In government construction contracting, a general contractor often litigates contract disputes about construction scope of work changes but often finds out after thousands in litigation costs, that it has either failed to follow FAR procedure or took a substandard technical approach to get paid. For large federal projects, the risk of… Read more »
There is a lot of confusion among small businesses when applying Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business SDVOSB sole source and VA Rule of Two Small Business rules versus SDVOSB set aside requirements. As a result, there are many unsuccessful bid protests filed on this matter. SVOSB Sole Source Contracts & Threshold Generally, an agency contracting… Read more »
Under the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) “fixed-price government contracts with an economic price adjustment clause provides for upward and downward revisions of the stated contract price upon the occurrence of specified contingencies.” This is covered in FAR Part 16.203-1(a). To establish a case or bid protest challenging the agency’s improper use of… Read more »
When filing claims against the government, under the theory of equitable subrogation, there are some tricky rules of law in place. For example, in a recent Court of Federal Claims case, Fidelity and Guaranty Insurance Underwriters, et al. v. United States, No. 14-84 C (Nov. 19, 2014), the court ruled that under… Read more »
Small businesses continue to use joint ventures as a strategic alliance to get larger government contracts. There are various advantages and disadvantages of forming venture relationships. There are also specific rules that govern these alliances. Yet small businesses continue to lose larger contracts due to increasing amounts of small business size… Read more »
After filing a contract claim against the government, you finally receive the bad news from the Agency – a denial of claims. 17% of government contract claims will be denied. In addition, 33.2 % of appeals to the Board shall be dismissed or denied either for lack of jurisdiction or hearing… Read more »
Being subject to the Federal Prompt Payment Act, 31 USC 3901-3905 (the “PPA” or “Act”) for government construction projects puts business owners in a financial strain when the government does not pay invoices on time. The Act was enacted to facilitate early payment to contractors when work is timely performed… Read more »
Analyzing what is a voidable contract is sometimes confusing even sophisticated parties. For example, many recent construction cases involved instances where the contract between the contractor and the government was held by the ASBCA to be a voidable contract given various mistakes made by the contractor. It is important for… Read more »
Adverse contractor past performance evaluation in a GAO bid protest is a common problem for bidders. Sometimes there is a question about how the government contracting office evaluated your past performance and whether it complied with the stated evaluation criteria. There are a few things to keep in mind: First, although you… Read more »
Although it is relatively easy to qualify, small businesses often find themselves in adverse situations when a competitor challenges their SBA NAICS size standards under 13 CFR Part 121 for certain industries. When an SBA bid protest is filed, the SBA then conducts an investigation and then makes a formal… Read more »