Public Contracting Institute Blog
The Public Contracting Institute blog supplement our govcon training offerings with insightful articles written by leading professionals across the government contracts industry. Our professionals publish articles on topics on government contracts administration, accounting, bids/proposals, disputes, claims, and much more. For more inforamation about our blog, reach out to seminars@publiccontractinginstitute.com.
Additionally, look for the PCI Practical Matters Podcast, coming soon! It will cover the latest news in our industry, along with insightful commentary on the most important topics in Government Contracting.
Fun with the FAR Parts 3 & 9
1. Simply requesting a gift, gratuity, or anything of monetary value from a contractor who has or is seeking “Government business” with the employee’s agency will constitute a violation of the FAR’s gift regulations. FAR 3.101-2. 2. Prime Contractors are...
Fun with the FAR Parts 1 & 2
1. The ultimate customer of any Government contract is the “American taxpayer.” FAR 1.102-2(a)(1). 2. Contracting Officers are not required to eliminate all contract risk when executing or administering Government contracts. FAR 1.102-2(c)(2). 3. ...
COMPETITIVE PREJUDICE
In order to win a bid protest, it isn’t enough for a protester to show that an agency has made an error (violation of law, regulation or procedure), no matter how egregious, in conducting a procurement. At both the Government Accountability Office and the Court of...
NONCOMMERCIAL CLAUSES IN RFQ’S FOR COMMERCIAL ITEMS
In two recent bid protest cases, the Government has sought to have its cake and eat it too—by conducting competitions under the General Services Administration (“GSA”) Multiple Award Schedule contracts using Requests for Quotations (“RFQ”), but not abiding by the...
CHANGE ORDERS AND EQUITABLE ADJUSTMENTS
You are a construction company that receives a contract to modernize the Internal Revenue Service center. Among other things, the contract requires you to provide a security system. As explained below, the security cabling for that system is required to be...
LAPSED SBA MENTOR-PROTÉGÉ AGREEMENT MAKES JOINT VENTURE FIRMS AFFILIATED AND NO LONGER “SMALL”
In North Star Magnus Pacific Joint Venture, SBA No. SIZ-5715, Feb. 17, 2016, the Small Business Administration (“SBA”) Office of Hearings and Appeals (“OHA”) considered a size protest of a joint venture consisting of a large business and a small business that, at one...
AFTERTHOUGHTS: PROPOSAL EVALUATIONS OF COST AND NON-COST FACTORS
Following each Professor’s Virtual class, we interview Professor Ralph Nash to get his thoughts on the topic following discussion. On February 24th, 2016, Professor Ralph Nash and Tim Sullivan discussed proposal evaluations of cost and non-cost factors. ...
TO PROTEST OR NOT TO PROTEST: THAT IS THE QUESTION
To protest or not to protest; that is the question; Whether ‘tis smarter in business to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous evaluation, Or to file protests against a sea of wrongs, And by filing, right the wrongs? (Adapted from Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act 3, Scene...
COMMERCIAL ITEM CONTRACTS REQUIRE CURE NOTICES BEFORE TERMINATION FOR CAUSE
By PCI Consultant A cure notice identifies a deficiency in a contractor's performance that the Government considers to endanger performance of the contract, and warns the contractor that the contract may be terminated for default if the problem is not “cured” or...
MISSING DEADLINES IN CONTRACT ADMINISTRATION AND CLAIMS
This article is the second in a series about mistakes in missing deadlines. The first covered deadlines in protests, and this article discusses deadlines in contract administration and claims. For both, missing deadlines can result in very serious consequences to the...
