SAM.gov is like the home base of federal government contracting. Everything in federal government contracting seems to either start there, or require using SAM in some fashion. As a consequence, contractors are expected to register on SAM to work in federal contracting. However, it can be easy to overlook registering a joint venture entity on SAM, when contractors making up the joint venture are already registered on SAM. GAO recently took the opportunity to remind contractors of the need to register their joint venture separately on SAM through a bid protest decision.
Continue readingCategory Archives: GAO Bid Protests
GAO bid protest decisions, commentary on GAO bid protest regulations, and related topics.
GAO Protest Sustain: Flawed Price Realism Analysis
We often see price realism in protests when the protester is making the claim that the awardee’s price, which was lower than the protester’s price, is low enough that the awardee would not be able to perform the work as solicited. Most often, GAO will determine that the agency’s price realism analysis was acceptable. However, in Criterion Corporation, B-422309 (Apr 16, 2024), the agency determined that the lowest priced offeror’s price was too low, and that the company could not possibly perform at the price offered. This led to the next lowest priced offeror receiving the award, and the lowest priced offeror protesting that decision, ultimately winning its argument.
Continue readingWhy File: A Rule of Two Protest
The Rule of Two is the federal contracting rule requiring agencies to set aside a solicitation for competition only between small businesses when there are at least two small businesses that could do the work for a fair price. But that rule does have some exceptions. These exceptions can make it difficult to know the situations that would justify filing a Rule of Two protest. Read on to find out.
Continue readingGAO: Don’t Slip Up on SAM Registration, Even for One Day
If federal contracting had a proverbial town square, it would be SAM.gov. So much federal contracting activity flows through or starts there. A large portion of SAM is contractor information. Contractors are required to be on SAM and are expected to keep their profiles on SAM updated. A “hot off the presses” GAO ruling has confirmed that the timing of SAM registration can make or break a contractor’s winning bid.
Continue readingGAO: Small Business Teaming Agreement Must Follow Solicitation Guidelines
As we often tell people, language in a teaming agreement is important for a federal contract. But so is complying with the terms of a solicitation. A recent GAO decision hinged on a very specific portion of the language in a teaming agreement that was required as part of a solicitation. Because the contractor did not include the required language in a teaming agreement, it lost out on an award.
Continue readingGAO Says: SBA’s Rules for Mentor-Protégé Joint Venture Experience Evaluations May Limit Solicitation Terms
Contractors will often enter into mentor protégé relationships and joint ventures to leverage the experience and skills of multiple parties for various reasons. SBA regulations dictate how the capabilities, past performance, and experience of a mentor-protégé joint venture will be evaluated. But at the end of the day, what matters is, whether agencies will follow those regulations in their small business set-aside solicitations and evaluations thereunder. A recent GAO case addressed this issue, providing further guidance on the interplay of solicitation terms for experience evaluations and SBA’s rules for evaluating mentor-protégé joint ventures’ experience.
Continue readingA Bridge (Not) Too Far: Prohibition on Dividing up Contracts to get Under 8(a) Sole Source Dollar Limit Doesn’t Apply to Bridge Contracts
Under 13 C.F.R. § 124.506, if an 8(a) contract price would exceed a certain threshold ($7 million for manufacturing contracts, $4.5 million for others), in most cases, the agency must compete the set-aside. 13 C.F.R. § 124.506(a)(5) is a provision meant to close up what otherwise would be a loophole in the rules. It states that “[a] proposed 8(a) requirement with an estimated value exceeding the applicable competitive threshold amount may not be divided into several separate procurement actions for lesser amounts in order to use 8(a) sole source procedures to award to a single contractor.” But this rule does not apply in all circumstances. In particular, it does not apply to bridge contracts.
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