Timing is everything when it comes to bid protests at GAO.
There is a mountain of GAO case law dismissing untimely protests. Contractors must strictly follow GAO’s regulations to avoid that fate and obtain a Competition...more
6/24/2025
/ Bid Protests ,
CICA ,
Contract Disputes ,
Debriefing ,
DFARS ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Filing Deadlines ,
GAO ,
Government Agencies ,
Regulatory Authority ,
Statutory Interpretation
Federal construction contracts often involve unforeseen delays. The key question is who is responsible for the resulting costs.
A new decision from the ASBCA provides a blueprint for how contractors can maximize recovery...more
6/16/2025
/ Appeals ,
Construction Contracts ,
Construction Disputes ,
Construction Litigation ,
Contract Disputes ,
Contract Terms ,
Contractors ,
Dispute Resolution ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Government Agencies
Price realism challenges stand out as a common basis for bid protests in federal procurements.
A competitor’s unrealistically low pricing may signal a lack of understanding or commitment to contract performance. Price...more
5/28/2025
/ Bid Protests ,
Compensation ,
Contract Disputes ,
Contract Terms ,
Department of Defense (DOD) ,
Employees ,
Employment Contract ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Contractors ,
GAO ,
Government Agencies
Federal contractors need to be proactive about detecting and neutralizing or mitigating Organizational Conflicts of Interest (OCI).
The FAR’s OCI provisions (currently found at FAR Subpart 9.5) promote the fairness and...more
In what is sure to be an on-going series, we have the latest update regarding the FAR 2.0 rollout.
Releasing the First Rollout-
On May 2, 2025, the FAR Council released substantive rewrites of FAR Parts 1 (Federal...more
GAO just sharpened the distinction between winning and losing protest arguments related to key project personnel. The issue turns on the question of whether the winning proposal included “material misrepresentations” – and...more
The federal procurement landscape continues to shift and transform.
Two recent executive orders push the government contracting community further towards the plan for a comprehensive update of the Federal Acquisition...more
Most government contracts include a Changes clause (notably, FAR 52.243-1), which grants the Government the right to order changes to the scope of the contractor’s work. That clause also entitles the contractor to an...more
The general rule (FAR 14.404-1(a)) is that – once a solicitation is put out for bid – the agency must award the contract to the responsible bidder with the lowest responsive bid.
However, as is usually the case, there are...more
This is the seventh of an eight-part series addressing cutting-edge strategies for Certified Claims under the Contract Disputes Act (CDA). Certified Claims are the primary avenue available to government contractors to...more
This is the first of an eight-part series addressing cutting-edge strategies for Certified Claims under the Contract Disputes Act. Certified Claims are the primary avenue available to government contractors to recover...more
Government contractors are already feeling the effects of the pandemic. Breakdowns in the global supply chain, labor shortages, and regional lock downs are already delaying federal projects across the country and around the...more
It has been a long time coming, but it appears that the government will (finally) amend the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to align with prior changes by the Small Business Administration (SBA) concerning credit for...more
Recently on the blog, I covered one of the major risks encountered by construction contractors – subsurface or unexpected physical conditions discovered after the work begins (commonly known as Differing Site Conditions...more
Federal procurements often include a competitive range of offerors seeking the contract award. The Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) competitive range procedure offers the agency an incremental stage in the competition...more
I recently had the opportunity to present an online CLE for LawLine on Risk Management in Government Contracting. This is my second time presenting a course for LawLine (I previously taught a course on Small Business...more
In today’s Federal marketplace, it is very common to see solicitations that give the Agency the option of entering into discussions with offerors. The primary objective of discussions is to maximize competition and, in turn,...more
For federal contractors, it is not an exaggeration to say that performance evaluations are the lifeblood of the business. A less-than-satisfactory evaluation in the Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS)...more
Contractors seeking to recover additional time and/or costs on government contracts typically choose to proceed with either a Request for Equitable Adjustment (REA) or a Claim. These remedies fall under the general umbrella...more
This is not a unique story – but there is still a lesson for Federal contractors to learn.
A recent GAO decision considered an electronic proposal submitted by email just prior to the 4:00 p.m. deadline. Although the...more
Earlier this month, we had the pleasure of opening the 2017 Associated General Contractors of America Federal Contractor Conference in Washington, DC with a presentation focused on the emerging issue of Cybersecurity in...more