to an SBA size protest, you know that the process is quite involved: SBA will require your company to provide a complete response to the protest (including production of corporate, financial, and tax records for all implicated concerns) within only a few business days. The consequences for not providing all of the requested information can be quite severe, as the SBA can presume that the responsive information would demonstrate that the concern is not a small business (through its “adverse inference” rule).
A recent OHA appeal shows the dangers of failing to adequately respond to a size protest. In Size Appeal of Perry Johnson & Associates, SBA No. SIZ-5943 (2018), the OHA affirmed the SBA’s reliance on an adverse inference and, as a result, found the protested company was not an eligible small business.
It’s mid-August, which means school is back in session! If you have little ones, we hope they had a nice first few days back.
But before we head out to enjoy the weekend, let’s take a look at the SmallGovCon Week in Review. In this week’s edition, the Pentagon’s procurement process is criticized, contractors are reminded how to prep for a government shutdown (let’s hope one doesn’t happen), and more.
Have a great weekend!
Happy Friday, everybody! It’s that time of year: federal contractors are rushing to submit bids, with the hope of awards before the end of the fiscal year. So we hope that you’re all gearing up for a relaxing weekend.
Let’s get the weekend started off right with the SmallGovCon Week in Review. This week’s edition discusses the rush of contract awards at the end of the fiscal year, DOL’s renewed focus on disability hiring practices, federal contractors behaving badly, and more.
Have a great weekend!
One of the first things a prospective government contractor (including a joint venture) must do to be eligible for an award is to create a business profile in the System for Award Management (or “SAM”). Before making an award, in fact, the contracting officer is obligated to verify the prospective contractor is registered in SAM.
Not only must a business be registered in SAM, but its registration should be up-to-date. It’s an enduring myth of government contracting that a business’s SAM profile only has to be updated annually. But as FAR 4.1201(b)(1) instructs, an offeror’s SAM profile has to be updated as necessary to ensure that it is “kept current, accurate, and complete.”
What happens if a prospective awardee fails to update its SAM profile? Can a disappointed bidder challenge the basis of the award? The answer, according to GAO, is “it depends.”