A procuring agency erred by essentially assigning a small business a failing past performance score without referring the matter to the SBA.
In a recent bid protest decision, the GAO held that the assignment of a failing past performance score under a past/fail system constituted a non-responsibility determination–and that the SBA was entitled to review the agency’s determination under the SBA’s Certificate of Competency procedures.
The SBA’s Certificate of Competency procedures cannot be used to cure a small business’s incomplete proposal.
In a recent bid protest decision, the U.S. Court of Federal Claims held that the procuring agency could not lawfully cure a firm’s omission of mandatory proposal information by submitting the matter to the SBA for a Certificate of Competency.
Now here’s one you don’t see every day. In a recent size appeal decision, the SBA Office of Hearings and Appeals upheld the SBA’s determination that the contractor was affiliated with the government of Puerto Rico.
In Size Appeal of Industria Lechera de Puerto Rico, Inc., SBA No. SIZ-5533 (2014), SBA OHA held that the contractor’s relationship with the Puerto Rican government rendered the contractor, in essence, a quasi-governmental entity, not an independent small business.
The Government Printing Office is not required to refer non-responsibility determinations involving small businesses to the Small Business Administration under the Certificate of Competency program.
According to a recent GAO bid protest decision, the GPO’s status as a legislative entity exempts it from the Certificate of Competency process–much to the disappointment of the small business protester in question.
An 8(a) company failed to satisfy a solicitation’s experience and key personnel requirements, but the 8(a) company walked away with a $23.9 million contract anyway–thanks to the SBA.
The GAO’s bid protest decision in Coastal Environmental Group, Inc., B-407563, B-407563.3, B-407563.4 (Jan. 14, 2013) demonstrates the power of the SBA under its certificate of competency program to second-guess procuring agencies’ determinations with respect to corporate experience, the resumes of key personnel, and other responsibility matters.
What do you do if a federal agency awards a contract to one of your competitors, but the competitor in question does not possess certain licenses required by the solicitation? At least in one recent GAO bid protest decision, the answer appears to be, “not much.”
In SIMMEC Training Solutions, B-406819 (Aug. 20, 2012), the protester complained–correctly–that the prime contractor lacked two required licenses. The GAO ruled against the protester anyway, holding that it lacked jurisdiction to consider the licensing challenge.