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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.
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,
Increase in the sustain rate. In FY 2023, the sustain rate increased to 31%. From 2019 to 2022, the sustain rate hovered around 13-15%. Again, the report caveated the increase with the GAO sustaining 119 protests involving the CIO-SP4 procurement. Without the 119 sustains, the sustain rate would remain at about 14%.
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. This is essentially Federal Government Contracting 101 and applies to any type of solicitation. In RELX, Inc.,
Here are some key points from this year: (1) the key effectiveness metric, showing numbers of sustains and corrective actions at GAO, was similar to prior years at 52% for the 2024 fiscal year and (2) total bid protest numbers were down slightly from 2023 but a little above the number for 2022. Why Are Cases Sustained?
Sustainable government procurement is the process of acquiring goods and services that meet the government entity’s needs while minimizing environmental and social impacts. How they carry out that duty, therefore, can affect whether they can achieve their sustainable development goals.” Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) No.
DISPARATE TREATMENT MATERIAL EXCEPTION PRICEEVALUATION PAST PERFORMANCE BEST VALUE DETERMINATION The post 60-Second Sustains: Deloitte Consulting LLP and Softrams LLC appeared first on Government Contracts Navigator. Jochum ● Deloitte Consulting LLPB-422094; B-422094.2 Deloitte Consulting LLP; Softrams, LLCB-421801.2,B-421801.3,B-421801.4,B-421801.5,B-421801.6
“Of the protests resolved on the merits during fiscal year 2024, our Office sustained 16 percent of those protests. The SBPCD is the prime contractor’s proposed response to the small business participation evaluation factors. Source: OFPP memo from Nov.
It’s rare but it does happen, that the Government Accountability Office (“GAO”) sustains five separate violations of the procurement regulations in a single protest. This blog will not discuss every sustained protest ground, but only comment on a few significant points. See Deloitte Consulting, LLP; Softrams, LLC, B-421801 et al, Jan.
Traditional procurement approaches prioritised lowest price, which led to unintended consequences like accepting bids of lower quality, a lesser performance record or that did not adequately allow buyers to consider equity, sustainability or socio-economic objectives like creating local jobs.
GAO issued three sustain decisions in June, but the Sparksoft Corporation decision stands out for its discussion of prejudice. Similarly, it was unclear whether the SSA would have still concluded that TSG’s positive features under the corporate experience factor alone justified the “significant price premium” tradeoff.
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.
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. Which, as any federal contracting attorney would know, is prime real estate for a protest to be sustained.
Here are some key points from this year: (1) the key effectiveness metric, showing numbers of sustains and corrective actions at GAO, was up even higher to 57% for the 2023 fiscal year and (2) total bid protest numbers are up slightly, reversing a downward trend in total protest numbers from the last few years.
The total number of protests filed and the number of protests sustained by GAO increased significantly compared to Fiscal Year 2022—and GAO’s “Sustain Rate” jumped to 31%. The post GAO’s Bid Protest Sustain Rate Soars, but Is There a Catch? appeared first on Government Contracts Legal Forum. View the full article
This includes mechanisms for reallocating budgets and evaluating expenditures to create fiscal space for contingencies. Enhance Green Financing and Risk Transfer Mechanisms : Developing sustainable debt markets is crucial for facilitating climate adaptation.
Small Business Administration (SBA) Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA) sustained the Service-Disabled Small Business (SDVOSB) status protest of BTNG Enterprises, LLC (BTNG). In its proposal, BTNG offered a fixed unit price of $330 per unit and represented to DLA that it was a WOSB concern and an SDVOSB concern. LLC , SBA No.
As more public policy objectives make their way into the world of acquisition — supply chain, cybersecurity, sustainability, domestic and socioeconomic sourcing requirements, to name a few — GSA is trying to bake those into acquisition vehicles up front so agencies have an easier time complying. And so we relaxed that to one process.
Buyers are expected to scrutinize every aspect of the purchasing process to identify ways to reduce their carbon footprint, source sustainable materials, and promote diversity. As the sourcing function evolves, digital procurement technologies have become crucial tools for buyers to capture and report their sustainability achievements.
The GAO sustain rate increased substantially from 13 percent in FY 2022 to 31 percent in FY 2023. GAO’s two year average sustain rate in FY 2022-2023 was 22 percent. This compares with a two year average sustain rate of 9.71 This was a 22% increase compared to FY 2022.
Government agency programs like the GSA Schedules provide long-term contracts, allowing businesses to sell commercial products and services at pre-negotiated prices, simplifying the purchasing process. Understanding the pricing structure outlined in the RFP can help in formulating a bid that aligns with government expectations.
The following is an installment in Crowell & Moring’s 2023 Bid Protest Sustain of the Month Series. All through 2023, Crowell’s Government Contracts Practice will keep you up to date with a summary of the most notable bid protest sustain decision each month. MPZA also argued that Eagle Harbor’s price proposal was unrealistic.
Sustainable products are experiencing growth in both profits and consumer demand. To successfully market your sustainability efforts, you must carefully navigate the fine line between legitimate marketing and greenwashing. Recommendation: Partner with suppliers who prioritize sustainability.
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).
Check out our discussion of the Washington Business Dynamics, LLC , decision in December’s Sustain of the Month post.) This welcome trend has continued into 2024, with GAO’s issuance of a sustain decision in LOGMET LLC , B-422200, Feb. 21, 2024. GSA conducted the procurement under FAR subpart 8.4 We would like to thank Cherie J.
Though not the first sustain of 2024 (click here for our writeup of 2024’s first sustain), GAO’s decision in American Material Handling, Inc. GAO sustained the protest, noting the well-established rule that, once vendors are informed of the criteria against which proposals will be evaluated, the agency must adhere to these criteria.
With GAO’s statistics for Fiscal Year 2023 (“FY 23”) just released, we thought now is the perfect time to share some insights we gained by reading every published decision in which GAO sustained a protest during FY 23. This year GAO reports a sustain rate of 31%, listing the number of sustained cases at 188, versus 59 last year.
The following is an installment in Crowell & Moring’s 2023 Bid Protest Sustain of the Month Series. All through 2023, Crowell’s Government Contracts Practice will keep you up to date with a summary of the most notable bid protest sustain decision each month. Below, Crowell Partner Cherie Owen discusses RELX Inc. , B-421597.2,
It used a slightly unconventional approach to evaluating bidders. And then assuming you passed, they would assess you based on technical approach and capability, and price. Price was a typical submitted a proposal submission, but for technical approach and capability. But the source selection authority made a basic mistake.
SBA’s proposed rule would change HUBZone protests appeals, principal office requirements (which we did discuss a bit before here ), HUBZone map concepts, and the HUBZone priceevaluation preference (PEP). PEP (PriceEvaluation Preference) Finally, we look at proposed changes to the HUBZone PEP. 126.800. .
In this case, though they lost and the protest was sustained. The RFP, in this case, provided for a two phase evaluation process with the agency evaluating the most important non priceevaluation factor in the first phase, which was past performance, experience and team structure. Tell us more. Dan Ramish Right.
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. And that was the basis to sustain the protest. So at that point, ASG protested here at GAO.
The following is an installment in Crowell & Moring’s 2023 Bid Protest Sustain of the Month Series. All through 2023, Crowell’s Government Contracts Practice will keep you up to date with a summary of the most notable bid protest sustain decision each month. As a result, the protest was premature.
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.
The following is the final installment in Crowell & Moring’s 2023 Bid Protest Sustain of the Month Series. All through 2023, Crowell’s Government Contracts Practice kept you up to date with a summary of the most notable bid protest sustain decision each month. Although evaluations under FAR Subpart 8.4
In January 2024, the Government Accountability Office (“GAO”) published 31 bid protest decisions, two of which resulted in decisions sustaining the protesters’ challenges. Sustained Protests In American Material Handling, Inc., Sustained Protests In American Material Handling, Inc., Thus, the GAO sustained the protest.
The remaining successful protests were post-award victories that fall into categories similar to those we saw at the GAO: (1) improper technical evaluation; (2) inadequate documentation; (3) flawed price analysis. The protester’s spreadsheets were off by 30 hours, which resulted in a price difference of 0.063%. In KPMG, LLC v.
Governments aim to support ethical, sustainable businesses while getting the best value. It outlines pricing, service quality and other key details. This allows contracting authorities or public sector organisations to evaluate and choose the best supplier. It covers everything from tendering and bidding to contract management.
Bonfire allows them to bring every stage of the procurement lifecycle into a central platform where the procurement team and relevant stakeholders can collaborate on RFPs and evaluations with full visibility into the process. What strategies are crown corporations using to deal with the current price uncertainty in the market?
Sustainability and the ongoing FAR case addressing greenhouse gas emissions reporting also have the potential to shape the federal market significantly. Stakeholders must appreciate and understand that there is a nexus between requirements and price, especially for small businesses. It is also a regulatory requirement.
30, 2026, according to a 2020 memo from Kim Herring, the then-acting principal director of the Office of Defense Contract and Pricing. Increase supports additional sustainment costs, which includes licenses for functionality releases and user accession. Those are the three most common evaluation criteria,” he said.
I think most government contractors have contracts that are negotiated and the prices are negotiated upfront, and then they have to adhere to those prices over the course of the entire five-to-10 year contract. And that shows up in the way they’re evaluating the RFP, for sure. They want both.
Securing a contract involves preparing a competitive proposal that meets the solicitation document’s requirements, developing effective pricing strategies that balance competitiveness with profitability, and potentially navigating subcontracting and partnerships.
The question disappointed healthcare contractors should ask is whether the agency acted unreasonably in its evaluation and selection of the awardee. When an agency deviates from the solicitation’s stated evaluation plan, this is a powerful ground for protest. See also Onesource PCS, LLC , B-419222, 2021 WL 131280 (Jan.
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