This site uses cookies to improve your experience. To help us insure we adhere to various privacy regulations, please select your country/region of residence. If you do not select a country, we will assume you are from the United States. Select your Cookie Settings or view our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Cookie Settings
Cookies and similar technologies are used on this website for proper function of the website, for tracking performance analytics and for marketing purposes. We and some of our third-party providers may use cookie data for various purposes. Please review the cookie settings below and choose your preference.
Used for the proper function of the website
Used for monitoring website traffic and interactions
Cookie Settings
Cookies and similar technologies are used on this website for proper function of the website, for tracking performance analytics and for marketing purposes. We and some of our third-party providers may use cookie data for various purposes. Please review the cookie settings below and choose your preference.
Strictly Necessary: Used for the proper function of the website
Performance/Analytics: Used for monitoring website traffic and interactions
Other agencies can also use the contract with competitive pricing and terms. By pooling demand, public sector entities can benefit from bulk buying discounts and negotiated price reductions. This reduces the need for bid preparation and evaluation. What is Cooperative Purchasing?
Welcome back to the Cost Corner, where we provide practical insight into the complex cost and pricing requirements that apply to Government Contractors. 3] TINA defines cost or pricing data to mean all facts that, as of the relevant date, a prudent buyer or seller would reasonably expect to affect price negotiations significantly. [4]
If you feel like prices for just about everything are going up, you’re not alone. In federal government contracting, however, a contractor may not have the same leeway to raise its prices. After evaluating the quotations, CMS announced that the order would be awarded to Octane Public Relations. B-421917.2,
Invitation to Bid: Public agencies that issue an Invitation to Bid (or a Request for a Quote) have defined a specific scope of work for which they are requesting bid prices. Making the decision of award will be based on price alone. How much is price worth? will be awarded the contract.
Price analysis can be considered a stage of bid evaluation depending on the provisions of a legal and regulatory framework. It is an assessment of the evaluatedprice of a responsive bid to ascertain that it is not unreasonably high nor unreasonably low, but fair enough to the procuring entity and the supplier.
The protestor’s proposed price was $30,478,050, and its total evaluatedprice was $30,566,297. The intervenor’s proposed price was $24,848,774, and its total evaluatedprice was $25,116,561. In response, the Navy insisted that the intervenor’s proposed price of $24.8 4106(f)(1) and 10 U.S.C.
Data management tools, like pricing algorithms and artificial intelligence (AI), are playing an ever-larger role in Federal procurement as agencies look to streamline processes, increase efficiency, and improve contract outcomes. GSA’s current use of algorithms and pricing data is instructive in this regard.
Our review shows that the most prevalent reasons for sustaining protests during the 2024 fiscal year were: (1) unreasonable technical evaluation; (2) flawed selection decision; and (3) unreasonable cost or priceevaluation,” GAO wrote in its report. In 2023, GAO received more than 350 protests alone over CIO-SP4.
By: Richard Arnholt On November 8, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) denied an unsuccessful bidder’s protest that asserted the Veteran Administration’s (VA) evaluation of Texas Waste Company’s past performance was unreasonable and reflected the Contracting Officer’s (CO) bias.
We often see price realism in protests when the protester is making the claim that the awardee’s price, which was lower than the protester’s price, is low enough that the awardee would not be able to perform the work as solicited. Most often, GAO will determine that the agency’s price realism analysis was acceptable.
In order to evaluate whether suppliers offers are giving a business the optimum value, benchmarking is required. When thinking about benchmarking the most common area that is reviewed is price, but as we know (and as mentioned in previous blogs) price is not the sole factor. Procurement is all about achieving value for money.
SBA is also contemplating eliminating the HUBZone priceevaluation preference to HUBZone joint ventures formed under the Mentor-Protégé Program. Currently, this preference allows a certified HUBZone small business concern (including a HUBZone joint venture) to have a 10% price preference when competing in a full and open competition.
One way to reach this objective is to focus on the cost of acquisition rather than the price of acquisition. Price and cost are often terms that are used interchangeably but in reality, the terms are quite different. Cost vs Price Consider two people going to a supermarket at the same time to buy the same list of groceries.
SBA recently issued a proposed rule purportedly concerning the HUBZone Program and its regulations–but actually, covering a bevy of other discussions and proposed changes relating to size, SBA’s other small business socioeconomic programs, and even teaming.
Competitive Pricing and Cost Savings Procurement teams are always looking for ways to stay within budget while maximizing the value of their contracts. By utilizing OMNIA Partners, organizations can secure competitive pricing on security and safety solutions without sacrificing quality.
Skills and capability gaps – Public sector organizations often lack the in-house artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) expertise required to effectively evaluate, deploy, and maintain generative AI systems. The following diagram illustrates the solution architecture.
To fully harness the cloud’s potential, organizations should shift their mindset and adopt procurement processes that let them successfully evaluate options and choose the best solution. However, outdated evaluation criteria tailored to on-premises infrastructure still commonly shape procurement processes. We have a limited budget.
As we look forward to fall traditions like turkey and mashed potatoes, pumpkin spice, and leaf peeping, don’t sleep on another fall tradition, the GAO bid protest report. This report is GAO’s summary of bid protests for the previous fiscal year. It contains some important insights for how GAO bid protest numbers have changed from prior years.
It is based on years of experience from practicing Public and Project Procurement and takes into consideration bid evaluation procedures and practices applicable under several Public and Project Procurement legal and regulatory frameworks. Bid evaluation is the responsibility of a body known as the Bid Evaluation Panel.
The report details the most popular reasons for sustaining protests over the prior year: 1) unreasonable technical evaluation; 2) flawed selection decision; and 3) unreasonable cost or priceevaluation. The report provides important insights into the current state of GAO bid protests. Most prevalent protest grounds.
The decision offers important lessons that contractors should keep in mind when evaluating solicitations; submitting proposals; and evaluating whether and when to file a bid protest. The procurement contemplated the award of a fixed-price contract for help on two missions in the region.
Embrace dynamic pricing models that leverage competition from the commercial market. There simply needs to be greater flexibility in pricing to meet customer demand across the federal market. Static pricing ultimately hinders competition and reduces value for customer agencies.
17, 2023) , GAO looked at this issue in the context of a lowest-price, technically acceptable (LPTA) solicitation for a brand name or better product, with an unexpected ending that the protester surely did not see coming. When submitting an offer, it is important to make sure that all the requirements of the solicitation are met.
Size and status protests, which are reviewed by the SBAs Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA), are far less common than GAO protests which protest an evaluation aspect of a solicitation or award. But when they are used they can be a powerful tool to keep contracting dollars intended for small businesses to stay with small businesses.
Over the next four years, GSA fine-tuned the applicability/scope of TDR, established evaluation criteria, and monitored TDR performance. In 2021, after reviewing the Fiscal Year 2020 evaluation results, GSA decided that the “TDR Pilot” was eligible for expansion.
EPA processing,, TDR expansion, and priceevaluation procedures). This week on Off the Shelf , Bill Gormley, president of the Gormley Group , provides the latest update on the Federal Acquisition Service (FAS), including his thoughts on the FAS reorganization and what it means for customer agencies, GSA, and industry.
According to NASA, the SSA was appointed after the Source Evaluation Board (SEB) was selected, and all participants in the procurement process were reminded of their obligations under the FAR, NFS, and Procurement Integrity Act. Generally, agencies are afforded broad discretion when evaluating whether an OCI exists.
The factors on which tenders are evaluated in MEAT assessment are Quality Cost-effectiveness approach Technology Aesthetic and functional characteristics Accessibility Social characteristics Environmental characteristics Innovative characteristics After-sales service and technical assistance Delivery date, process, and period.
chairman of Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, and Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), ranking member of the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee, are trying to correct a misunderstanding of congressional intent when it comes to how and when agencies should consider price when reviewing proposals for contracts.
Price Preference For civilian agencies , if the contractor with the lowest priced domestic end product is a large business, then the agency will add a priceevaluation penalty to the offeror with the lowest priced foreign end product of 20%. It is implemented at FAR § 25.001. What is a Domestic End Product?
PAP 2021-05, Evaluation of FSS Program Pricing, is one such example. This PAP fundamentally alters the MAS negotiation process, establishing evaluation standards, requirements, and procedures not found in the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) or the General Services Acquisition Regulation (GSAR).
Federal Acquisition Policy and Procedure (PAP) 2021-05, Evaluation of FSS Program Pricing , sets forth “comprehensive guidance regarding the evaluation of pricing throughout the life of a Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) program contract.” Pay a Fair and Reasonable Price ). Pay a Fair and Reasonable Price ).
On November 16, 2023, the General Services Administration issued a proposed rule updating the General Services Acquisition Regulation (GSAR) Federal Supply Schedule Economic Price Adjustment (EPA) clauses. limits on the timing and number of price adjustments). Pricing context is dependent on accurate, relevant data.
The decision offers important lessons that contractors should keep in mind when evaluating solicitations; submitting proposals; and evaluating whether and when to file a bid protest. The procurement contemplated the award of a fixed-price contract for help on two missions in the region.
Before GAO got to a decision there, the agency took corrective action, held exchanges with Cogent and ASG, got revised quotations, and then decided that actually it was going to award to Cogent which had a substantially lower price. Conflicts of interest in federal contracting can happen in a lot of ways. And it may have scuttled the deal.
Two common contract types are Firm Fixed Price (FFP) and Cost-Reimbursement contracts. Firm Fixed Price Contracts In a Firm Fixed Price contract, the contractor agrees to deliver a specific product or service at a predetermined price. Budget constraints: Evaluate the available budget and the potential for cost overruns.
And, evaluating the product on any characteristics that are not included in the solicitation, even if incorporated by reference to the name brand item, can lead to an improper exclusion of offerors from competition. Well, the answer to that lies in the solicitation. The specifications were listed in a two-page specification sheet.
This inquiry aims to determine how an employee records overtime, which will be evaluated for consistency in costs (overtime). Two Quick Ways to Fail DCAA T imekeeping Requirements The federal government is the biggest purchaser of goods and services, so it's important that you have a good grip on your accounting practices.
Offerors are sometimes distressed when an agency selects a significantly higher priced, higher technically rated proposal in a best value determination. Jacobs protested that the agency had failed to reasonably justify the award at a $37 million (32 percent) price premium. See FAR 15.308. TeKONTROL, Inc.
The BAA, however, is a priceevaluation preference, which means if the price of a Chinese product is low enough, the federal government will buy that product. For large business offerors, the price preference added to non-domestic offers is 20%, and for small business offerors, it is 30%.
Data management tools, like pricing algorithms and artificial intelligence (AI), are playing an ever-larger role in Federal procurement as agencies look to streamline processes, increase efficiency, and improve contract outcomes. GSA’s current use of algorithms and pricing data is instructive in this regard.
We generally negotiated those pricing and terms and conditions with our contracting officers. The cool thing too, is that we used to run separately a pricing compliance report and we’re actually running this report before the vendors even submit their modification.” And so we relaxed that to one process.
The Government Accountability Office said pricing estimates for Direct File — the electronic filing program made available this tax season for payers in 12 states — didn’t include start-up costs, including for the technology underpinning the system. Estimates for technology costs appear to be an especially unwieldy target.
So in this case, this was a procurement under GSA stars three GWAC vehicle and the task order RFP sought a range of technology support services for the Air Force Civil Engineering Center, and it was structured as a primarily fixed price task order with a one year base period and four one year options and an optional six month extension.
We organize all of the trending information in your field so you don't have to. Join 5,000+ users and stay up to date on the latest articles your peers are reading.
You know about us, now we want to get to know you!
Let's personalize your content
Let's get even more personalized
We recognize your account from another site in our network, please click 'Send Email' below to continue with verifying your account and setting a password.
Let's personalize your content