Federal Construction Contracting BlogFederal Construction Contracting BlogThe purpose of this blog is to give the construction industry the benefit of our insights about the latest developments in federal construction contracting. 
Articles
Contractors Must Review Pre-Bid Geotechnical Data
2007-02-02 08:37:12 A recently reported decision by the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals underscores the necessity for bidders to review pre-bid data listed in the solicitation. In Mass Construction Group, Inc., ASBCA No. 55440, the contractor pursued a claim for a differing... More About: Technical , Tech , Review , Data , Actors
Paul Perkins - A Valuable Resource for Federal Construction Contractors
2007-01-30 08:35:04 There are many resources available to federal construction contractors, but there a few as useful as the services provided by Paul Perkins and his company, Construction Contract Specialists. We have had the privilege of working with Paul on a number... More About: Source , Actors
The Variation in Estimated Quantity Clause and Requirements Contracts
2007-01-27 08:33:02 After a hiatus in the posting of new decisions on its website dating back to October 2006, the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals recently posted a series of new decisions. We will review and comment on the most interesting... More About: Men , Estima , Vari , Aria
Seminar on "How to Succeed in the New World of Federal Construction Contrac
2007-01-23 20:31:01 MATOC – IDIQ – “Best Value” – BRACThese are the terms that contractors are hearing more and more and they are part of the rapidly changing world of construction contracting with the federal government. It is no longer enough to... More About: World , How To , Construction , The N , Seminar
On December 1, 2006, amendments to the Federal Rules of Civi
2007-01-15 20:26:04 On December 1, 2006, amendments to the Federal Rule s of Civil Procedure became effective and made something that had already been established by court decisions very clear – that virtually every kind of electronically stored information (“ESI”) is discoverable in... More About: Men , Amendment , The Fed
Skillful Project Management in the 21st Century
2007-01-11 08:23:02 In the most recent edition of Defense AT&L, a magazine published by the Defense Acquisition University, author Wayne Turk discusses the skills that a competent project manager needs to possess in the 21st Cent ury. In addition to people, financial and... More About: Project Management , Management , Men , Project
Contracting Opportunities with the U.S. Department of State
2007-01-04 20:19:01 The January 3, 2007 edition of ENR.com, an online publication of McGraw-Hill Construction, contains a webcast of the construction industry "matchmaking" session that the Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations (OBO) of the Department of State held with representatives of over... More About: Men , Port , With , Contract
Task Order Contractors Must be Given a Fair Opportunity to C
2006-12-22 08:09:02 As we have mentioned previously, the growing use of multiple award task order contracts in federal construction contracting, as can be seen in much of the disaster recovery work in New Orleans, is limiting the competitive opportunities for small and... More About: Port , Opportunity , Actors , Contract , Fair
Agency Confuses Responsiveness with Responsibility
2006-12-19 08:07:01 A recent Government Accountability Office decision, Tessa Structures, LLC, B-298835, highlights the difference between responsiveness and responsibility determinations and the obligation of an agency to refer responsibility determinations to the Small Business Administration (SBA). The protestor, a small business, responded... More About: Agency , With , Ness , Bili
Declining Opportunities for Small and Mid-Sized Federal Cons
2006-12-15 20:04:02 The cover story, “New Marching Orders,” in the most recent edition of Constructor, published by McGraw-Hill Construction, highlights a trend in military construction that should concern small to mid-size general contractors. In the past, many projects for construction of military... More About: Port , Small , Opportunities , Size , Mall
Why Negotiate a Negotiated Procurement?
2006-12-14 08:02:02 In yet another example of one of my long-standing complaints about the GAO’s interpretation of the “Proc urement by Negotiation” process specified in FAR, Part 15, the GAO has reiterated its long-standing policy that “there is generally no obligation that a... More About: Men , Cure
A HUBZone Protest Must Be Referred to the SBA
2006-12-09 01:58:01 A recent Court of Federal Claims case, Diversified Maintenance Systems, Inc., December 4, 2006, reinforces the necessity for contracting officers to refer all protests regarding a company’s HUBZone status to the Small Business Administration (SBA). In Diversified, the agency set aside a... More About: Protest , Test , Ferr , Must
RFP - There Can Be Communications Without "Discussions"
2006-12-08 13:57:01 “Discussions” in a negotiated procurement between the government and an offeror are the exception, not the norm, as those of you who have submitted a response to a Request for Proposals know. Too often the government awards a contract on... More About: Communication , Cat , Muni , With , Here
GAO Reluctant to Question an Agency's Discretion
2006-12-08 13:57:01 A GAO decision released today, but dated November 15, 2006, reported that Advanced Federal Services Corp. protested the award of a contract to Eastek, Inc. under request for proposals (RFP) No. W9128Z-06-R-0001, issued by the Department of the Army Communications-Electronics... More About: Question , Agency , Quest , Disc
GAO Recommends Navy Return To Square One in Award of Billion
2006-12-08 13:57:01 The Navy recently awarded three cost-plus-award-fee, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity (ID/IQ) contracts to Fluor International, Inc., URS-IAP, LLC (a joint venture of URS Corporation and IAP Worldwide Services, Inc.) and Atlantic Contingency Constructors, LLC (a limited liability company managed by The Shaw Group)... More About: Men , War , Lion , Award , Return
It is Difficult to Successfully Challenge an Agency's Past P
2006-12-08 13:57:01 This article describes a GAO decision that highlights how difficult it is to prevail on a protest that challenges an agency’s rating of a proposal where the protest is not supported by anything more than a difference of opinion as... More About: Agency , Cult , Success , Past , Challenge
A Contractor is Not Liable for the Consequences of Defective
2006-12-08 13:57:01 This recent Court of Federal Claims decision involves a USDA contract for the construction of a vegetable laboratory in Charleston, South Carolina. The contractor was terminated for default and the bonding company, Travelers Casualty and Surety of America, took over under... More About: Contract , Sequence , Contra , Consequence , Sequences
Upcoming Forum for Contractors Interested in the Baltimore D
2006-12-08 13:57:01 The Baltimore District, in conjunction with the Society of American Military Engineers, is conducting a one-day forum on the workload created by the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) construction program in the District. This multi-billion dollar program includes new construction and... More About: Inter , Forum , Actors , Contract
Upcoming Consolidation of the Civilian Boards of Contract Ap
2006-12-08 13:57:01 Effective January 6, 2007, the Board s of Contra ct Appeals for the General Services Administration, the Departments of Agriculture, Energy, Housing and Urban Development, Interior, Labor, Transportation, and Veterans Affairs will cease to exist and will become part of the new... More About: Civil , Upcoming
Where and Whether to File a Bid Protest
2006-12-08 13:57:01 A disappointed bidder (on an Invitation for Bids), or an offeror (on a Request for Proposals), has the option to file a protest to the agency, to the General Accountability Office (GAO), or to the United States Court of Federal... More About: File , Protest , Here , Test , Where
Use the Total Cost Method as a Last Resort
2006-12-08 13:57:01 The Court of Federal Claims, in Trafalgar House Construction v. United States, recently reiterated the criteria that a contractor must meet if it decides to use the total cost method to calculating damages for differing site conditions and delays. This method... More About: Cost , Last , Sort , Total , Resort
Protest of Agency's Flawed Evaluation of Awardee's Condition
2006-12-08 13:57:01 The GAO published a decision today in the Matter of SunEdison, LLC, B-298583; B-298583.2, dated October 30, 2006, involving SunEdison’s protest of an award to PowerLight Corporation under request for proposals (RFP) No. FA4861-06-R-B501, issued by the Department of the... More About: Agency , War , Evaluation , Protest , Award
Technical Assistance Guide for Federal Construction Contract
2006-12-08 13:57:01 The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) has published a Tech nical Assistance Guide designed to help federal government construction contractors and subcontractors comply with the federal laws and regulations that prohibit government contractors from discriminating in employment, and require... More About: Construction
Dredging Contractor Fails to Prove Differing Site Conditions
2006-12-08 13:57:01 Although a contractor encountered subsurface conditions in a dredging project that it may not have anticipated, it was unable to prove that the hard material was a differing site condition. The contractor’s claim was that it had encountered a Type... More About: Site , Contract , Ring , Condition , Contra
Finding Corps of Engineers Bid Results
2006-12-08 13:57:01 When the individual Corps of Engine ers’ Districts used the Tri-Service Solicitation Network to provide access to electronic documents, not only were the solicitations, specifications, plans, and amendments available, other useful information that was also included. However, with the deactivation of... More About: Results , Find , Engineers , Engineer
Upward Correction of Low Bid Disallowed
2006-12-08 13:57:01 Many contractors prepare bids on a computer, using either commercially prepared bid packages or "home grown" spreadsheets using Excel or similar programs, to automatically calculate their bids. A recent decision by the Comptroller General, however, reveals some of the dangers... More About: War , Ward , Lowe , Sall , Allo
Availability of Homeland Security Acquisition Regulations
2006-12-08 13:57:01 Strangely, the Department of Home land Security 's Supplemental Federal Acquisition Regulation s (HSAR) is not included on the official Code of Federal Regulations website. However, an unofficial online beta test site, the Electronic Code of Federal Regulations (e-CFR), does include the HSAR. This... More About: Homeland Security
An Adequately Written Proposal Is Very Important
2006-12-08 13:57:01 The GAO issued a decision today reiterating a familiar theme: Where a protester’s proposal failed to provide information specifically requested by the solicitation and necessary for evaluation purposes, the agency’s evaluation of the proposal as “poor” was reasonable.The solicitation required... More About: Proposal , Port , Import , Written , Prop
The Hazards of Unbalanced Bidding
2006-12-08 13:57:01 Federal construction contractors need to be aware that an unbalanced bid can be rejected as nonresponsive. FAR 52.214-10(e) provides that: “The Government may reject a bid as nonresponsive if the prices bid are materially unbalanced between line items or subline items.... More About: Haz , Balance , Alan , Azar , Lance
Contract Claim Designed to "Get the Government"s Attention"
More articles from this author:2006-12-08 13:57:01 The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers awarded an $88 million contract for the construction of a fifty-three mile road around a tropical island in the North Pacific. During contract performance, the contractor submitted a certified claim contending that the contract clause,... More About: Design , Government , Men , Signed , Desi 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 |
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