SmallGovCon Week In Review: November 14-18, 2016

Posted on November 18, 2016 by Steven Koprince

The year is flying by. Believe it or not, Thanksgiving is next week. While my colleagues and I prepare to overdose on turkey and stuffing (and my personal Thanksgiving favorite–copious amounts of pie), our focus today is on the top stories that made government contracting headlines this week.

In this edition of SmallGovCon Week In Review, all nine bid protests filed against the TRICARE award were denied, the FAR Council proposes a rule to clarify how Contracting Officers are to award 8(a) sole source contracts in excess of $22 million, Set-Aside ALERT offers an in depth look at HUBZone set-asides in 2016, the Obama Administration’s government contracting Executive Orders may be reversed by President-Elect Trump, and much more.

Ambiguous Contractor Teaming Agreement Sinks CIO-SP3 Proposal

Posted on November 18, 2016 by Steven Koprince

Joint venture partner or subcontractor? An offeror’s teaming agreement for the CIO-SP3 GWAC wasn’t clear about which tasks would be performed by joint venture partners and which would be performed by subcontractors–and the agency was within its discretion to eliminate the offeror as a result.

A recent GAO bid protest decision demonstrates that when a solicitation calls for information about teaming relationships, it is important to clearly establish which type of teaming relationship the offeror intends to establish, and draft the teaming agreement and proposal accordingly.

Agency’s Reliance on Unstated Evaluation Criteria Leads to Sustained Protest

Posted on November 15, 2016 by SmallGovCon Contributor

A solicitation’s evaluation criteria are tremendously important. Not only must offerors understand and comply with those criteria in order to have a chance at being awarded the contract, but the agency must abide by them too. Where an agency does not, it risks that a protest challenging the application of an unstated evaluation criteria will be sustained.

So it was in Phoenix Air Group, Inc., B-412796.2 et al. (Sept. 26, 2016), a recent GAO decision sustaining a protest where the protester’s proposal was unreasonably evaluated under evaluation criteria not specified in the solicitation.

Cost Realism: Agency Must Evaluate Employee Compensation Rates

Posted on November 14, 2016 by Steven Koprince

When an agency performs a cost realism evaluation under a solicitation involving significant labor costs, the agency must evaluate offerors’ proposed rates of employee compensation, not just offerors’ fully burdened labor rates.

In a recent bid protest decision, the GAO held that an agency erred by basing its realism evaluation on offerors’ fully burdened labor rates, without considering whether the direct rates of compensation were sufficient to recruit and retain qualified personnel.

SmallGovCon Week In Review: November 7-11, 2016

Posted on November 11, 2016 by Steven Koprince

It’s been quite the week! We began with a Presidential election to remember and are ending the week with a celebration of the veterans who have served our country. On behalf of the entire team here at Koprince Law LLC, thank you to the many veterans who read SmallGovCon. Your sacrifice and dedication to our country is truly a debt that can never be repaid.

Election coverage dominated the headlines this week, but there was no shortage of government contracts news. In this week’s SmallGovCon Week In Review, the DoD has changed its policy on independent research and development, Washington Technology takes a first look at what the Trump Administration will mean for federal contractors, the Court of Federal Claims is hearing a case that could decide whether the Kingdomware decision applies to AbilityOne procurements, and much more.

GAO: Oral Final Proposal Revisions Were Permissible

Posted on November 11, 2016 by Steven Koprince

An agency did not act improperly by allowing for oral final proposal revisions, rather than permitting offerors to submit written FPRs following discussions.

In a recent bid protest decision, the GAO held that–at least in the context of a task order awarded under FAR 16.505–an agency could validly accept oral revisions to offerors’ proposals.

GAO’s Jurisdiction Over Most Civilian Task Order Protests Has Expired

Posted on November 8, 2016 by Steven Koprince

The GAO’s jurisdiction to hear most protests in connection with task and delivery order awards under civilian multiple award IDIQs has expired.

In a recent bid protest decision, the GAO confirmed that it no longer has jurisdiction to hear protests in connection with civilian task and delivery order awards valued over $10 million because the underlying statutory authority expired on September 30, 2016.