Digital Government
Is collaborating with vendors a conflict of interest?
A company official raised the following topic: Sometimes agencies ask companies for information on products and services that they or others may sell for use in connection with an impending procurement.
Digital Government
What is required in a CBD synopsis?
A reader raised the following issue: Government agencies are required to announce contracting opportunities in the Commerce Business Daily and the notices are not uniformly written. What is required in a CBD synopsis? How important are these announcements? Under Federal Acquisition Regulation 5.101
Digital Government
How does one correct wage determinations?
A corporate official asked the following question: Many government solicitations use Labor Department wage determinations for certain personnel positions needed to complete work on a contract. If we believe a position is incorrectly classified is there a mechanism we can use to correct the determin
Digital Government
What are the rules for oral proposals?
A government contracting official raised the following question: It seems that many agencies have begun to require offerors to give oral presentations in addition to their written proposals on new procurements. In some cases oral presentations are about the only things on which the sourceselection
Digital Government
How exaggeration can hurt contractors
A corporate official asked the following question: On occasion our company finds itself in a dispute of some sort with one of our government customers. In these cases the agency generally asks us to estimate the potential monetary impact. Sometimes this can be difficult. In addition some people nat
Digital Government
Going backward through revolving door
A private individual raised the following topic: I am employed by a federal government contractor. However I am thinking of resigning to take a position with one of the agencies with which my company contracts. Would this create problems for me or my company? Do I need to do anything to avoid poten
Digital Government
How does NAFTA apply to federal pacts?
A reader asked the following question: The Federal Acquisition Regulation allows offerors to supply items to the federal government that are 'substantially transformed' in Canada or Mexico as provided by the North American Free Trade Agreement. However the regulation does not include any real expla
Digital Government
How does 'U.S.-made' differ from 'domestic'?
A reader asked the following question: In most U.S. government acquisitions, vendors are required to identify the countries of origin of the products they offer. Often, these acquisitions provide preferential treatment for items that originate in the United States. However, at least two different
Digital Government
Who can intervene in a GAO protest?
A vendor raised the following issue: Our company participates in numerous government procurements. Sometimes one or more companies will file a bid protest at the General Accounting Office. Can we intervene in a protest that involves a procurement in which we participated? To what extent can a vend
Digital Government
Can a contractor rely on the minimums in an IDIQ pact?
A company official asked the following question: It is common for agencies to specify minimum and maximum anticipated quantities in their indefinitequantity contracts in order to give the offerors guidance on how to price their proposals. To what extent is the government bound by these estimates?
Digital Government
How much documentation is needed to back a contract award?
A government official raised the following issue: When our agency conducts a competitive acquisition the contracting office typically requires those involved to keep fairly detailed records usually in a prescribed format. Some of us think that the procurement process could be streamlined if we didn
Digital Government
How should ambiguous contract language be interpreted?
A reader asked the following question: Sometimes during the performance of a contract it becomes clear that one or more of the contract terms is ambiguous as to the parties' respective rights and obligations. How are ambiguities of this sort resolved? Are there general rules that the parties can ap
Digital Government
How does GAO review bid protests?
A company official asked the following questions: Now that the General Services Administration's Board of Contract Appeals has lost its bid protest jurisdiction companies are taking a new look at the General Accounting Office as one of the few forums in which they can obtain an independent review o
Digital Government
How are agency disputes resolved?
A reader presented the following topic: Frequently different government agencies have radically different interpretations of the same law. Generally such interagency disagreements have little impact on private parties. However sometimes there may be a considerable impact. How are these sorts of dis
Digital Government
What is the Trade Secrets Act?
This question was asked by a company official: What is the Trade Secrets Act? What is the relationship between the Trade Secrets Act and the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)? The Trade Secrets Act is part of the U.S. Criminal Code. It prohibits government employees from releasing certain confident
Digital Government
How can companies protect data?
The following question was asked by a company official: We often provide sensitive business information to government agencies as part of the proposals submitted under various solicitations. Standard solicitation provisions state that the information will be treated as confidential, and in this con
Digital Government
How does a company challenge small-business set-asides?
The following question was asked by a corporate official: We want to compete in a procurement that is currently restricted to small businesses. However, our company is not considered to be 'small.' How can we get the agency to open the procurement to all prospective offerors? It can be difficult to
Digital Government
How can the government influence a contractor's staff selection?
The following topic was raised by a government program manager: Our office is planning to acquire professional services under a new contract. We plan to require letters of commitment from key personnel identified in the proposals to ensure that they will actually be available when the contract is a
Digital Government
May a government contractor transfer its contract to another company?
The following question was asked by a company official: We are interested in acquiring another company that has current federal government business. Must we obtain government approval of the transaction before completing the purchase? Can the government deny such approval? In general, a government
Digital Government
How does GSA's Info Tech Fund work?
The following issue was raised by a reader: For some years, the General Services Administration has administered an Information Technology Fund, through which it purchases IT resources for other agencies. Will the repeal of the Brooks Act affect the use of this fund? Federal acquisitions of IT reso
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