As seasoned government contractors know, an impropriety in a solicitation’s terms must be protested before the deadline to submit an offer. If the protest is submitted after the solicitation’s response deadline, the protest will be dismissed as untimely.
GAO recently held that this rule holds true when an agency converts a sealed bid (under FAR part 14) to a negotiated procurement (under FAR part 15).
Continue reading…The Senate Committee on Small Business & Entrepreneurship recently held a hearing focusing on the role small businesses will play in NASA’s renewed focus on going back to the Moon and then on to Mars.
We have recently touched on the growing impact space exploration is having on small businesses, and vice versa, but this dedicated hearing prompts a closer look at the opportunities small businesses will have for working on space exploration.
Continue reading…We’ve been enjoying summer out here in Lawrence. And many of our Koprince professionals are taking a little time to themselves for summer vacation. We hope our readers are able to do the same thing! Whether you’re getting back from a vacation or working regular hours, here’s our weekly roundup of interesting news from the federal government contracting to keep you updated on what’s been happening lately.
This week in the federal government contracting world, there is some interesting news, including updates on streamlined approaches to IT acquisition for GSA and DOD, the shutdown of the contracting department at Health and Human Services that did work for other agencies, and challenges facing small business contractors in the federal marketplace.
Continue reading…GAO recently held in ATA Aerospace, LLC, B-417427 (July 2, 2019) that agencies are required to explain how offerors’ proposed labor hours and prices are, or are not, in line with historical data from predecessor contracts when conducting cost realism evaluations.
Continue reading…Earlier this month, the GSA announced a new Unique Entity Identifier Standard for Federal awards management. The new standard will go into effect December 2020. It will replace the current DUNS number system as the official identifier for all businesses contracting with the U.S. Federal Government.
This should make registering to do business with the federal government a little easier, but the proof will be in the roll-out.
Continue reading…Many federal construction contractors know that contract changes can be frustrating business. Changes can be unilateral or bilateral. They can stress a contractor’s finances. They can delay the overall project. And they can result in animosity between the agency and a contractor.
Fortunately, GAO has shined some light on the problems in the contract change process. Indeed, in a recent report, GAO concluded that agencies, particularly the Army Corps of Engineers and GSA, need to develop better systems to collect data about changes in construction contracts.
Continue reading…Make sure to check your NAICS code size standards based on receipts, because SBA is increasing them across the board on August 19 to give small businesses more time to grow. On July 18, the SBA announced it will increase monetary-based industry size standards (meaning receipts-based and assets-based size standards).
This change is a result of adjustments for inflation that the SBA makes every five years. These rules will go into effect August 19, 2019.
Continue reading…