lawyergirl

Thanks again, Retreadfed! Does the GSA Schedule itself count as one award towards the 3-over-two rule?

Thanks again, Retreadfed! Does the GSA Schedule itself count as one award towards the 3-over-two rule?

Thank you! Two follow up questions: 1. Are 8(a) JVs exempt from the 3-over-2 rule? 2. If not, Does the award of a GSA Schedule itself count as one award, such that any task orders or BPA calls under the Schedule are counted as a going towards a single contract?

Hello: We have a mentor/protégé SBA JV with its own GSA Schedule, and that JV would like to submit solicitations for BPA work. Under the SBA rules to avoid affiliation, the JV cannot be awarded more than three or more contracts in three years (3-in-2 rule). If the JV wins a BPA, does each task order awarded under the BPA count as a contract award under this rule? Or is the BPA itself considered one contract award? I understand that ordinarily a BPA is a vehicle only, and that orders under the BPA are considered the contracts themselves. But is this also true in the JV context? Thanks so much for any practical guidance here!

… and contract is for IT services.

Hello: Yes, this is a small business set aside contract and time and materials (I should have mentioned this previously!). I know there are potential implications from a small business affiliation perspective (e.g., for purposes of this contract, both the prime and sub can be deemed affiliates). Putting that aside, I was hoping there is something I could solidly point the CO to, as an indication that bounds are being overstepped.

Hello: We are the prime on a contract and have an interesting subcontracting issue being presented. The assigned CO has a professional friendship with, or affinity for, one of our subcontractors. Out of the 12 funded positions we have been awarded, 11 of those positions are staffed by the subcontractor's personnel at the CO's specific request. As the prime, we have one position that is filled by our FT employee in XX role, but that employee is about to go out on maternity leave. The CO relayed that even though the XX role is funded, there is not enough work for the XX role, so the CO does not want it backfilled. This would essentially leave no prime employees on the contract. We are where we are, but this does not sit right. I understand that the prime needs to exercise control over the contract. Does anyone know of any FAR provisions or other regulations that come into play here? If we can site to some regulations that prohibit subcontractors from controlling prime contracts or that prohibits some of the other behavior that is essentially 'pushing' out the prime, I would be very grateful! I looked in the contract but I don't see anything particularly helpful for this issue. Many thanks!

Thanks so much for the responses! Very helpful!

Does anyone have thoughts as to whether salary information may be considered private information pursuant to the new Food Marketing Institute ruling? The Supreme Court decided Food Marketing Institute v. Argus Leader Media, No. 18–481, holding that commercial or financial information that is customarily and actually treated as private by its owner and provided to the government under an assurance of privacy is “confidential” under Exemption 4 to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and is therefore shielded from disclosure. Thanks so much in advance!

Thanks so much for the guidance!

Does anyone know what would happen to a BPA that sits under a GSA Schedule contract and that Schedule is cancelled (e.g., not expired)? I can't seem to find any regulations that address this situation. I would think no new TOs can be issued for new work under the BPA, but current task orders can play out until the expiration date of the TO. Many thanks for any guidance!

Thank you, PepeTheFrog, your answer is extremely helpful. It sounds like much of this will be up to the contract itself and the prime. I was looking at FAR 52.215-12 Subcontractor Certified Cost or Pricing Data and wondering if that is a mandatory flow-down in SBIR contracts -- do you happen to know?

Hello! Does anyone know what flow-downs must be included in subcontracts under the SBIR program? In particular, I am trying to find out whether subcontractors can offer fixed price contracting to a prime, or whether subcontractors must provide the prime with COST+ pricing. It is my understanding that SBIR prime contracts are all COST+, so I am wondering if that flows down or whether it's in the prime's discretion as to how it obtains rates from a subcontractor. Hope this makes sense. Thank you in advance for any guidance!

Hello! Does anyone happen to know whether government agencies can leverage GSA Schedule 70 for IT Services (in particular) as a Best-in-class vehicle? Thanks in advance for any guidance!

Considering this hypothetical: A business is looking to qualify as a "small business concern" (as defined in 121.105) under the SBIR/STTR Program. The business has less than 500 employees, but is owned 100% by a parent holding company, which in turn is held by two US citizens (owning 50% each). In other words, under the control requirement, instead of being directly held by one or more US citizens, the business is held indirectly by such citizens. Does anyone know how this fares under the Program? Is indirect ownership/control by US citizens enough to qualify? Sincere thanks in advance for any help that can be provided!

Much appreciated!

Wow... thanks so much for the help!

Hello: Under SBA Rule 13 CFR 121.104(d)(2), I understand that if a small business acquires an affiliate, recertification is required. I also understand that size of the purchaser is impacted -- a recalculation has to take place to aggregate annual receipts using the applicable 3-year lookback measurement on or around the date of the transaction. If a purchaser acquires a seller in mid-2014, the look-back period would be annual receipts for completed fiscal years 2013, 2012 and 2011, divided by 3. While this calculation has to be done for the purchaser's annual receipts, do you also add, for all three years, the annual receipts of the seller (divided by 3) to get to the right size determination? This seems so crazy to me that I thought I should check on this! Any guidance is gratefully appreciated!