If you’re in the government contracting world, holding a training for your proposal, business development, capture, or pricing teams can be a daunting task. There are many questions and steps required before the actual training takes place, some of which include:
Source: 5 Tips to Identify When to Hold A Training | Red Team Consulting
In dealing with government officials the small business owner must be aware of regulations regarding procurement integrity. This body of law has come into being through trial and error in dealing with conflict of interest and undue influence by industry on government officials and vice versa.
Source: SMALL BUSINESS FEDERAL GOVERNMENT CONTRACTING (“Smalltofeds”): PROCUREMENT INTEGRITY AND THE LAW
Ignorance is bliss, right? Not always. In the world of government contracting, GAO recently dismissed a protest because its initial agency protest was not timely filed, reminding the protester that ignorance of the law is no excuse.
SOURCE: Ignorance is Bliss? Not When it Comes to Timely Filing of Protest, Says GAO
Agencies often find unanticipated, innovative content in offerors’ proposals. And unsurprisingly, those proposals are often the ones selected for award. But a recent GAO decision reminds us that all strengths an agency assigns must be supported by the stated evaluation criteria. In other words, the solicitation must thoroughly inform offerors of these evaluation criteria, and the agency must equally evaluate offerors under them. An offeror’s proposal should not get extra credit for proposing things that are not anticipated by or logically encompassed in the solicitation.
SOURCE: GAO: Proposal Strengths Must be Based on Solicitation Criteria, Not Merely Benefit to Government
Contract changes, particularly in the construction context, can be flash points for the Government and a contractor. In some cases, the Government will assert that the contract requires the contractor to perform certain work; the contractor, pointing to the same (or another) contractual provision, will argue that the contract does not require it. These diverging positions can often lead to contentious litigation.
SOURCE: ASBCA Awards Contractor Compensation for Extra-Contractual Changes
NOTE: This article first appeared on FCW.com.
Increasingly the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security are looking to “other transaction authority” agreements to acquire emerging technologies. Procurements made under OTA are exempt from many Federal Acquisition Regulation rules and are typically limited to research, prototypes and in certain cases follow-on production.
An ‘ombudsman’ is an official charged with addressing and/or investigating the interests of individuals’ or companies’ complaints of maladministration or violations of rights. You can find them at all levels of governments; federal, state, local, and municipal. To be effective, ombudsmen must be independent of the aggrieving organization.
SOURCE: New Regulation Formalizes Ombudsman Practice and Identity for IDIQ Contracts
Last fiscal year (2018), federal agencies spent $36 billion on construction contracts. Almost half of that went to small businesses. Most construction projects involve some degree of change as the project progresses and small businesses have been complaining that delays in processing contract changes and making payments have created financial difficulties. With the 2019 NDAA (National Defense Authorization Act), agencies are now required to report information related to how quickly they finalize contract changes.
SOURCE: How Long Does it Take for the Government to Process Change Orders?
The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) recently released their fiscal year (FY) 2020 travel per diem rates, which will take effect on October 1, 2019. GSA sets these rates for the continental United States annually. Per diem rates provide caps, or maximums, to the amounts that can be reimbursed to federal employees for lodging and meals while on official travel. Lodging per diem rates are based on local market costs of mid-priced hotels.
GSA is preparing version No. 3 of its successful 8(a) small business governmentwide acquisition contract called STARS. The 8(a) Streamlined Technology Acquisition Resource for Services 3 draft solicitation focuses on IT services, including software development and maintenance, and emerging technology like artificial intelligence. STARS 3 is proposed as an eight-year contract with a ceiling of $20 billion. Responses to the draft RFP are due Sept. 6. Agencies spent more than $1.6 billion on 8a STARS 2 in 2018. (FedBizOpps)
Source: GSA preps 3rd version of STARS small business contract | Federal News Network
