Happy Valentine’s Day SmallGovCon readers! Hope you have a great one! And mark your calendar for February 26th, when Matthew Schoonover will be providing recent developments in small business contracting during an upcoming PubK webinar.
This week, we’re really loving some federal contracting updates, including a piece questioning the impact of enhanced debriefings, e-commerce supply chain risks, and a 57-month prison term for defrauding subcontractors on federal contracts to the tune of $3.7
GAO sustained a protest recently where an agency had given higher past performance scores to a proposal with two relevant examples of past performance than a proposal with five relevant examples.
In Patricio Enterprises, Inc., B-412740 et al. (Comp. Gen. May 26, 2016), GAO said that an agency cannot mechanically apply an evaluation formula that produces an unreasonable result, such as allowing a proposal with fewer examples of relevant past performance to somehow earn a higher score than a prop
Happy Friday, everybody! It’s that time of year: federal contractors are rushing to submit bids, with the hope of awards before the end of the fiscal year. So we hope that you’re all gearing up for a relaxing weekend.
Let’s get the weekend started off right with the SmallGovCon Week in Review. This week’s edition discusses the rush of contract awards at the end of the fiscal year, DOL’s renewed focus on disability hiring practices, federal contractors behaving badly, and more.
Have a great wee
One common way that contractors attempt to avoid affiliation is by limiting a particular individual to a minority ownership interest (often 49%).
But as a recent SBA Office of Hearings and Appeals case demonstrates, when a company’s owners are spouses (or other close family members), the SBA may disregard the legal ownership split, and treat the family members as one person for purposes of the affiliation rules.
OHA’s decision in Size Appeal of Gregory Landscape Services, Inc., SBA No. SIZ-5
The U.S. Air Force cannot buy sporks, at least not in many situations.
One would think that the recently passed $700 billion defense bill would provide a little wiggle room for the military to buy paper plates and utensils for its civilian contractors, but, according to the GAO, that is not necessarily the case.
In Air Force Reserve Command-Disposable Plates and Utensils, B-329316, 2017 WL 5809101 (Comp. Gen. Nov. 29, 2017), GAO determined that disposable plates and utensils are, like food,
At least a couple times a month, I’m asked when the FAR’s limitations on subcontracting provisions will be updated to correspond with SBA regulations adopted in 2016, and underlying statutory changes adopted way back in the 2013 National Defense Authorization Act.
Well, now it seems that the FAR updates may take longer than I’d hoped. In its most recent “Open Cases” update, the FAR Council says that it’s made a switch in the procedure that will be used to implement the changes to the limitatio
Hope everyone had a great holiday season! Now it’s time to get back to the routine. And for those of us in the northern parts of the county–a few more months to walk in a winter wonderland.
To avoid that post-holiday letdown, enjoy some of these federal contracting updates that have been rolling in since my last update. This week, there are interesting stories including the new SBA administrator being confirmed, Space Force seeking innovative tech solutions, and calls for federal purchasing
When required, bid bonds are an essential aspect to a proper bid. Under FAR 52.228-1, they secure the liability of a surety to the government by providing funds to cover the excess costs of awarding to the next eligible bidder if the successful bidder defaults by failing to fulfill these obligations.
There is a standard form for bid bonds. Though it’s not required, using the standard form is probably the safest bet to avoid possible rejection of a bid, as one contractor learned the hard way.
It’s been a wild week in the world of federal government contracting. Yesterday the Supreme Court issued two major decisions affecting contractors: Kingdomware Technologies, Inc. v. United States and Universal Health Services v. United States ex rel. Escobar. If you’re a regular SmallGovCon reader, you know that I’ve been following Kingdomware closely for years, and we will have a separate post later today with reaction to Kingdomware from around the country. But Escobar is an important decisi
As we end May and roll into June, rainy weather has descended on the Midwest. But there’s always sunshine around the corner. In our case, around the corner will be this weekend as the Kansas City region is scheduled to have sunny skies.
This week saw plenty of interesting stories in the federal contracting world, including a false claims settlement related misrepresenting use of a small disadvantaged business, a new Department of Labor office aims to help federal contractors comply with ru
Avoiding affiliation with other companies can be critical to qualifying as a small business under the SBA’s rules for government contractors. But not all SBA affiliation rules are intuitive, and in my career as a government contracts attorney I have seen the same misconceptions about the affiliation rules come up time and and time again.
So without further ado, here are five common misconceptions about the SBA’s affiliation rules.
An Affiliate Can be in an Unrelated Industry
Bus
It has been a long time coming, but the Department of Defense, in conjunction with the GSA and NASA, are finally issuing a final rule amending the FAR guidance regarding limitations on subcontracting. In this post, we are going to explore just what these changes are and what they mean for government contractors such as yourself. The hope is this brief summary and analysis will provide you some insight as to just what the new rules do.
If you can believe it, this latest rule change is bas
Happy Independence Day to all of our SmallGovCon readers! I hope you are able to share some time with family and friends and observe the 4th in a way that means the most to you. Stay healthy and safe.
In this short week, there were still some interesting federal contracting developments. These included debate on National Defense Authorization Act and other congressional initiatives such as the ban on equipment from certain Chinese companies, some challenges for Cybersecurity Maturity Model C
In a recent decision, GAO determined an agency could reasonably amend a solicitation for a task order issued under a set-side base contract to require offerors to recertify their size and SDVOSB status at the task order level.
The Oryza Group, LLC, B-416719 et al. (Comp, Gen. Nov. 26, 2018), involved a task order procurement by the United States Army Reserve Command for “sustainment information system” support (the “Task Order”). The task order was competed among holders of the Veterans
We’ve been enjoying some spring-like weather in these parts lately with highs in the 60s. But March is not just the start of spring, it’s also peak government contracting conference season. Next week, Matthew Schoonover will be in Chicago presenting on “Legislative and Regulatory Updates affecting Government Contracting” at APTAC’s 2020 Spring Training Conference.
Here are some interesting stories from the last week in federal government contracting, among them when the first CMMC training
The HUBZone program will see significant changes to its rules as a result of major SBA changes set to take effect in late August.
These changes apply generally to two aspects of the HUBZone program: that relating to the SBA’s processing of HUBZone applications, and a significant expansion of the HUBZone joint venture requirements.
Here at SmallGovCon, we have been writing about the many changes brought about by the SBA’s recently published final rule about Small Business Mentor-Protégé Progr
A major tenet in government contracting is that agencies enjoy broad discretion in identifying their needs and developing the most appropriate solicitation to satisfy them. Though broad, this discretion is not unlimited. If challenged, an agency must demonstrate that its specifications are reasonably necessary to meet its needs and are not unduly restrictive of competition.
GAO recently affirmed this principle in Pitney Bowes, Inc., B-413876.2 (Feb. 13, 2017), when it sustained a protest challe
In theory, best value procurements provide the government with an opportunity to select a higher priced proposal where the higher price is justified by the technical superiority of the proposal. In practice, though, the technical factors of a best value procurement can seemingly relegate price to a secondary consideration. In a recent decision, however, GAO confirmed that price is an essential evaluation consideration in any best-value decision.
Addx Corp., B-417804 et al. (Comp. Gen. No
Happy Friday to you all and here’s to the weekend! Please mark your calendars as my colleague Matthew Schoonover will be giving a presentation on August 5 discussing the SBA’s All-Small Mentor-Protégé Program. Here are more details on the event.
This week saw its fair share of government contracting updates as well. These included STARS III details, progress on GSA’s schedule mass modification, and predictions for a government fourth quarter spending spree.
Navy automates supply cha
Once again, the incumbent service worker rule has had its pendulum swing back to the hiring of incumbent workers, reflecting a “general policy of the Federal Government that service contracts which succeed contracts for the same or similar services, and solicitations for such contracts, shall include a non-displacement clause.” This proposed rule would insert a contract clause requiring contractors who are awarded a service contract with an incumbent on it, to offer employment to the incumbent c
A NAICS code appeal can be a powerful vehicle for influencing the competitive landscape of an acquisition. A successful NAICS code appeal can dramatically alter a solicitation’s size standard, causing major changes in the number (and sizes) of potential competitors.
But a NAICS code appeal cannot be filed until the solicitation is issued. As the SBA Office of Hearings and Appeals recently confirmed, a NAICS code appeal cannot be filed with respect to a presolicitation.
OHA’s decision in Ma
A government agency was liable for damaging leased space, even though the lease didn’t contain an explicit clause requiring the government to repair the space.
In a recent decision, the Civilian Board of Contract Appeals held that the VA was required to compensate the landlord for damage to the space, because every lease–including those entered by government tenants–contains an implied provision requiring the tenant not to damage the leased space, except for ordinary wear and tear.
The CBCA’
The Small Business Runway Extension Act, signed into law earlier this week, changes the small business size calculation under revenue-based NAICS codes from a three-year to five-year average.
The new law has sparked a great deal of discussion in the government contracting community, with some commentators pointing out that not all small businesses will benefit. But how does the SBA–the agency tasked with implementing the new law–feel?
Well, according to commentary published earlier this
Like the rest of the nation and world, we at Koprince Law are closely watching and listening to the recommendations of our public health authorities on a local, regional, and national level. It’s times like these that remind us (not that we need it) of the importance of the government and government contractors in responding to crises. As Tom Hanks said, listen to what medical authorities recommend.
This week, there was plenty of news about the coronavirus and how it will impact federal cont
Happy Juneteenth to our SmallGovCon readers! And Happy Father’s Day as well. The next few days can be a time to reflect on the state of our nation. And to say thanks to a father or father figure.
If you need a new podcast to check out, my colleague Haley Claxton was recently featured on an episode of the The Big Bid Theory podcast. The episode just came out and is full of helpful information about set-asides for small business contractors. Give it a listen!
This week saw some interesting
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