TheLaw

We tried this approach. Sadly it failed...

Yea, lets not even go down that rabbit hole...

The bonding was grouped in a category that says "general requirements." The contractor has since told us that the bond costs were included in there.

Also, since no one has talked about it, the idea of the Government using the mistake after award clauses (typical used by contractors) to rectify the mistake is a non-starter?

Here is the timeline: The contractor submitted a proposal with the mistaken bond percentage. The contractor then submitted certified cost & pricing data with the mistaken bond percentage.* After award, when the contractor was submitting the bonds, it discovered the error. *The bond percentage was shown in a "general requirements" portion of the certified cost & pricing data, so the Government never saw it here. Also, clause 52.215-10 is in the contract. I will have to look into the case law, it appears.

Good points. Thanks!

I read through 15.407-1, and it seems to apply except my reading of that section requires us to do an audit first. That seems like a waste of time since the contractor informed us of the mistake. Nevertheless, is that a hoop we have to jump through anyway?

Construction contract. The project was sent to the MATOC but only one contractor bid (we were expecting more). Negotiations were held, final price agreed upon, and then we asked for a certificate of current cost or pricing data, which was provided. The task order was then awarded. A couple weeks later the contractor provided its performance and payment bond, and then realized that had used an incorrect factor of $40 per $100 versus $4 per $1,000. Here's where it gets tricky. When the Government learned of the mistake, we tried to do a unilateral mod for the difference.

I have a FAR part 15 contract, firm fixed price. The contractor alerted us to a mistake after award - specifically that his bonding rate was submitted as 4%, when 0.4% is what was intended. The contractor argues that no contract price correction is warranted because this is a firm fixed price contract that was negotiated, and he already lowered his price twice during negotiations. The Government believes it should be entitled to a correction in the contract price for the difference between 0.4% and 4%. Anyone have any thoughts on this? Could the Government possibly use FAR part 15.508 for Discovery of Mistakes (which then references 14.407-4), to correct this mistake? I understand that those sections are used by contractors to rectify mistakes they discover (in their favor), but it seems like the Government should have some recourse in this situation. I've come up empty on my review, however, so any advice would be welcome. Thanks.