October 26, 2015
It has long been the rule that all items quoted and ordered in a Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) task order competition under FAR Part 8.4 must be on the vendor’s schedule contract at the time the order is awarded. However, a recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) decision clarifies that the critical moment is literally the task order award date, and not the offer or any other…
August 24, 2015
Claire M. Grady, Director of Defense Procurement and Acquisition Policy, recently issued a Memorandum encouraging the proper use of General Services Administration (GSA) Federal Supply Schedule contracts and offering “focus points and policy clarifications” to Department of Defense (DoD) activities attempting to achieve that goal in the waning months of FY2015. As the Memorandum notes,…
June 26, 2015
A protestor recently learned the hard way that not all debriefings are created equal. In order to take advantage of the debriefing exception to the bid protest timeliness rules, a debriefing must not only have been held, it must have been "required" to be held, for it to extend the time you have to file a protest. Absent a "required" debriefing, the filing deadline is 10 days after…
May 18, 2015
The comment period recently closed on a General Services Administration (GSA) proposed rule amending the GSA Acquisition Regulation (GSAR) to require vendors to report transactional data from orders and prices paid by ordering activities. Described as part of the ongoing move to improve federal purchasing through Government-wide category management (announced here and discussed here), the…
March 23, 2015
Relief is on the way. Over the past several years the alarming increase in the use of LPTA procurements has been criticized, particularly where the government might realize “best value” from an innovative, cost-effective solution. This criticism has now gained an important voice and concrete support in the form of new Department of Defense (DOD) policy guidance urging “limited” use of…
March 17, 2015
On December 4, 2014, the Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP) announced a new strategic plan to create a more innovative, effective and efficient federal acquisition system. This plan focusses on three core elements: (1) buying as one through Category Management, (2) driving innovation through developing and deploying talent and tools across agencies, and (3) building…
February 2, 2015
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently held that procuring agencies are not required to solicit the incumbent for follow-on Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) work, notwithstanding statutory and regulatory changes designed to enhance competition and provide notice “to as many contractors as practicable.” Technical Professional Services, Inc., B-410640, decided Jan. 20, 2015. GAO…
February 18, 2014
The recent GAO decision in Kardex Remstar, LLC, B-409030 (Jan. 17, 2014) serves as a reminder that the issue of whether a given communication amounts to “discussions” or merely “clarifications” does not turn on the agency’s characterization, even in the context of a Part 8 procurement from Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) vendors.
The protest challenged the award of an order under a Request…
April 15, 2013
This is a situation only a government contracts law geek could love. Where does an aggrieved contractor file a claim for improper termination and associated damages and fees involving supplies/services offered on the General Services Administration Supply Schedule? A divided U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit attempted to answer this pithy legal issue in Sharp Electronics…
January 3, 2013
In a recent decision, Kingdomware Technologies, Inc. v. United States, No. 12-173C (Fed. Cl. Nov. 27, 2012), the Court of Federal Claims held that under the Veterans Benefits, Health Care, and Information Technology Act of 2006, 38 U.S.C. §§ 8127-8128 (“the VA Act”), the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) may purchase goods/services off the Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) using…
April 20, 2009
NetApp (formerly Network Appliance) has agreed to pay $128 million to settle a lawsuit alleging that it violated the False Claims Act (FCA), 31 U.S.C. §3729 et seq., by failing to offer the Government its best commercial pricing in violation of the terms of its General Services Administration (GSA) schedule contracts. The settlement was finalized April 15, 2009.
The contract’s price reduction…
October 26, 2015
It has long been the rule that all items quoted and ordered in a Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) task order competition under FAR Part 8.4 must be on the vendor’s schedule contract at the time the order is awarded. However, a recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) decision clarifies that the critical moment is literally the task order award date, and not the offer or any other…
August 24, 2015
Claire M. Grady, Director of Defense Procurement and Acquisition Policy, recently issued a Memorandum encouraging the proper use of General Services Administration (GSA) Federal Supply Schedule contracts and offering “focus points and policy clarifications” to Department of Defense (DoD) activities attempting to achieve that goal in the waning months of FY2015. As the Memorandum notes,…
June 26, 2015
A protestor recently learned the hard way that not all debriefings are created equal. In order to take advantage of the debriefing exception to the bid protest timeliness rules, a debriefing must not only have been held, it must have been "required" to be held, for it to extend the time you have to file a protest. Absent a "required" debriefing, the filing deadline is 10 days after…
May 18, 2015
The comment period recently closed on a General Services Administration (GSA) proposed rule amending the GSA Acquisition Regulation (GSAR) to require vendors to report transactional data from orders and prices paid by ordering activities. Described as part of the ongoing move to improve federal purchasing through Government-wide category management (announced here and discussed here), the…
March 23, 2015
Relief is on the way. Over the past several years the alarming increase in the use of LPTA procurements has been criticized, particularly where the government might realize “best value” from an innovative, cost-effective solution. This criticism has now gained an important voice and concrete support in the form of new Department of Defense (DOD) policy guidance urging “limited” use of…
March 17, 2015
On December 4, 2014, the Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP) announced a new strategic plan to create a more innovative, effective and efficient federal acquisition system. This plan focusses on three core elements: (1) buying as one through Category Management, (2) driving innovation through developing and deploying talent and tools across agencies, and (3) building…
February 2, 2015
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently held that procuring agencies are not required to solicit the incumbent for follow-on Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) work, notwithstanding statutory and regulatory changes designed to enhance competition and provide notice “to as many contractors as practicable.” Technical Professional Services, Inc., B-410640, decided Jan. 20, 2015. GAO…
February 18, 2014
The recent GAO decision in Kardex Remstar, LLC, B-409030 (Jan. 17, 2014) serves as a reminder that the issue of whether a given communication amounts to “discussions” or merely “clarifications” does not turn on the agency’s characterization, even in the context of a Part 8 procurement from Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) vendors.
The protest challenged the award of an order under a Request…
April 15, 2013
This is a situation only a government contracts law geek could love. Where does an aggrieved contractor file a claim for improper termination and associated damages and fees involving supplies/services offered on the General Services Administration Supply Schedule? A divided U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit attempted to answer this pithy legal issue in Sharp Electronics…
January 3, 2013
In a recent decision, Kingdomware Technologies, Inc. v. United States, No. 12-173C (Fed. Cl. Nov. 27, 2012), the Court of Federal Claims held that under the Veterans Benefits, Health Care, and Information Technology Act of 2006, 38 U.S.C. §§ 8127-8128 (“the VA Act”), the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) may purchase goods/services off the Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) using…
April 20, 2009
NetApp (formerly Network Appliance) has agreed to pay $128 million to settle a lawsuit alleging that it violated the False Claims Act (FCA), 31 U.S.C. §3729 et seq., by failing to offer the Government its best commercial pricing in violation of the terms of its General Services Administration (GSA) schedule contracts. The settlement was finalized April 15, 2009.
The contract’s price reduction…
