September 10, 2013
Last month, the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) was amended to change the government’s procedures for recording contractor past performance. Specifically, the changes provide factors for government-wide standardization of past performance evaluations and make reporting more consistent and accurate. The final rule requires contracting officials to enter past performance information…
September 4, 2013
A recent Court of Federal Claims case reminds us that the clauses included in your contract might not actually be the terms governing your arrangement with the Government. And as the Government learned the hard way in Bay County, FL v. United States, No. 11-157C (Fed. Cl. Aug. 14, 2013), this is may even be true when the Government is the party that chose the contract clauses.
Bay County,…
August 26, 2013
We previously reported here on the GAO’s June 6, 2013 decision in IBM-U.S. Federal, B-407073.3, in which the GAO sustained two protest grounds raised by IBM challenging the CIA’s $600M commercial cloud services procurement award to Amazon Web Services, Inc. As we noted, the GAO recommended that the CIA reopen the competition and amend the RFP as necessary to ensure that proposals are prepared and…
August 19, 2013
You are a government contractor. You receive a solicitation. You read it carefully and begin crafting detailed technical and price proposals. You come across a paragraph or two that, when read together, appear inconsistent or even in conflict. What should a government contractor do: try to take advantage of the ambiguity in a post-award bid protest if you don’t…
August 19, 2013
After a long lull, it appears that the regulatory agenda of the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) is back in full swing. According to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the OFCCP recently submitted new affirmative action final rules for veterans and for persons with disabilities to OMB for approval and ultimate publication. The affirmative action rules…
August 13, 2013
On August 1, 2013, the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) was amended to change the government’s procedures for recording contractor past performance specifically, to provide factors for government-wide standardization of past performance evaluations and to make reporting more consistent and accurate. The final rule requires contracting officials to enter past performance information into the …
July 26, 2013
In a series of regulatory actions, the limit on allowable costs for compensation of most contractor employees has been limited to the Executive Compensation Benchmark, a level of allowable compensation traditionally applied only to senior executives.
Previously, the Office of Federal Procurement Policy set a $763,029 cap for allowable costs incurred after January 1, 2011 related to senior…
July 23, 2013
The Small Business Administration (SBA) recently issued a final rule strengthening penalties for small businesses that misrepresent their size and/or special socioeconomic status. As previously explained here, the proposed rule adopted the aggressive approach manifest in the small business size and status integrity provisions of the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010. While the new rule largely…
July 12, 2013
Over the years, Congress has enacted many whistleblower protection statutes aimed at specific industries to encourage employees in those industries to report fraud, waste, and abuse. All federal government contractors – at every level - should be aware of the newest whistleblower protection statute that went into effect on July 1, 2013. The statute, 41 U.S.C. § 4712, applies to all…
June 26, 2013
The Department of Defense (DOD) has issued a proposed rule to amend the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) to ensure that contractors are held responsible for detecting and avoiding the use of counterfeit or suspect electronic parts. The overall effect of this rule would be to shift the burden of detecting and avoiding counterfeit parts from the Government to…
June 20, 2013
Earlier this Spring, the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (“WHD”) issued All Agency Memorandum Number 213 on the Davis Bacon Act announcing a change in how agencies should determine wage rates for additional classifications that are conformed to an existing wage determination.
In the past, the Wage and Hour Division generally approved proposed wages for a conformed skilled craft when…
May 28, 2013
Agility Defense & Government Services, Inc., et al. v. U.S. Department of Defense, a case we have reported on twice before as it winds its way through the judicial system, is now before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit and ready for oral argument. The importance of this case is that it tackles head-on the question of whether the FAR rule permitting a suspension and debarment…
September 10, 2013
Last month, the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) was amended to change the government’s procedures for recording contractor past performance. Specifically, the changes provide factors for government-wide standardization of past performance evaluations and make reporting more consistent and accurate. The final rule requires contracting officials to enter past performance information…
September 4, 2013
A recent Court of Federal Claims case reminds us that the clauses included in your contract might not actually be the terms governing your arrangement with the Government. And as the Government learned the hard way in Bay County, FL v. United States, No. 11-157C (Fed. Cl. Aug. 14, 2013), this is may even be true when the Government is the party that chose the contract clauses.
Bay County,…
August 26, 2013
We previously reported here on the GAO’s June 6, 2013 decision in IBM-U.S. Federal, B-407073.3, in which the GAO sustained two protest grounds raised by IBM challenging the CIA’s $600M commercial cloud services procurement award to Amazon Web Services, Inc. As we noted, the GAO recommended that the CIA reopen the competition and amend the RFP as necessary to ensure that proposals are prepared and…
August 19, 2013
You are a government contractor. You receive a solicitation. You read it carefully and begin crafting detailed technical and price proposals. You come across a paragraph or two that, when read together, appear inconsistent or even in conflict. What should a government contractor do: try to take advantage of the ambiguity in a post-award bid protest if you don’t…
August 19, 2013
After a long lull, it appears that the regulatory agenda of the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) is back in full swing. According to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the OFCCP recently submitted new affirmative action final rules for veterans and for persons with disabilities to OMB for approval and ultimate publication. The affirmative action rules…
August 13, 2013
On August 1, 2013, the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) was amended to change the government’s procedures for recording contractor past performance specifically, to provide factors for government-wide standardization of past performance evaluations and to make reporting more consistent and accurate. The final rule requires contracting officials to enter past performance information into the …
July 26, 2013
In a series of regulatory actions, the limit on allowable costs for compensation of most contractor employees has been limited to the Executive Compensation Benchmark, a level of allowable compensation traditionally applied only to senior executives.
Previously, the Office of Federal Procurement Policy set a $763,029 cap for allowable costs incurred after January 1, 2011 related to senior…
July 23, 2013
The Small Business Administration (SBA) recently issued a final rule strengthening penalties for small businesses that misrepresent their size and/or special socioeconomic status. As previously explained here, the proposed rule adopted the aggressive approach manifest in the small business size and status integrity provisions of the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010. While the new rule largely…
July 12, 2013
Over the years, Congress has enacted many whistleblower protection statutes aimed at specific industries to encourage employees in those industries to report fraud, waste, and abuse. All federal government contractors – at every level - should be aware of the newest whistleblower protection statute that went into effect on July 1, 2013. The statute, 41 U.S.C. § 4712, applies to all…
June 26, 2013
The Department of Defense (DOD) has issued a proposed rule to amend the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) to ensure that contractors are held responsible for detecting and avoiding the use of counterfeit or suspect electronic parts. The overall effect of this rule would be to shift the burden of detecting and avoiding counterfeit parts from the Government to…
June 20, 2013
Earlier this Spring, the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (“WHD”) issued All Agency Memorandum Number 213 on the Davis Bacon Act announcing a change in how agencies should determine wage rates for additional classifications that are conformed to an existing wage determination.
In the past, the Wage and Hour Division generally approved proposed wages for a conformed skilled craft when…
May 28, 2013
Agility Defense & Government Services, Inc., et al. v. U.S. Department of Defense, a case we have reported on twice before as it winds its way through the judicial system, is now before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit and ready for oral argument. The importance of this case is that it tackles head-on the question of whether the FAR rule permitting a suspension and debarment…
