by Shelley Hall In Protection Strategies, Inc., B-414573.3 (Nov 9, 2017), the GAO held that the protester was entitled to be reimbursed a portion of its protest costs because the agency unduly delayed taking corrective action in response…
by Steve Lucianetti According to the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA), in 2017 the United States had oversight to over $43B in Foreign Military Sales (FMS). The number of countries that benefit from these sales are…
by Shelley Hall In Bluewater Management Group, LLC, B-414785, Bluewater protested the Navy’s award of lodging and transportation services to DMC Management Services, LLC, stating that the award was improper because DMC’s GSA Schedule contract did not…
by Scott Syring Differing site conditions, commonly referred to as unforeseen site conditions, is a term used in construction contracts to describe a previously unknown condition that, once discovered, will affect a project’s schedule and costs….
by Kevin Jans My last role as a Contracting Officer was at US Special Operations Command at MacDill Air Force Base, just south of Tampa, FL. When I decided to step out of my CO role…
by Shelley Hall A recent protest – Bluehorse Corp., B-414809 (Aug. 18, 2017) – involved an acquisition diesel fuel, which was as part of a highway construction project by the Department of Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA)….
by Shelley Hall Since I just got back home after evacuating due to Hurricane Irma, I thought this would be a good topic to cover right now. Government facilities close down for a variety of reasons…
by Shelley Hall Class Deviation 2017-O0006, Increased Micro-Purchased Threshold. DOD issued a memo implementing a class deviation that increases the micro-purchase threshold to $5,000 for DoD procurements and to $10,000 for DoD basic research programs. Presidential…
by Shelley Hall In their recent decision in Redhorse Corporation, SBA No. VET-263 (2017), SBA’s Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA) found that the Supreme Court’s Kingdomwaredecision does not affect the SBA’s SDVOSB eligibility regulation for multiple-award contracts. This…
by Shelley Hall There have been a couple of recent cases in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit (covers Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina) that provide the “test” (in…
by Vicky Strycharske When I first read this topic, I thought, “Wow! That’s a really hard question to answer! There are so many variables that affect a company’s ability to win a contract, let alone “enough”…
by Tim Griggs This story provides a good example of how arbitrary and capricious the Government can be. I was serving in Afghanistan as the Chief of Contracting on one of the major bases in Helmand…
by Shelley Hall During the performance of Government contracts, a contractor may encounter many circumstances that lead them to submit a Request for Equitable Adjustment (REA). Examples include undisclosed site conditions on a construction contract, new…
by Shelley Hall Not according to a recent GAO decision on Atlantic Systems Group, Inc., B-413901 (Jan. 9, 2017). The agency issued a Request for Quote (RFQ) pursuant to Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 8.405-2, Ordering Procedures for…
by Shelley Hall DoD, GSA, and NASA issued are issuing a final rule amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to implement a section of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016 to raise the simplified acquisition…
by Christi Gilbert When pricing work for the government, contractors must be aware of which costs are allowable under the FAR (Subpart 31.2). Allowable costs include both direct (labor, materials, etc.) and indirect (fringe, overhead, G&A)…
by Shelley Hall DoD, GSA, and NASA issued are issuing a final rule amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to implement a section of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016 to raise the simplified acquisition…
by Shelley Hall On January 5, 2017, the Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP) issued a memorandum discussion the best practices to “maximize the return on its acquisition investment and to ensure access to high-quality…
by Shelley Hall The Small Business Administration (SBA) is attempting to expand the Supreme Court’s Kingdomware ruling, applying the “rule of two” to all task and delivery orders under the Simplified Acquisition Threshold (SAT) if…
by Shelley Hall This situation is discussed in a recent GAO bid protest, Genesis Design and Development, Inc., B-414254 (Feb. 28, 2017). The protestor alleged it was unfair for the government to reject their proposal because…