An agency cannot make material changes to a solicitation after selecting a contractor for award without going back and giving all offerors the opportunity to compete on the revised solicitation. In Diebold, Inc., B-404823 (June 2, 2011), the GAO sustained a bid protest because the agency failed to allow the protester to compete on the revised solicitation.
Author Archives: Steven Koprince
GAO: SDVOSBs Preferred Over Veteran-Owned Businesses for VA Procurements
Unlike most agencies, the Department of Veterans Affairs offers contracting preferences for businesses owned by veterans who are not service-disabled. However, as the GAO confirmed in Buy Rite Transport, B-403729, B-403768 (Oct. 15, 2010), even at the VA, service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses are preferred over veteran-owned small businesses.
SDVOSB Eligibility: Veteran “Controls” Company Despite Living 900 Miles From Headquarters
A service-disabled veteran “controlled” his company within the meaning of the SBA’s service-disabled veteran-owned small business regulations, despite living more than 900 miles from the company’s headquarters, according to a SDVOSB appeal decision of the SBA’s Office of Hearings and Appeals.
In SDVOSB Appeal of Command Languages, Inc., SBA No. VET-149 (2009), the SDVOSB performed contracts around the world, leading SBA OHA to conclude that the service-disabled veteran’s physical location was largely irrelevant to his ability to control his company.
GAO Sustains Another “Unreasonably Restrictive Solicitation” Bid Protest
If a government solicitation contains a term that is unreasonably restrictive of competition, you may be able to successfully protest the matter to the GAO, which has sustained a number of such bid protests. The GAO’s decision in Missouri Machinery & Engineering Co., B-403561 (Nov. 18, 2010) is a good example of a successful GAO bid protest based on an unreasonably restrictive solicitation term.
Generic OCI Mitigation Plan Torpedoes Contractor’s Award
OCI mitigation plans are one of the most common ways for contractors to address any actual, potential or apparent organizational conflicts of interest that could arise if the contractor won the award. For busy contractors, it’s tempting to simply cobble together a generic OCI mitigation plan, perhaps borrowing liberally from whatever questionable websites pop up in a Google search. But as one contractor discovered in a GAO bid protest decision, an insufficient OCI mitigation plan can lead to very bad results.
Army Rejects Large Prime’s Proposal For Failing to Commit to Small Business Subcontracting
For small government subcontractors, here’s some good news from the U.S. Army. In a recent GAO bid protest decision, the Army eliminated a proposal from consideration because the prime contractor appeared to ignore the small business subcontracting requirement—and the GAO denied the prime’s GAO bid protest.
SDVOSB Protests Cannot Be Filed By Telephone
If you want to file a SDVOSB protest with the SBA, put down the cell phone, because you cannot phone it in.
The SBA’s regulations governing size protests permit a protester to “file” its protest by telephone (and follow up by putting the protest in writing). But the same regulations do not apply to protests of a service-disabled veteran-owned small business’s eligibility.
In SDVOSB Appeal of Veterans Construction of South Carolina, LLC, SBA No. VET-164 (2009), the SBA Office of Hearings and Apepals held that the regulation governing SDVOSB eligibility protests “simply does not allow protests by telephone.” SBA OHA upheld the SBA’s dismissal of a SDVOSB protest because the protester had attempted to file by telephone.
When it comes to SDVOSB protests, the rule is simple: put it in writing.