Liquidated damages are a pre-set amount that one party agrees to pay another in the event of a breach of some element of a contract. Easy. Sort of. In GovCon, liquidated damages can be a...
In GovCon, we often refer to the time it takes to go from requirement to contract award as ”Procurement Action Lead Time”, or PALT. The idea is that the shorter the PALT, the faster the...
In the last episode, Kevin and Paul explained how prime contractors must give a “good faith effort” to award subcontracts to small business in accordance with their subcontracting plan. Ok, but what exactly does “Good...
The concept of “Good Faith Effort” came up in episode 481 (What goes in a Subcontracting Plan?). The context of “Good Faith Effort” in that episode was around the prime contractor being required to make...
In the last episode, we outlined the rules about when there is a contract change – and how those changes can lead to Requests for Equitable Adjustment (REAs). In this episode, we go a bit...
The only constant is the law of change. We award contracts with the intent of not needing to change them, but things happen. Government contracts are awarded in the real world where situations change, circumstances...
There is a lot of public information available on what goods and services federal agencies buy, as well as how they buy them and from whom. It is PUBLIC information since, well, it’s public money....
There are some unique words in GovCon. One of our favorites is “de-obligated” (which is not to be confused with “not obligated”). It’s easy (and a little fun) to pick on these unique GovCon words....
As consumers, we tend to stick to the same brands. So much so that there is a term for it: brand loyalty. However, the government cannot just use that same brand loyalty concept. Buying a...
The government buys many (or most) things using Firm Fixed Price (FFP) contracts. This contract type is a great option when the government clearly knows what it wants and the contractor knows how to deliver...
Quality matters. When we buy something, we want to know we got what we paid for (literally and figuratively.) It’s no surprise that the FAR has an entire Part dedicated to how “quality” is defined,...
The federal government has a goal of awarding contracts to small businesses. We outlined these Small Business Goals in episode 324. Government agencies have a variety of tools to hit those goals (small business set...
The government contracts out a lot of services. We’ve covered that topic in many episodes. Sometimes those contracts are for specific services for one government customer. Other times these contracts are for a broad variety...
Change happens. Even in, and especially in, government contracts. Life happens….circumstances change…requirements change. Change happens. However, not all changes are equal. In episode 478, we talked about the 3 levels of changes: – Green light...
Many (ok, most?) contracts do not go exactly as planned. The contracting officer typically awards contracts with the intent of not having to make unplanned changes to the contract. Likewise, the contractor is typically not...
There once was a time when government agencies instructed their contracting and acquisition teams not to engage on social media – at least not in their professional role. Well, that has changed over the years....
Price is a factor in every purchase. The seller wants the highest price and the buyer wants the lowest price. The final price will fall between those two extremes. One less common approach to finding...
In GovCon, many contracts are similar. To match that similarity, many contract rules, processes and clauses are designed to fit standard situations. But what about when those rules, processes and regs don’t line up with...
Each request for proposals has a due date. The government posts a request for bids, quotes, etc and expects (i.e. requires) interested parties to reply by that date. Simple enough. In GovCon, the rules are...
The point of a government contract is not to award a contract. The point of a government contract is to meet a need for a government customer. The official term for that “need” is the...