Under the Small Business Act and the Office of Federal Procurement Policy Act, federal agencies must publish notices of proposed contract actions and modifications exceeding $25,000 on the System of Award Management (SAM) unless an exception listed in Federal Acquisition
It is well established that the U.S. government may only enter into contracts through the authorized actions of its Contracting Officers (COs), who have actual authority to bind the government. In contrast, however, contractors may be bound by the actions
When interpreting the terms of a government contract, contractors should generally look for the “plain-meaning” of the contract, assigning words their ordinary meaning. However, an equally important rule of federal contract interpretation requires a “whole-text” interpretation of the contract within
Federal statutes, regulations, and public policy strictly prohibit contractors from exerting improper influence in their attempts to secure government contracts. Such improper influence is defined as any influence that induces or tends to induce a government official to act regarding
Teaming agreements are more prevalent in federal contracting than in nearly any other industry. Contractors team with one another to meet the government’s technical and regulatory requirements and to complement each other’s capabilities while offering an optimal solution in terms
The Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) requires procuring agencies to include various mandatory provisions in solicitations to protect the government’s contractual and policy interests. For instance, the government must include the provision at FAR 52.204-7 “System for Award Management” in all
Under certain circumstances throughout the procurement lifecycle, contractors may need to establish understandings, agreements, planned actions, or otherwise define the scope and procedures for relationships between themselves and a federal agency to accomplish mutual goals and objectives. When meeting such
The Small Business Administration (SBA) mentor-protégé program allows experienced firms to pair with smaller firms to form separate joint venture (JV) entities to pursue federal government contracts. The mentor and protégé firms enter into a JV agreement to meet the
When reviewing an agency’s procurement actions, adjudicative forums such as the Government Accountability Office (GAO) typically consider various materials and information in the record. Such materials may include arguments the agency and contractor raised during litigation, explanations of decisions and
To be awarded a Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) set-aside or sole source contract, small business concerns must be certified by the Small Business Administration (SBA) under the Veteran Small Business Certification (VetCert) Program. To qualify as SDVOSB,