The below information covers common issues that arise in bid protest litigation. Find your specific area of concern.
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Source Selection Evaluation Board Decisions
Government contracting agencies frequently form a Source Selection Evaluation Board when there is a large and complex acquisition. The evaluation board helps the contracting officer to develop the source selection plan.
Responsibility Determinations and Business Ethics Considerations
… Determinations A successful bid protest is possible if a protestor that provide facts to support an allegation that an awardee has a … ultimately leads to the responsibility determination. Bid Protest Allegations If you are challenging the agency’s award in a bid …
Late Government Proposal Submission and Exceptions in Bid Protests
… be accepted or should be accepted, giving you grounds for protest. General Rule Typically, a proposal received after the time set for … (“GAO”) found the agency improperly rejected the protestor’s proposal as late. The RFP solicitation required both electronic …
Filing NAICs Code Protest :: Do’s and Don’ts
Protesting the NAICs Code for a government contract can be tricky. This is especially … See 13 C.F.R. § 121.402(b) (2014). If you choose to protest the NAICs code, courts will give primary consideration to: The … § 19.303(a)(2) (2014). The key thought process for protesting the NAICs code is to first look at the largest component of the …
FAR Price Reasonableness Evaluations
… is too low would not get you points within a GAO bid protest. Incumbents tend to have stronger arguments because if the agency … some level of consideration. The reality is that GAO protest rules on price reasonableness vary. You must make arguments based …
GSA GWACS FSS Contracts Understanding Protest Rules
… compliance, what you don’t know about GWACs and your protest rights can cost you. In accordance with the Government Accountability Office’s (GAO’s) definition, a bid protest is a challenge to the award or proposed award of a contract for … a solicitation for such a contract. Far 33.1 governs bid protests, generally; however not all protests are allowable. The FAR does …
Protesting CICA Small Business Rule of Two Set Aside
… Costly Bid Protest Mistakes Under CICA Rule of Two Approaches If you are considering protesting the small business set aside Rule of Two decision at GAO or Court of … contractors have taken this route and found that the protest efforts simply fell by the wayside due to improper arguments. When …
Past Performance of Parent Companies
… your award could be at risk in a small business size protest. GAO Review of Improper Performance Evaluations When evaluating your experience, GAO could sustain a bid protest if the contracting agency improperly evaluates the past performance of …
Unbalanced Bidding GAO Protest
… GAO protests alleging unbalanced bidding based on low price is tricky and must be approached with caution. Oftentimes a protestor may allege that the successful awardee’s bid is so low that it is unbalanced. If this is all you state in the protest without articulating more, GAO might more than likely dismiss the …
Incumbent Contractor and Filing Bid Protest
… they are losing more and more government contracts and bid protest. They also find it difficult to write more competitive government … data for technical and pricing. Decision to File a Bid Protest As an incumbent contractor, when you receive notification that you are …
Proposed Staffing Levels
… the technical evaluation stage. A problem arises in a bid protest where the agency gives you a weakness simply because your proposal did … in staffing that it never discussed. GAO in a bid protest decision will more than likely rule that the agency’s actions were …
Interested Party Definition
… is an Interested Party in a Bid Protest? Under GAO protest regulations the Interested party definition for a bid protest means that you must be an actual or prospective bidder or offeror …
Government Contract Protest Tips For Intervenor
… any government contract protest, an intervenor, including the awardee, can intervene and protest their rights to the contract. Intervenors in any government contract protest must still meet the interested party requirements. After the …
Agency Corrective Action GAO Protest
… bid protests are filed, government contracting agencies may see merit to your case. … that such action was not appropriate. Should you file a protest? It depends. Lately GAO takes a more serious look at agency corrective action. You rights to file a new protest are still in place. However, you must make more than a general …
Understanding Sole Source Justification
… in government contracting can a heated debate during bid protest litigation. Oftentimes, the agency may choose to place its notice on … supporting rationale that can be subject to filing a bid protest. Although the agency’s mission is important, there must still be a …
Bid Protest- Should I Challenge or Not?
… the country face the question of whether to file a bid protest challenging the Agency’s award with the Government Accountability … the first concerns prevalent among Contractors, is whether protesting will “blacklist” the Contractor or place it at odds with the …
Meaningful Discussions Vs Clarifications
… recently sustained a bid protest in the Matter of: Marathon Medical Corporation because the agency failed to hold meaningful discussions with the protestor. In that case, Marathon’s bid protest alleged the Department of Veteran Affairs improperly held discussions …
GAO Protest Automatic Stay
… you file a bid protest, the CICA Automatic Stay Rule typically suspends any procurement action until the court decides the protest. There are some exceptions to the rule where the government can … the stay. Many contractors have heard about the GAO protest Automatic Stay but are not quite familiar with the general rules. …
Organizational Conflict of Interest Standards for GAO
… be shown in an organizational conflict of interest bid protest. If for some reason a former government official hire results in the … an OCI exists. See FAR §§ 9.504, 9.505. In a bid protest, GAO will review the reasonableness of a contracting officer’s OCI …
Challenging the Agency’s Corrective Action in a Bid Protest
… action for purposes of a bid protest, means that the Agency has chosen re-evaluated proposals, re-enter … challenging the agency’s corrective action in a bid protest, you must understand that the government also has discretion in the … challenging the agency’s corrective action in bid protest, there are some important considerations to make. When you file your …
Meaningful Evaluation of Proposals
… Agencies Conduct Meaningful Evaluations? In the GAO bid protest of Prism Maritime, LLC , B-409267.2; B-409267.3, the protestor challenged the Department of the Navy’s lack of meaningful … challenged the Navy’s evaluation of cost proposals. The protestor also claimed that the agency improperly engaged in discussions …
Intervention and Benefits of Becoming an Intervenor
… a GAO bid protest intervenor can make the difference between keeping company revenues or losing the award in a protest action. You can intervene in a protest either at the GAO level or U.S. Court of Federal Claims. Procurement …
What is a GAO Bid Protest?
… to Government Accountability Office, a GAO bid protest constitutes a legal challenge to the award or proposed award of a … to the terms of a solicitation for such a contract. A protest is also the process where you, the interested party challenges the award of a government contract. When you file a GAO bid protest, you must follow very specific procedures. Failure to follow them can …
SBA Small Business Size Protest Requirements
… the SBA size standards protest requirements, filing a small business size determination challenge … due to lack of understanding of the small business size protest rules. If you file a legally defective small business size protest, the SBA will move to dismiss your case. SBA Small Business Size …
Overly Restrictive RFP Requirements
… Pre-Award GAO Protests for Overly Restrictive RFP Requirements As a CEO, you wonder how you … understand how to overcome this type of mistake in a GAO protest. One important factor is that you must challenge the issue before bid … of overly restrictive RFP provisions, the recent GAO protest case of Iyabak Construction, LLC, B-409196 (Feb. 6, 2014) GAO found …
Lowest Price Technically Acceptable Versus Best Value Evaluation Criteria
… agency. GAO Review in Lowest Price Technically Acceptable Protests When a protester challenges an agency’s award decision, GAO will review that …
Difference in FAR 15 Discussions and Clarifications in GAO Protests
… common misunderstanding when filing a GAO protest is the difference between FAR 15 discussions and clarifications. The … The GAO, however, looks at specific detail to decide a bid protest. Difference Between Clarifications and Discussions in GAO Protests Clarifications After bid submission, when the Agency engages in …
Technical Evaluation Criteria of Contractor Bids st
… protests based on errors in government’s technical proposal evaluation … proposals are very common. In order to prevail in a bid protest, a bid protest lawyer will have to show that the agency’s actions were …
Exclusion from the Competitive Range Determination and GAO Bid Protests
… technical scores. Challenging the Exclusion in a Bid Protest Government contractors often will file a GAO protest due to exclusion from the competitive range. To stand a chance of …
Price Realism Improper Evaluation in GAO Bid Protests
… is a recent trend increase in GAO bid protests for improper price realism evaluations and bidders’ technical … estimate. T o avoid possibly losing in a GAO bid protest for price realism, you want to make that you elaborate on why your … Evaluation Requirements To avoid losing in a GAO bid protest, a government contracting agency must perform a cost realism analysis …
GAO Protest Construction Bid Bonds Important Issues for Contractors
… become problematic and cause contractors to file a GAO protest. Construction bid bonds guarantee is a form of security that ensures … instead. These are tough issues when presented in a GAO protest, where the agency decides to reject construction bid bonds in your ..
Standard for Non Responsive Proposals and Bids in GAO Protests
… agency exclusions were unreasonable. What happens in GAO protests when your competition challenges your bid as non … that you should not be penalized. However, successful GAO protests hinges on whether the agency’s waiver or your omission is equivalent …
SBA Size Protest – On What Date Does Your Size Count?
… as to what date does your size count for an SBA size protest. SBA regulations stipulate that if you meet the size standards at the … businesses still file a government contract protest that argues against the rules. For example, the, SBA will not entertain a size protest against the award of an order under a GWAC or other long-term contract, …
SBA Size Protest Timeliness
… can avoid SBA size protest timeliness challenges if the CO receives in less than five days after … requirements begin. When filing a small business size protest, mistakes are often made which lead to unnecessary litigation. The … or SBA will certainly ask the court to dismiss a protest or appeal as untimely. Under SBA regulations, a size protest of a …
GAO Protests: Bid Protests at the Government Accountability Office
… addition to overseeing the procurement process, the bid protest process at the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) oversees how … and in awards of federal government contracts. A bid protest is a challenge to the award or the terms of a solicitation of a …
US Court of Federal Claims Motion to Intervene a Bid Protest
… a U.S. Court of Federal Claim Motion to Intervene in a bid protest case and can be a tricky process. Bid protest lawyers sometimes run afoul of the court’s analysis for motions to …
Proposal Evaluation Criteria For Government Contract Bid Protests
… evaluation criteria for government contract bid protests thrust a significant amount of GAO protests and U.S. Court of Federal Claims protests. The first level of caution …
What is the Difference Between a Bid Protest and a Contract Dispute
… best way to differentiate between a bid protest and contract dispute is to first establish whether there is actually a contract. During the bid protest stage, the only one who actually has a contract is the awardee. In a government contract protest, the protestor is not a party to the awarded contract. This is …
GAO Technical Evaluation Criteria Protest Evaluator Scoring of Proposals
… for federal government contracts can lead to a GAO bid protest on the issue of technical evaluation and the evaluation scoring. You can only prevail in a protest by showing that the agency record fails to demonstrate a reasonable …
GAO Protest Technical Proposal Risk Evaluation
… GAO protest can be sustained if you can show that the agency failed to reasonably … in your proposal. This can create an avenue in your protest to show why you should have received a different technical rating. In … your technical proposal risk, you can be ahead in the bid protest process. Unfortunately, unless your attorney is admitted to a …
Addressing Past Performance Evaluation Criteria in GAO Bid Protests
… Performance Evaluation Criteria for Purposes of a Bid Protest When addressing past performance evaluation criteria in GAO bid protests , the Agency has wide discretion in evaluating relevance, scope and … criteria is the most effective way to approach a bid protest action. If the solicitation contemplates past performance of your …
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