Skyway Wire
The Inherent Advantage of the Incumbent
When a contract comes up for re-compete, it is a chance for other competitors to win that work. The government has, as we all know, very specific rules for competitions that level the playing field....
Contract Transitions
In federal contracting, there are three key transitions that affect the overall conduct of the contract. One of the three is internal to the company, and takes place when companies must hire,...
Procurement Integrity Act (PIA) Violations
Protecting the integrity of the acquisition is one of the contracting officer’s primary responsibilities. The fact that DoD Source Selection Procedures require the Source Selection Plan to address...
Alpha Contracting
Those of us that have worked with DoD know that time is always an issue. The acquisition process, and contracting as a whole, are designed to be slow and thoughtful processes. However, given that...
Vendor Development
One important aspect that both Industry and Government need to understand about the Federal contracting arena is vendor development. In my experience, however, this concept takes several years of...
Government Property
The Government frequently provides property or permits a contractor to acquire property for use on its contracts. Government property is all property owned or leased by the Government and includes...
Fun with CDRLs!
If you are new to the government contracting world here is a subject you might not be familiar with - Contract Data Requirements List (CDRLs). You might think contract data requirements would be...
Non-displacement of Qualified Workers
You unseated an incumbent for a service contract and need to staff up quickly. As a small business, this can be an extremely daunting task. But is your company aware that you can find out who...
Post Award Debriefs – When Can You Get Them?
The topic of post-award debriefs is a common source of angst when trying to determine whether an offeror’s request for debriefing generates a required or optional response from the Contracting...
Negotiations: Sole Source Versus Competitive
Negotiations in federal contracting comes in two forms depending on the type of acquisition; sole source or competitive. Previously I touched on the competitive negotiation when I wrote about...
Competition in Contracting Act (CICA)
In the acquisition reform efforts of the 1980s and 1990s, the US government enacted some sweeping legislation that redefined government procurement, instilled a renewed discipline and...
When the Government Owes You Money
You have submitted an invoice for products or services provided under a prime contract and the government has not paid it. What can you do to get what is owed you? First check the payment terms of...
Price Fair and Reasonableness
Besides achieving a low price in your pricing strategy, you also want to ensure your price is fair and reasonable. If the price is too low, it may be considered unreasonable or unrealistic. If...
Data Rights
Data rights provide the legal framework between the Government and a Contractor on the usage of technical and software data, as well as Intellectual Property. There are several different types of...
The ‘-8 Clause’
FAR Clause 52.217-8 - Option to Extend Services, (a.k.a. the -8 Clause) has come in handy several times throughout my contracting career when an acquisition was behind schedule. The clause allows...
Why now is a good time to talk to your CO
Being a Contracting Officer can feel like being on a roller coaster…the workload ebbs and flows based on deadlines, opportunities, and the whims of Congress – among others. It felt like most times...