Government Contracts Monitor

When Submitting Proposals Electronically, Late Might Not Always be Late at the Court of Federal Claims

July 30, 2013

The Court of Federal Claims explained in the recent bid protest Insight Systems Corp. v. United States, Nos. 12-863C and 12-883C (Fed. Cl. May 6, 2013), that it has seen “with disturbing frequency . . . bid protests that find [the Government] straining to defend agency decisions to reject, as purportedly late, proposals submitted by contractors electronically.”  The Court noted that…

A Relationship Between a Government Employee and a Contractor Employee Leads to a Felony Conviction

July 17, 2013

In a recent federal criminal case, a former GSA Assistant Property Manager pled guilty to false statements and witness tampering in connection with a facilities contract for the Lloyd D. George federal Courthouse in Las Vegas, Nevada.  In United States v. Underhill, No. 12-CR-00301, the defendant, Steven Underhill, had a relationship with a woman named “L.V.” (undisclosed in court documents…

Is Corrective Action Reviewable? Yes, Even Under the FAA’s AMS

July 15, 2013

Corrective action is reviewable, but it is not easy to overturn, as the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Alutiiq Pacific LLC (Alutiiq), respectively, learned not too long ago, in Findings and Recommendations from FAA’s Office of Dispute Resolution for Acquisition (ODRA).

After Alutiiq initially won an FAA award, a disappointed offeror, American Eagle Protective Services (AEPS),…

Award Remains Cloudy: IBM Victorious in Protest Over CIA Computing Contract

July 12, 2013

In a recent bid protest decision, IBM-U.S. Federal, B-407073.3 (Comp. Gen. June 6, 2013), (published June 14, 2013), GAO found that a four-year, $600 million CIA cloud computing contract was wrongly awarded to Amazon over IBM and other bidders.  The decision was based on the agency’s relaxation of security terms during post-solicitation negotiations with Amazon and its failure to evaluate…

New Whistleblower Protections Are Now In Effect For Employees Of Federal Contractors And Subcontractors

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…

Procuring Transparency: A Proposal to Standardize Procurement Identifiers

July 8, 2013

The Department of Defense, NASA, and the GSA are proposing to amend the FAR by implementing a process of standardizing the use of Procurement Instrument Identifiers (PIIDs). These identifiers would be unique to each contracting office within each agency, as well as other grant and finance offices throughout the Federal Government.  This proposed rule, 78 Fed. Reg. 34020-01, which was…

Be Careful What You Say In Your Teaming Agreements About Exclusivity

July 2, 2013

In a rare federal appellate decision involving the interpretation of a government contractor teaming agreement, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit upheld the agreement’s exclusivity requirements in X Technologies Inc. v. Marvin Test Systems, Inc., No. 12-50230 (5th Cir. June 11, 2013).

The U.S. Air Force (“USAF”) issued a small business set-aside solicitation for new testing…

In a Rare Move, ASBCA Holds Contract Void Ab Initio Based Upon Fraudulent Misrepresentation

July 1, 2013

The Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals (“ASBCA”) recently held a contract void ab initio for fraud in the inducement where the contractor fraudulently misrepresented its relationship with a proposed subcontractor holding certifications critical to the contractor’s eligibility for award.  Servicios y Obras Isetan S.L., ASBCA No. 57584 (April 5, 2013).

The case involved a firm…

Avoid the Use of Counterfeit Parts: DOD Proposes New Rules to Make Sure You Do

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…

Update: USDA Designates New Categories of Biobased Products to Receive Preferential Treatment in Federal Procurement

June 18, 2013

As we previously reported here, the Federal Government has a procurement preference program for biobased products called BioPreferred.  On June 11, 2013, the Department of Agriculture (USDA) designated eight new categories of products that qualify for this program.  They are: aircraft and boat cleaners, automotive care products, engine crankcase oil, gasoline fuel additives, metal cleaners and…

New Solicitation Method Fixes Prices, But May Hinder Competition

June 7, 2013

Legislation recently introduced in the House of Representatives proposes a new bid evaluation method called “fixed-price technical competition.”  Under this method, the solicitation would pre-set the award price based on the government’s independent cost estimate, leaving offerors to distinguish themselves based on non-price factors alone, such as technical differences and past…

Off to the races: Mentor-Protégé Joint Ventures May Compete as 8(a)s on any Government Contract

June 5, 2013

It has recently come to our attention that contractors, as well as some agencies, may not realize that an 8(a) mentor-protégé joint venture (“JV”) can bid as an 8(a) entity, on an 8(a) contract, without the JV itself being 8(a) certified.  The Small Business Administration (“SBA”) controls the 8(a) program and 8(a) eligibility status, but SBA “does not certify joint ventures as section 8(a)…