Public Contracting Institute Blog
IN BID PROTEST, FEDERAL CIRCUIT HOLDS THERE IS NO PRESUMPTION OF PREJUDICE WHEN AGENCY MAKES IRRATIONAL AWARD
By Richard D. Lieberman, Consultant Recently, the Federal Circuit clearly stated that there is no presumption of prejudice whenever the Court of Federal Claims determines that the agency acted irrationally in making an award decision. Systems Studies &...
UNBALANCED PRICING THAT POSES AN UNACCEPTABLE RISK TO THE GOVERNMENT
By Richard D. Lieberman, Consultant The Federal Acquisition Regulation (“FAR”) warns agencies to examine closely bids and offers that may be unbalanced—that is, despite an acceptable total evaluated price, the price of one or more contract line items is significantly...
CONTRACT REQUIREMENT TO MEET PROPOSED STAFFING LEVELS MAKES DEDUCTIONS APPROPRIATE
By Richard D. Lieberman, Consultant Phoenix Management submitted a claim for amounts withheld in a fixed-price building maintenance and custodial contract with the General Services Administration (“GSA”). Phoenix Mgt., Inc. vs. GSA, CBCA 7091, Dec. 2, 2021. The...
CONSTRUCTION CONTRACT DUE DATE IS NOT A WARRANTY BY GOVERNMENT THAT WORK CAN BE COMPLETED BY DUE DATE
By Richard D. Lieberman, Consultant In a recent case, a construction contractor sought summary judgment on whether the contract’s 365 day performance period was a warranty by the government that the work could have been completed within that time period. ECC Int’l...
BID IS NONRESPONSIVE (NONCONFORMING) WHEN IT ADDS COVID 19 FORCE MAJEURE CLAUSE
By Richard D. Lieberman, Consultant Consider these statements on sealed bidding in the Federal Acquisition Regulation (“FAR”): [In sealed bidding procurement pursuant to FAR Part 14] After bids are publicly opened, an award will be made with reasonable promptness to...
WHAT IS, AND WHAT ISN’T AN INFORMAL AGENCY PROTEST AT GAO?
By Richard Lieberman, Consultant Many contractors have determined that they may save money and time by filing an “agency level” protest before a Government Accountability Office (“GAO”) protest needs to be filed. This is particularly true when a contractor wants to...
DEFECTIVE DESIGN SPECIFICATIONS
By Richard D. Lieberman, Consultant Design (as opposed to performance) specifications in a contract must be free from design defects. Whenever a contract provides a contractor with design specifications, the contract carries an implied warranty that the...
FEDERAL CIRCUIT LACKS JURISDICTIOIN TO CONSIDER SMALL CLAIMS DECISION OF BOARD EXCEPT FOR FRAUD
By Richard Lieberman, Consultant The Contract Disputes Act (“CDA”) limits the jurisdiction of the Federal Circuit when reviewing Board of Contract Appeals decisions. Board decisions adjudicated pursuant to the Small Claims Procedure are “final and conclusive and may...
DISCUSSIONS MUST ADDRESS DEFICIENCIES AND SIGNIFICANT WEAKNESSES OF ALL OFFERORS
By Richard D. Lieberman, Consultant The Government Accountability Office (“GAO”) recently considered a simplified acquisition for leadership training, issued by the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”), where there was both a...
“DEFINITE KNOWLEDGE” OF A BASIS OF PROTEST, COMPARED WITH SPECULATION, CONJECTURE OR INFERENCE
By Richard D. Lieberman, Consultant There is a line between speculation, conjecture or inference, and “imperfect knowledge,” meaning something you know and understand but cannot provide any factual (usually written) evidence. Magnum Multimedia, B-420227, November 2,...
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