PilieroMazza Legal Advisor – Third Quarter 2017
In this Issue: The All Small Mentor/Protégé Program, One Year Later: Lessons Learned and a Key Milestone Protecting Your Employees and Confidential Information when Working with Teaming Partners Employee Refusal of Medical Treatment – Tips to Avoid Costly Claims Sustainability Through Cost Control
The Importance of a Carefully Drafted Work Share Provision
Subcontracts contain a number of important provisions that shape the relationship between a prime and its subcontractor. However, there is one that overshadows the rest in terms of its significance to the parties’ agreement: work share. The work share provision dictates the amount and types of work the subcontractor will perform. In addition, it is through the work share provision that the parties decide how best to divide the work between themselves to achieve the agency’s objective. Given its importance . . . Read More
The Best Defense Is a Good Offense – Proactive Preparation for Size Protests
Presented by Tony Franco and Michelle Litteken Click here to view the recorded session.
2018 NDAA Could Raise the Stakes for Companies Filing Bid Protests on DoD Contracts
The U.S. Senate has proposed a provision in the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act that, if adopted, would raise the stakes for larger firms in filing bid protests. The provision would apply to protests against DoD procurements to the GAO. If GAO denies all elements of such protests, the protesting company would be required to pay to DoD the costs the government incurs for processing the protest at the GAO and DoD. It is unclear how the government would track . . . Read More
Do the Proposed Changes to SBA’s HUBZone Program Go Far Enough?
H.R. 3294, the HUBZone Unification and Business Stability Act of 2017, proposes several changes to the HUBZone program that are intended to reduce certification timelines, stabilize the program, and collect and report on performance metrics designed to measure the success of the HUBZone program. While this is a step in the right direction, the proposed changes do not go far enough to provide a meaningful impact to the deficiencies in the program. To analyze the positive impact the proposed bill . . . Read More
The Weekly Update July 21, 2017
GOVERNMENT CONTRACTING “Proposed Information Collection Request; Federal Contractor Veterans’ Employment Report VETS-4212.” Federal Register, July 18, 2017. Retrieved from federalregister.gov . The Veterans’ Employment and Training Service (VETS) issued a notice soliciting public comments concerning a request to extend the currently approved VETS-4214 information collection form. Federal contractors and subcontractors track and report the number of employees in their workforces, by job category and hiring location, who belong to the specified categories of protected veterans. This information is sent annually to the . . . Read More
House Bill Would Reduce Use of LPTA in All Agencies’ Procurement
A recent bill before the U.S. House of Representatives seeks to limit the use of the lowest price technically available (“LPTA”) source selection process in procurements. H.R. 3019, which was introduced on June 22, 2017, would create a policy to avoid using LPTA criteria in circumstances that would deny the Government the benefits of cost and technical tradeoffs in the source selection process. The LPTA process dictates that when conducting a competitive procurement, the agency will select the offeror that . . . Read More
Licensing Third Party Software for Use in Federal Contracts
In the IT sector, it is common for contractors with relationships to various federal agencies to have top-tier talent in-house to provide high quality IT services. Some vendors even have programmers and software engineers in-house to directly develop commercial and non-commercial software products for its clients. However, there are many times when, among other things, (1) the government needs a particular type of solution; (2) the contractor believes that some third-party software would suit the government’s needs best; or (3) . . . Read More
The Weekly Update July 14, 2017
FEDERAL AGENCIES “VA Veteran-Owned Small Business Verification Guidelines.” Federal Register, July 12, 2017. Retrieved from federalregister.gov . Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) published a final rule in the Federal Register revising the required re-verification of ownership and control of veteran-owned small businesses (VOSBs) as well as service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses (SDVOSBs). The VA will now re-verify SDVOSB/VOSB every three years, rather than every two years. “GSA releases statement on FBI Headquarters.” GSA News Release, July 11, 2017. Retrieved from gsa.gov. The . . . Read More
Be Prepared – Be Proactive About Defending Size Protests
Imagine that after months of diligently working on a proposal for a set-aside contract, you learn that your company has been identified as the apparent successful offeror. Then, a few days later, you receive an email from the Small Business Administration (“SBA”) notifying you that another offeror has filed a size protest. The SBA’s email cites multiple regulations and instructs you to respond to the protest allegations. The SBA also directs you to complete a lengthy form called the SBA . . . Read More