If you’re a contractor thinking about protesting an award decision to the Court of Federal Claims (COFC), you have to show that the agency’s mistake prejudiced you in some way (t… Read More
In 2010, Congress passed the “Plain Writing Act,” which essentially requires that federal agency communications to the public must be in language that “the public can under… Read More
The System for Award Management (SAM) is the official website for registering to do business with the U.S. government, such as competing for federal procurement contracts. Under FAR 52.204-7… Read More
The Rule of Two is the federal contracting rule requiring agencies to set aside a solicitation for competition only between small businesses when there are at least two small businesses that… Read More
If federal contracting had a proverbial town square, it would be SAM.gov. So much federal contracting activity flows through or starts there. A large portion of SAM is contractor information… Read More
Contractors will often enter into mentor protégé relationships and joint ventures to leverage the experience and skills of multiple parties for various reasons. SBA regulations… Read More
Back in 2021, GAO came down with a clear decision on whether Department of Defense (DoD) agencies could require a joint venture (JV) to have its own facility clearance level (FCL) if its com… Read More
A NAICS code appeal can be a powerful tool for altering the competitive landscape of a bid by changing what size of business is allowed to submit a bid and thereby either increasing or decre… Read More
If you feel like prices for just about everything are going up, you’re not alone. I recently got my annual property tax bill, and the first thing I did (after recovering from a brief f… Read More
Under 13 C.F.R. § 124.506, if an 8(a) contract price would exceed a certain threshold ($7 million for manufacturing contracts, $4.5 million for others), in most cases, the agency must c… Read More
For our third entry in our “Why File” series, we will be covering one of the two big bid protest routes, a “pre-award” Government Accountability Office (GAO) bid prot… Read More
While losing a procurement is never easy, many contractors will learn some valuable lessons from a debriefing. On top of that, a debriefing can delay bid protest filing deadlines at GAO. How… Read More
One of our favorite fall traditions is back. No, not gorging on stuffing after a turkey trot. Rather, it’s time for GAO’s annual bid protest report. This report is GAO’s su… Read More
In Fiscal Year 2022, 1,595 bid protests were filed with GAO. While that seems like a large number, it pales in comparison to the number of federal contracts the federal government awards in… Read More
GAO recently sustained a bid protest to a General Services Administration (GSA) acquisition for warehousing and deployment services at the strategic national stockpile–a literal &ldquo… Read More
A common path for many federal contractors to bid on and perform a federal contract is through a joint venture (“JV”). Utilizing a JV can provide some great opportunities for two… Read More
A contractor recently learned the hard way that if you open an email from an agency regarding a debriefing, you must read it closely and in its entirety, or you may face the consequence of m… Read More
Happy Friday! We hope you had a nice 4th of July and a great week. It was another scorcher here in Kansas, on the 4th, but thankfully our temperatures are much cooler to finish out the week… Read More
Here in Kansas, it is certainly starting to feel like thunderstorm season–and one of my favorite seasons, I might add. But over in D.C., some may say it is starting to feel like protes… Read More
A recent GAO case on protest costs looked at whether costs were reimbursable centered around whether a Buy American Act waiver was properly applied in the procurement process. As you likely… Read More
In the world of Federal Government Contracting, it often feels like there are 20 different ways that your business or your business’s awards can be protested. In addition to size prote… Read More
Bid/No-Bid decisions are critical for companies to determine whether or not to pursue a particular project before committing resources. The following insights and steps can be helpful in thi… Read More
Debriefings are a crucial part of the complicated world of bidding on Government contracts. They can provide wonderful insight to contractors on where they can improve, where their proposals… Read More
Intervening in a GAO bid protest can be an important way to protect a federal contractor’s award. But when can you and should you intervene? Here’s how this might come up. As a f… Read More
Art Market
Sonia Xie
Installation view, from left to right, of Caleb Hahne Quintana, My Heart to Turn to Stone, 2021; and Sun Xun, The Time Vivarium – 69, 2014. Photo by… Read More
Happy Friday, Readers and Happy November! I’m excited to be attending the APTAC Conference in Washington DC next week. It should be a great week to chat with PTAC procurement specialis… Read More
Many bid protests we handle at Koprince McCall Pottroff are filed after the contract has been awarded to an offeror. However, sometimes there are issues that are apparent in the solicitation… Read More
In 2020, the GAO Bid Protest effectiveness rate crossed the 50% threshold, higher than we’ve seen it in any recent year. Overall, cases filed went down a mere 2% year over year… Read More
The Anti-Assignment Act (41 U.S.C. § 6305) prohibits the transfer of a government contract or interest in a government contract to a third party. However, government agencies recognized… Read More
The grounds for GAO protests are numerous, ranging from vague terms in a solicitation to showing that an awardee’s proposal lacked needed information. However, they are not unlimited… Read More
To qualify as a small business under most set-aside or sole-source contracts seeking manufactured products or supplies, SBA’s regulations require an offeror to be the item’s manu… Read More