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      This handbook

      Subject

      Government Contracts

      Solicitation types and evaluation, responsibility and responsiveness, bid protests and their forums, small business set-asides and size protests, cost principles and allowability, changes and equitable adjustments, and terminations for convenience or default.

      01
      Government Contracts

      The Debriefing and the Clock It Starts

      An offeror excluded before award, or notified of an award in a negotiated procurement, may obtain a debriefing by written request made within three days of the notice. A required debriefing must disclose the evaluation of the offeror's own proposal, the awardee's evaluated price and technical rating, any overall ranking and the rationale for award. It may not disclose point-by-point comparisons. The debriefing date controls both the protest deadline and the window for the automatic suspension.

      5 min readFederal law

      02
      Government Contracts

      Sealed Bidding and Negotiated Procurement Compared

      Sealed bidding is required where time permits, award will be made on price and price-related factors, discussions are unnecessary, and more than one bid is expected. Bids are opened publicly and award goes to the responsible bidder whose responsive bid is most advantageous considering price alone. Negotiated procurement evaluates proposals against stated factors, permits a competitive range and discussions, and allows an award to other than the lowest price where the solicitation says so.

      5 min readFederal law

      03
      Government Contracts

      The Settlement Proposal After a Contract Is Ended Early

      On a convenience termination the contractor stops work, terminates subcontracts, protects and disposes of property, and submits a settlement proposal within one year of the effective date unless the period is extended in writing. Recoverable amounts include preparations and work done, initial costs, settlement expenses, subcontractor settlements, and reasonable profit on work performed. Anticipatory profit is not recoverable, and a loss contract carries no profit.

      5 min readFederal law

      04
      Government Contracts

      Allowable, Allocable and Reasonable: Three Separate Tests

      A cost is allowable only if it is reasonable, allocable, consistent with applicable accounting standards or generally accepted principles, consistent with the terms of the contract, and not limited by the cost principles themselves. Reasonableness asks what a prudent person in competitive business would incur, and no presumption favors the contractor. Allocability asks whether the cost is assignable by benefits received. Named costs fail regardless of both tests.

      6 min readFederal law

      05
      Government Contracts

      Size Protests and the Affiliation Rules

      An offeror not eliminated for reasons unrelated to size may protest an awardee's size by a writing received by the contracting officer before the close of business on the fifth business day after being notified of the prospective awardee, or after bid opening in a sealed bid. The protest must plead specific facts. Size is measured as of the date of self-certification with the initial offer including price, and it includes the concern together with all of its affiliates worldwide.

      5 min readFederal law

      06
      Government Contracts

      Limitations on Subcontracting and the Similarly Situated Rule

      On a set-aside or socioeconomic program contract, a prime may pay no more than fifty percent of the amount the government pays it to firms that are not similarly situated for services or supplies, eighty-five percent for general construction, and seventy-five percent for special trade construction. Cost of materials is excluded outside services. Amounts paid to a similarly situated first-tier subcontractor are excluded to the extent that subcontractor performs with its own employees.

      5 min readFederal law

      07
      Government Contracts

      Claims, Certification and the Disputes Process

      A claim is a written demand or assertion seeking, as a matter of right, payment of a sum certain, adjustment or interpretation of contract terms, or other relief. It must be submitted to the contracting officer within six years of accrual, and above the statutory threshold must carry a certification in the prescribed terms. The officer's decision may be appealed to an agency board within ninety days of receipt, or to the Court of Federal Claims within twelve months.

      6 min readFederal law

      08
      Government Contracts

      Responsiveness and Responsibility: Two Different Failures

      Responsiveness asks whether the bid complies in all material respects with the invitation, judged from the face of the bid as of the opening. A nonresponsive bid cannot be made responsive afterward. Responsibility asks whether the bidder has the resources, record, integrity and capability to perform, judged as of award and provable with information submitted after opening. A small business found nonresponsible must be referred to the small business agency for a certificate of competency.

      5 min readFederal law

      09
      Government Contracts

      Cure Notices, Excusable Delay and Reprocurement Costs

      Where a contractor fails to make progress or to comply with a provision, the contracting officer must give a cure notice allowing at least ten days to correct before terminating for default. Failure to deliver on time needs no cure notice. A delay arising from causes beyond the contractor's control and without its fault is excusable, provided written notice of the cause is given within ten days of the delay beginning. Default exposes the contractor to reprocurement costs.

      5 min readFederal law

      10
      Government Contracts

      Bid Protests: The Forums, the Deadlines and the Stay

      A disappointed offeror may protest to the agency, to the comptroller general or to the Court of Federal Claims. Solicitation defects apparent on the face of the solicitation must be raised before the time for receipt of offers. Every other ground must be raised within ten days of when it was known or should have been known. A protest filed within ten days of award, or five days after a required debriefing, suspends performance by operation of statute unless the agency overrides.

      5 min readFederal law

      11
      Government Contracts

      Changes Clauses and the Request for Equitable Adjustment

      A changes clause lets the contracting officer order changes within the general scope by written order, and obliges the contractor to proceed. If the change increases or decreases the cost or time of performance, an equitable adjustment is made. The contractor must assert its right to that adjustment within thirty days of receiving the order. Government conduct requiring work beyond the contract without a formal order is a constructive change, compensated the same way.

      6 min readFederal law