The Department of Justice, while enforcing statutory federal False Claims Act penalties, obtained more than $4.7 billion in settlements and judgments from civil cases involving reporting fraud and false claims against the government in the fiscal year 2016 ending Sept. 30. See announcement here. Prime contractors and subcontractors performing on… Read more »
More and More federal government contractors are facing either suspension and debarment actions for ethics violations in government contracting or criminal liability for what can be arguable a failure to conduct self-policing or create the proper internal control procedures, contractor ethics and compliance audits. The objectives of internal control are… Read more »
Although congressional mandates show an increase in total small business set aside procurement, filing a bid protest that challenges the contracting agency’s decision to set aside a procurement for small businesses must be approached with extreme care. The ultimate concern under FAR 19.502 is to understand what exactly is the government contracting agency supposed… Read more »
Many government contractors struggle to understand their rights when the agency imposes a notice of termination for convenience or FAR termination for default clause. There are a myriad of situations that could amplify a contractor’s rights or, conversely, minimize them. Introduction The FAR termination for convenience clause is a crucial… Read more »
When it comes to terminations for convenience in federal government contracting, the staggering statistics of cases filed at the Court of Federal Claims (COFC) should make contractors aware that the government does in fact deny claims in your final settlement proposal. Termination for convenience settlement costs become huge disputes primarily… Read more »
Some contractors find it confusing when protesting the government’s best value trade off analysis. Without having a basic understanding of the agency’s discretion compared to what the procurement regulations require, your bid protest could be at risk. Get a second bite at the apple! Without a proper understanding, contractors quickly find… Read more »
Almost every government contractor will experience some level of frustration when dealing with best value trade off decisions made by contracting agencies. The gist of any challenge in a bid protest is to show how the source selection evaluation members failed to assess a critical component of the stated evaluation… Read more »
A proposal writing tip to consider is that the federal government has taken an interest in mobilizing its Green Procurement Program Policy as a measure to improve the environment. As government contractors, you should seriously consider the guidelines, benefits and visibility that you can achieve in your proposal writing efforts. … Read more »
It is common practice in federal government proposal writing process for you to meet FAR small business subcontracting plan requirements (FAR 52.219-9)or, in the most recent cases, small business participation plans. The question is how do you write one that withstands bid protest scrutiny or potentially gets higher scores than your… Read more »
The Procurement Integrity Act (PIA), FAR 3.104 penalties rules, as implemented by Congress, governs the relationship between government contracting officials and you the contractor. It also governs actions during the bidding process. The key to avoiding violations, civil and criminal penalties under the Act is to make sure that you train… Read more »