5 Things You Should Know: NAICS Code Appeals

Posted on January 2, 2019 by SmallGovConContributor

NAICS code appeals are a useful tool in any small business government contractor’s toolbox. If successful, an appeal can dramatically change a procurement’s competitive landscape—either by limiting the pool of eligible offerors, or expanding it.

Even still, NAICS code appeals are underutilized among contractors. So I wanted to take just a few minutes to walk through the basics of NAICS codes appeals, in case your business ever needs to file one.

Here are 5 Things You Should Know about NAICS appeals:

SDVOSB Regulations Reveal Typo in Exceptions to Ownership Conditions

Posted on January 2, 2019 by Shane McCall

As we’ve written about on the blog, SDVOSB regulations were consolidated under the SBA’s rules beginning October 1, 2018, and those changes included some good and bad changes. We recently noticed a single letter in one of the changes that, while most likely a typo, could potentially affect the meaning of one part of the new regulation.

GAO Dismisses Protest Where Proposal was Unacceptable

Posted on December 28, 2018 by SmallGovConContributor

In a protest before GAO, prejudice is an essential element. Even if GAO might agree that an agency’s action was improper, it will not sustain a protest where the protester would not have received the award anyway.

That’s what happened in the protest of Benaka Inc., B-416836 et al. (Dec. 16, 2018).

GAO: Contractors – Not the Agency – Must Know Applicable Local Laws

Posted on December 27, 2018 by SmallGovConContributor

Agencies must draft solicitations and RFPs with enough detail that prospective offerors can determine if they are qualified to perform the work as well as be able to submit an educated offer.

But how much detail is the agency required to provide in a solicitation? In some cases, GAO has allowed fairly generic language to suffice.

GAO Sustains Protest Where Agency Failed to Reasonably Evaluate Past Performance

Posted on December 24, 2018 by SmallGovConContributor

GAO defers to agencies on many issues related to their procurements. But GAO will intervene when an agency says one thing, in a solicitation, but does another when it evaluates proposals. In other words, GAO will sustain protests when the agencies disregard their own evaluation criteria outlined in a solicitation.

Otherwise, the agency might–even inadvertently–evaluate proposals unequally–a situation that a just and fair procurement system must avoid.

SmallGovCon Week In Review December 17-21, 2018

Posted on December 21, 2018 by SmallGovConContributor

Happy Holidays! Between all the shopping, baking, and decking the halls, it seems to be the busiest day of the year.

As we write this post, the federal government is on the verge of a partial shutdown. On behalf of our clients and friends, we hope that doesn’t happen.

In this edition of the Week In Review, there is a lot of criticism regarding government spending, the Pentagon gets a reminder to pay attention to its contractors, and the battle between Amazon and defense officials gets messy.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you and yours!

BPA Awardees Cannot Challenge Fellow Awardees, GAO Says

Posted on December 21, 2018 by SmallGovConContributor

To file a viable bid protest at GAO, the protester must be an “interested party.” Intuition might say that an awardee under a multiple-award vehicle like a blanket purchase agreement should be able to protest other awardees, right?

The GAO recently held otherwise.