Tag Archives: debriefings

2018 NDAA: Congress Enacts Changes to DoD Debriefings

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Almost a year ago, we wrote of a memorandum from the Office of Federal Procurement Policy urging agencies to strengthen the debriefing process. OFPP’s rationale was simple: because effective debriefings tend to reduce the number of protests, agencies should be inclined to enhance the debriefing process.

Congress seems to have taken note: the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act requires the Department of Defense to make significant improvements to the debriefing process.  That said, those improvements are limited to large DoD acquisitions, leaving many small businesses stuck with the much more limited debriefing rights currently available under the FAR.

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GSA Schedule Debriefing Doesn’t Extend Protest Time Frame, GAO Says

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You’ve submitted a great proposal, but then you get the bad news – you lost. As most seasoned contractors know, an unsuccessful offeror often can ask for a debriefing from the agency and in doing so, hopefully get some valuable insight into its decision-making process. Many also understand that the benefits of asking for a debriefing may include extending the timeline for filing a GAO bid protest.

But not all solicitations are subject to the same debriefing regulations, and depending on how the procurement was conducted, an offeror might not be entitled to that extended deadline–as one company recently learned the hard way in the context of a GSA Schedule procurement.

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OFPP: Effective Debriefings Reduce Protests

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Debriefings play a vital role in the procurement process. When conducted fully and fairly, a debriefing provides an offeror with valuable insight into the strengths and shortcomings of its proposal, thus enabling the offeror to improve its offering under future solicitations. But when an agency provides only a perfunctory debriefing, the process can be virtually worthless–and may actually encourage an unsuccessful offeror to file a bid protest.

With this in mind, the Office of Federal Procurement Policy recently issued a memorandum that urges agencies to strengthen the debriefing process. In doing so, OFPP has encouraged agencies to adopt a debriefing guide that will help facilitate effective and efficient debriefings.

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SmallGovCon Week In Review: March 28 – April 1, 2016

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While it may be April Fools’ Day, we promise not to play any pranks on you–not that I didn’t think about a headline trumpeting a major change in the 8(a) program, linked to a video of Rick Astley.

Instead of pranks, it’s time for our weekly dose of government contracting news and notes from around the country. In this edition of SmallGovCon Week In Review, you will find articles covering a potential shift in GSA schedules, the State Department’s audit findings on procurement waste,  a billion dollar award is split between 21 vendors to tackle the short and long term needs of the VA’s IT department, the second part of my interview with GovBizConnect, and much more.

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GAO: Protest of Exclusion From Competitive Range Untimely After Award

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A protester’s failure to timely file its bid protest at GAO is almost always certain to lead to the dismissal of its protest. But knowing when the clock starts running for an offeror to file its protest isn’t always clear.

This uncertainty recently tripped up a would-be protester seeking to challenge its exclusion from the competitive range—because that offeror failed to request a pre-award debriefing, its attempt to protest its exclusion following the award and a post-award debriefing was untimely.

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A GAO Reminder: Know Your Protest Filing Deadline

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One of the first questions a contractor must ask itself before filing a bid protest with the GAO is whether its protest would be timely filed. But as a recent GAO decision highlighted, the answer to that question might not be so clear.

Contrary to a common misconception, a protest is not always timely if filed within 10 days of a debriefing. As one prospective protester learned, if the debriefing is not “required” under applicable law, a GAO protest filed within 10 days of a debriefing might be untimely.

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