Coinciding with the May 1, 2018 requirement that GAO bid protests be filed using the new Electronic Protest Docketing System, the GAO has released an updated version of its “Descriptive Guide” to the GAO bid protest process.
This Guide–the tenth edition published by GAO–is packed with useful information and tips about using EPDS and about the protest process in general.
A few EPDS-specific highlights follow.
The SBA has rejected several recommendations for major changes in how the SBA calculates small business size status.
In commentary published in the Federal Register last week, the SBA rejected (among other things) recommendations that it use average employee count to evaluate the sizes of construction firms and that other firms’ sizes be measured by profits or net worth instead of average annual receipts.
It’s going to be a beautiful weekend here in Lawrence, with temperatures in the 70s and lots of sun. I’m looking forward to some time outdoors finally enjoying the spring. But before I hit the exit at the office, it’s time for our weekly dose of government contracts news and notes.
In this week’s edition of the SmallGovCon Week in Review, a well-known large federal contractor is accused of underpaying its employees, a commentator asks whether RFIs are one big waste of time, the Secretary of Defense says criminal charges are likely as part of a major contracting investigation, and much more.
I was enjoying a day off last Friday, so we have a lot of catching up to do on government contracting news and notes. It’s time for a special two-week super-sized edition of the SmallGovCon Week in Review.
In this edition, the GAO looks at NASA’s investigations of contractor whistleblowing complaints, the SBA announces nine new Women’s Business Centers, the Coast Guard sinks $60 million into an electronic health record system procurement with nothing to show for it, 70,000 contractors must provide notarized letters in the wake of a “SAM scam” and much more.
The owner of a 1/120th interest was presumed to control a company under the SBA’s affiliation rules.
You read that right. In a recent size appeal decision, the SBA Office of Hearings and Appeals held that where 120 owners each held one share of stock in a company, all 120 were presumed to control the company for size purposes.
The SBA’s regulations do not allow an 8(a) company to file a size protest challenging the award of an 8(a) sole source contract to a competitor.
In a recent size appeal decision, the SBA Office of Hearings and Appeals confirmed that size protests relating to 8(a) sole source awards can be filed by contracting officers or the SBA itself–but not by competitors.
A protester contending that the VA violated the “rule of two” by failing to set-aside a solicitation for SDVOSBs must present sufficient facts to indicate that the VA should have had a reasonable expectation of receiving two or more offers from SDVOSBs at fair and reasonable prices.
In a recent decision, the Court of Federal Claims dismissed a rule of two challenge because, according to the Court, the protester only identified one SDVOSB–itself–that was likely to submit an offer at a fair and reasonable price.