Government Contracts

Earlier this month, GAO issued its Bid Protest Annual Report to Congress for Fiscal Year 2017. The Annual Report provides data on the protests filed with the GAO, including a summary of the most common grounds for sustaining protests. GAO received 2,596 cases in FY2017, as compared to 2,789 the…

A recent U.S. Court of Federal Claims decision highlights an important factor for contract awardees to consider when deciding whether or not to intervene in a bid protest – the possibility of losing the opportunity to challenge an award to another offeror after the agency takes corrective action. In Sonoran…

Once a vendor submits an offer to the Government, generally, the ball is in the Government’s court: it can make an award on the basis of those offers without discussions, ask for discussions, or ask for clarifications. However, as a recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) decision shows, the “ball” can…

It is important for contractors to understand the differences between “contracts” and “agreements.” The rules for winning and performing these contract vehicles can vary widely and are spread over numerous FAR sections. These different rules present risks to vendors who assume that the FAR rules for an agreement are similar…

The U.S. Senate recently passed its proposal for the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act (“NDAA”). The Senate’s version of this bill proposed several significant changes aimed at reducing the number of “frivolous” and speculative protests against Defense procurements filed at the U.S. Government Accountability Office (“GAO”). To provide offerors with…

Debriefings – already an important part of the solicitation process – may become even more valuable if the Senate’s proposal for the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act to provide even more information in DoD procurement debriefings becomes law. (Read our write-up of this proposed legislation here.) Whether the proposed…

Although a government solicitation might incorrectly use the terms “quote” and “offer” interchangeably, vendors must know the difference between these two distinct terms. It can be the difference between getting the work and losing it. A situation demonstrating the importance of this difference is discussed in a GAO decision of…

Many contractors are aware of FAR 52.212-1(f)(2), which states that proposals received by the Government after the time specified in the solicitation are late and will not be considered, but for a few very limited exceptions explicitly set forth in the FAR. GAO strictly enforces this “late is late” rule…

A government contractor can lose a contract generally in two ways. First, the government can find the offer to be not responsive or acceptable. Second, the government could find the offer acceptable but the offeror not responsible. Many small businesses know that the SBA can help if an agency denies…