On March 31, 2017, the United States Civilian Board of Contract Appeals (CBCA) dismissed a contractor’s claims against the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for a lack of jurisdiction, stating that the contractor should have secured a final decision from the General Services Administration (GSA) prior to filing its claim. According to the CBCA, since the dispute was over the terms of a GSA Schedule contract and not over contract performance, proper procedures call for a decision from the GSA Schedule contracting officer before the CBCA can weigh in on the dispute.
Continue Reading Agency First! – CBCA Refuses Jurisdiction over Contractor’s Challenge of Wage Rate Adjustments Despite Final Decision from Contracting Officer
Event: Florida GovCon Summit
This week I will be in Tampa, Florida speaking at the two-day, interactive Florida GovCon Summit presented by Solvability. I will speak on the topic of, “Growing Your Business Through Joint Ventures” at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, March 29. Recent changes in federal regulations have presented businesses with options and strategies for growth, this session
GAO Upholds Waiver(s) of OCI Allegations
On January 30, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued its decision denying Concurrent Technologies Corp.’s (CTC) protest of the U.S. Navy’s award of a support contract for the Navy Manufacturing Technology Metalworking Center of Excellence program to Advanced Technology International (ATI). CTC alleged that ATI had an organizational conflict of interest (OCI) which stemmed from ATI’s role as a contractor providing procurement support services for the Department of Defense. CTC argued that as part of ATI’s procurement support work, it had access to CTC’s proprietary information resulting in ATI having an unfair competitive advantage in the procurement.
GAO denied CTC’s protest, finding that the Navy’s actions were reasonable and the award to ATI was proper. However, it is the lengths taken by the Navy, and upheld by GAO, which makes this protest interesting and potentially dangerous to contractors.Continue Reading GAO Upholds Waiver(s) of OCI Allegations
UPDATE: SBA Clarifies Profit Percentages for Joint Ventures under the Small Business Mentor-Protégé Program
As previously reported, on July 22, 2016, the Small Business Administration (SBA) issued a final rule establishing a government-wide mentor-protégé program encompassing all small business concerns. Though effective as of August 24th, the SBA didn’t fully transition into the new system until November 2016. And as with any new program, in an effort to eliminate confusion and provide clarity for the program’s participants, the SBA has issued corrections to the rule.
Continue Reading UPDATE: SBA Clarifies Profit Percentages for Joint Ventures under the Small Business Mentor-Protégé Program
The FAR Council Wishes Contractors a Happy New ‘Privacy Training’
The FAR Council issued a final rule on December 20, 2016, amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to add FAR Subpart 24.3, requiring privacy training for all contractor employees who (1) access a system of records; (2) handle personally identifiable information (PII); or (3) design, develop, maintain, or operate a system of records. A “system of records” is a “group of any records under the control of any agency from which information is retrieved by the name of the individual or by some identifying number, symbol, or other identifying particular assigned to the individual.” 5 U.S.C. § 552a(a)(5); FAR 24.101.
Continue Reading The FAR Council Wishes Contractors a Happy New ‘Privacy Training’
Congressional Reference Cases
We authored a chapter in the Court of Federal Claims: Jurisdiction, Practice, and Procedure, a comprehensive treatise focused exclusively on practice before the United States Court of Federal Claims, with detailed discussion and analysis of all areas of the court’s jurisdiction. Our chapter was titled, “Congressional Reference Cases”, which discusses the unique role the
Buyer Beware: Lessons of Disclosure Learned the Hard Way
Government contractors are learning the hard way that agencies need to be kept apprised of major changes within the company during the entire period of bid evaluations. Most recently, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) made an example of Lockheed Martin Integrated Systems, Inc. (LMIS), which was excluded from awards for failure to disclose its spin-off agreement with Leidos.
Continue Reading Buyer Beware: Lessons of Disclosure Learned the Hard Way
GSA Remains Confident in the Benefits of the Transactional Data Reporting Rule
According to the Federal Acquisition Service (FAS) Commissioner, Tom Sharpe, the General Services Administration (GSA) remains committed to a smooth transition in implementing the final rule governing transactional data reporting, released on June 23, 2016. As we previously reported, the final rule significantly changes reporting requirements for the Federal Supply Schedules (FSS) program – requiring vendors to electronically submit monthly reports providing 11 transactional data elements, and in turn, eliminate Commercial Sales Practices (CSP) disclosures and the Price Reduction Clause (PRC).
Continue Reading GSA Remains Confident in the Benefits of the Transactional Data Reporting Rule
How Trump Might Reform Defense Business
I provided comments for an article outlining the potential impact that President-elect Donald Trump’s administration may have within the defense industry. As I point out in the article, “[m]any companies have chosen to exit the government market because of the [recent] regulatory burdens. The compliance obligations have piled on. An enormous amount of regulation has
Event: Mentor Protégé Training – Challenges and Solutions
I will be Nashville on Thursday, November 17 speaking at a program organized by The University of Tennessee Procurement Technical Assistance Center. I will speak on the topic of “Mentor Protégé Training – Challenges and Solutions” from 8 a.m. – 11 a.m. CST at Bass, Berry & Sims. I will provide an overview of the