Bare-Bones Organizational Chart Sinks Proposal

Posted on January 19, 2016 by SmallGovCon Contributor

When a procuring agency asks for details, an offeror better provide those details–or run the risk of exclusion from the competition.

Recently, the GAO has confirmed that offerors must provide sufficient detail or run the risk of being eliminated from a competition. First, came Res Rei Development, Inc., B-410466.7 (Comp. Gen. Oct. 16, 2015), where GAO held that an agency can find a proposal technically unacceptable when it essentially parrots the terms of the solicitation. Now comes LOTOS S.r.l., B-411717.5 (Comp. Gen. Nov. 19, 2015), where GAO found that the agency had reasonably excluded an offeror from the competition based in part on the offeror’s failure to provide a detailed organizational chart.

SmallGovCon Week In Review: January 11-15, 2016

Posted on January 15, 2016 by Steven Koprince

With half of January already in the books and the days already beginning to stay light longer, we can begin to dream about warm spring months ahead. That is, until you walk out the front door and a blast of winter air hits your face. But so long as it is cold outside, why not curl up somewhere warm with a little light government contracts reading?

In this week’s SmallGovCon Week in Review, we bring you articles involving fraud charges, a rundown of some new legislation that could affect contractors, the potential elimination of DUNS codes, plus much more.

GAO: Incumbent Contractor Not Entitled To Highest Past Performance Rating

Posted on January 14, 2016 by Steven Koprince

An incumbent contractor was not entitled to “extra credit” for its status as the incumbent, nor was the incumbent entitled to the highest-possible past performance rating.

In a recent bid protest decision, the GAO confirmed that the mere fact that an offeror is the incumbent contractor does not require the procuring agency to assign the offeror a particular past performance score, so long as the agency’s past performance evaluation is reasonable.

SBA Size Determination “Not Relevant” To Subcontracting Limitation Allegation

Posted on January 13, 2016 by Steven Koprince

A SBA size determination, in which the SBA found a contractor to be an eligible small business for purposes of a particular procurement, was irrelevant to the question of whether the same contractor would violate the limitation on subcontracting under a different solicitation.

In a recent bid protest decision, the GAO (correctly) rejected the procuring agency’s argument that a recent SBA size determination was evidence that a contractor would comply with the subcontracting limitation.

New Bill Would Require “Transparency” In Small Business Goaling

Posted on January 12, 2016 by Steven Koprince

A new bill introduced in the House of Representatives would require the SBA to count contracts performed overseas when calculating the government’s achievement of its small business goals.

The bill would codify a policy that the SBA already says it is in the process of adopting–and one that will likely lead to a perceived drop in the government’s small business goaling achievement in Fiscal Year 2016.

CPAR Challenge Wasn’t A Viable “Protest,” Says Federal Court

Posted on January 11, 2016 by Steven Koprince

A contractor’s attempt to challenge an adverse Contractor Performance Assessment Report was not a bid protest subject to the bid protest jurisdiction of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims.

In a recent decision, the Court rejected a protester’s creative attempt to challenge a CPAR as part of a bid protest. Instead, the Court held, a CPAR ordinarily must be challenged through the FAR’s claims and appeals processes–although the Court appeared to leave the door open to bid protest challenges in limited circumstances.

SmallGovCon Week In Review: January 4-8, 2016

Posted on January 8, 2016 by Steven Koprince

We’re back! 2016 has finally arrived and we here at Koprince Law couldn’t be more excited to dive into the new year with our first SmallGovCon Week In Review post. The first week of January brings some new policies and processes for contracting, a look back at the top procurement stories of 2015, and much more.