Government contractors should consider all contract performance vitally important because they can’t always control which past performance is considered by agency evaluators. The recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) decision in Sayres & Associates Corporation (Sayres), B-418382 (March 31, 2020) reminds offerors that poor past performance, even under just one contract, can have lasting negative effects
Helping individuals, companies, and organizations understand key legal and practical considerations for promoting compliance and making better business decisions in these types of federal, state, and local government contracting matters MORE
Bid Protests and the Contracting Process
Simplified Acquisition Procedures Afford Agencies a Lot of Latitude
By Judith Araujo on
Not being included, or being purposely excluded, may remind some of adolescence, and may remind others of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) simplified acquisition procedures. The recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) decision in Phoenix Environmental Design, Inc. (Phoenix), B-418304 (March 2, 2020) deals with facing the latter form of disappointment.
The underlying purchase order in…
When Selecting Protest Grounds, Don’t Forget the Prejudice
By Eric Whytsell on
Sometimes the most basic rules can be the easiest to forget. One case in point relates to the key role of competitive prejudice in successful protests. No matter how often contractors hear it, this reality bears repeating, early and often: competitive prejudice is an essential element of a viable protest. In protest after protest, disappointed…
How Soon Is Soon Enough for Corrective Action to Preclude Recovery of Protest Costs?
By Eric Whytsell on
Contractors whose protests result in the challenged agency’s taking corrective action may attempt to recover their protest costs, particularly when they feel that the corrective action was unduly delayed. As the recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) decision in INTELiTEAMS, Inc.—Costs, B-418123.2, B-418180.2 (February 25, 2020) demonstrates, however, the operative date for determining the timeliness of…
Hope Is Not a Strategy: Protest Shortcomings of Corrective Action as Soon as You See Them
By Eric Whytsell on
When an agency announces its intent to take corrective action in response to a protest, it’s easy for the protester to feel that it has “won”—and to some extent it has. At the very least, its protest has prompted the agency to regroup and remedy one or more perceived problems with the subject procurement. Despite…