Under GAO’s bid protest regulations, a post-award protest must be filed within ten days from the time the protester knew or should have known the basis of the protest. However, if a protestor receives a “required debriefing,” then a protest must be filed within ten...
Offerors Must Always Carefully Review the Q&As Before Submitting a Proposal
GAO’s recent decision in Barbaricum, LLC, B-418427.7 (Dec. 11, 2020) highlights the importance of carefully reviewing all Q&As issued as part of a solicitation. The Army Material Command (AMC) issued a solicitation for training support services to provide “special...
Avoiding Problems with Verifying an “Adequate Accounting System”
One golden rule for contractors trying to win a government contract is “Carefully read the solicitation’s fine print.” This is especially true for an offeror trying to win contracts other than firm-fixed-price contracts. To win cost-reimbursement contracts and task...
Supreme Court Opines on the Deliberative Process Privilege
There are situations in which a government contractor might want access to documents held by the government. The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) provides a means to acquire such documents. FOIA requires federal agencies to make records available to the public upon...
Tips for Obtaining an Effective Required Debriefing
In this article, we describe the general rules that a government contractor must follow to get an effective “required debriefing.” It is based on our years of government contract experience working with clients who want to get as much information as possible from the...
Section 3610 of the CARES Act Extended until September 30, 2021
On March 11, 2021, President Biden signed into law the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, a $1.9 trillion economic stimulus bill to facilitate the recovery from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Act extended Section 3610 of the CARES Act through September 30,...
Civilian Agencies Face New Restrictions for LPTA Procurements Under New FAR Rule
Earlier this year the Federal Acquisition Regulation (“FAR”) Council issued a final rule, which took effect February 16, 2021, amending the FAR to limit the use of Lowest Price Technically Acceptable (“LPTA”) source selection procedures. Similar to the final rule...
Federal Circuit Clarifies Protest Timeliness Rules for Obtaining Automatic Stay
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit’s recent decision in Nika Technologies, Inc. v. United States, reversed a decision by the Court of Federal Claims (COFC) and provided important clarification regarding the timeliness rules for obtaining a stay of...
Offeror’s Failure to Update Government on Changes to Point of Contact Results in Exclusion from Competition
Out-of-office email responses can make communications easier but they must be updated and kept current. Reliance on an “Away Message” from an offeror’s point of contact (POC) during an on-going solicitation led to the offeror being eliminated from the competition. In...
SBA Issues Interim Final Rule on Extension of Participation in 8(a) Business Development Program
On January 13, 2021, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) published an interim final rule that implementing provisions of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (Appropriations Act), and the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (NDAA...