In the opinion of many government contractors, this should be a short article. Many bidders give no thought to using the agency-level protest process pursuant to FAR 33.103 and agency FAR Supplements. They see no value in wasting their time and money on an...
GAO Has No Jurisdiction Over Subcontractor’s Protest
You would think that the Government Accountability Office (GAO) would consider a protest claiming that the agency is not enforcing the Buy American Act (BAA). But, as shown in a recent GAO decision in Craft Bearing Company, Inc., B- 418685, 2020 WL 3429044 (June 22,...
In Marketing, Know and Use FAR’s Policies Encouraging Communication and Innovation
Last month, we discussed opportunities for federal contractors to expand their business prospects during a crisis such as the current coronavirus pandemic. These opportunities are found in FAR Part 18, Emergency Acquisitions, and increases to the thresholds for...
Business Use of Investigative Report Defeats “Work Product” Privilege
When companies get into trouble and need to investigate and prepare a report on it to the government, they typically want to limit the report’s exposure. One way to limit disclosing company information in these situations is to hire an outside law firm to direct the...
FAR Emergency Authorities Offer Business Opportunities
Facing a cash flow crisis brought on by COVID-19, government contractors have only two basic ways of increasing cash flow: getting new contracts and performing incumbent contracts. A lot of media attention has focused on ways contractors can get cash flow help in...
FAR Class Deviation Accelerates Payments to Small Business Primes
On March 30, 2020, the Civilian Agency Acquisition Council (CAAC), the civilian agency component of the FAR Council, expanded the availability of accelerated payments. It issued a FAR class deviation to add small business prime contractors to those entitled to...
FAR Council: “Contract” Does Not Include “Order” in SBA Law
The new FAR regulations dealing with the small business programs in FAR Part 19 recently adopted by the FAR Council can get lost in the news of the coronavirus and the need for contractors to find ways to keep their doors open. But, buried among the 28 pages of...
3 Ways Contractors Can Get Proactively Involved in CPARS Evaluations
Getting government contracts in the future depends greatly on how well a company has performed in the past. That’s because Federal procurement policy for years has stressed the importance of the government using past performance as a mandatory evaluation factor in...
Amazon Pays High Price for Holding Up JEDI
Unlike the automatic stay of performance that protestors get for free at the Government Accountability Office (GAO), stopping contract performance at the U.S. Court of Federal Claims (COFC) comes at a price. The COFC recently imposed a $42,000,000 bond on Amazon for...
Vendor Successfully Protests Modification of a Contract
A recent GAO decision demonstrates why a vendor should continue to track contracts it lost for future modifications made by the government. When the Navy modified a contract that increased the contract value by 77%, a competitor saw the Navy’s public notice of the...