Construction Law

Federal Construction Contract Claims Must be Evaluated Fairly

Posted on March 23, 2011
By: Michael H. Payne The growth of contracting by negotiation or 'best value' procurement, has had a chilling effect on the submission of claims by construction contractors. There seems to be a growing fear that claims are frowned upon by contracting officers and that they will be counted against a contractor during future proposal evaluations...

Senate Bill Introduced to Combat SBA Fraud

Posted on March 21, 2011
By: Edward T. DeLisle Senator Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, introduced a bipartisan bill on Thursday that is designed to combat fraud and abuse in the world of small business contracting. As we have reported, the General Accounting Office (GAO) has issued a number of reports over the last several years detailing the existence of fraud in the HUBZone, Service-Disabled, Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) and 8(a) programs...

Possible Extension of GAO's Protest Authority in the Works

Posted on March 10, 2011
By: Edward T. DeLisle As part of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2008 (the 2008 Act), Congress provided the General Accounting Office (GAO) with the authority to hear protests involving certain task and delivery order contracts emanating from both defense and civilian agencies...

Past Performance Reporting Overseas: Does it Happen?

Posted on March 02, 2011
By: Edward T. DeLisle For those who regularly read our blog, you know that we have followed the government's recent concern about fraud and abuse in the federal procurement process.  The GAO has issued reports that recite such abuse relative to the 8(a), HUBZone and SDVOSB programs...

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Important New SBA 8(a) Rules Announced

Posted on February 16, 2011
By: Michael H. Payne and Edward T. DeLisle The U.S. Small Business Administration published a package of final rules on February 11, 2011, that will revise the regulations to strengthen its 8(a) Business Development program to better ensure that the benefits flow to the intended recipients and help prevent waste, fraud and abuse...

Seminar - Unraveling the Mysteries of Federal Construction Contracting

Posted on February 15, 2011
Join the Federal Construction Group of Cohen, Seglias as it presents, "Unraveling the Mysteries of Federal Construction Contracting," at two different locations. Dates/Locations: March 29, 2011 - Hyatt Regency Savannah, GA March 31, 2011 - Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress Orlando, FL Time: 8:00a...

SBA Offers Federal Contract Program for Women-Owned Small Businesses

Posted on February 07, 2011
By: Edward T. DeLisle As of Friday, February 4, 2011, women-owned small businesses could begin taking steps to participate in a new federal contracting program just for them. The new Women-Owned Small Business ("WOSB") Federal Contract Program (the "Program") will be fully implemented over the next several months, with the first contracts expected to be let during the fourth quarter of this year...

MATOC - Some Winners and Mostly Losers

Posted on January 31, 2011
By: Michael H. Payne There is an old saying that "you win some, and you lose some." Well, if you are a construction contractor who competes in the world of Multiple Award Task Order Contracting ("MATOC"), you usually lose. Under sealed bidding, which dominated the procurement of federal construction for many years, a contractor who was not the low bidder could always compete for the next project...

The Department of Veteran Affairs Ushers in Mentor-Protégé Program

Posted on January 17, 2011
By: Edward T. DeLisle On December 22, 2010, the VA announced that it had selected the first twenty (20) mentor-protégé teams to participate in its newly minted Mentor-Protégé Program. The program is designed to assist firms that have already been verified as veteran-owned or service-disabled, veteran-owned small businesses by the VA...

Has the Corps of Engineers Gone MATOC Crazy?

Posted on January 13, 2011
By: Michael H. Payne The recent increase in the use of Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity ('IDIQ') contracting for construction has become even more evident by looking at the 'FY 2011 – Forecasted Acquisition Strategy' issued by the Jacksonville District of the Corps of Engineers...

SBA Providing Assistance to Fund Teaming Efforts

Posted on January 12, 2011
By: Edward T. DeLisle The SBA issued a press release yesterday regarding its new "Small Business Teaming Pilot Program", which was established as part of the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010. The program will involve "training, guidance, counseling, mentoring and procurement assistance to small businesses" that are interested in teaming arrangements on federal projects...

VA Moving Forward with Verification Process

Posted on January 07, 2011
By: Edward T. DeLisle This week the Department of Veteran's Affairs announced that it will require all companies that wish to receive set-aside contracts as veteran-owned, or service-disabled, veteran-owned, businesses to verify their status. This announcement was made as part of the 2010 Veteran's Benefit Act and is geared toward eliminating fraud and abuse...

Set-Asides Contracts for Women-Owned Businesses a Reality?

Posted on January 05, 2011
By: Edward T. DeLisle On October 4, 2010, the Small Business Administration issued a Final Rule allowing for the implementation of the long-awaited set-aside program for women-owned businesses. The program is designed to assist federal agencies in achieving the current 5% statutory goal for the award of contracts to such companies...

Should a Federal Construction Contractor File a Bid Protest?

Posted on January 03, 2011
By: Michael H. Payne To protest or not to protest, that is the question. That may sound a little like William Shakespeare, but it actually is a question frequently posed by federal contractors. Particularly in the world of 'best value' contracting, where subjective evaluation factors are applied to make source selections, contractors often feel that award decisions are unfair...

Federal Government Bonding Basics: Individual Sureties

Posted on November 11, 2010
By: Robert E. Little, Jr. Individual sureties are natural persons - as opposed to corporations and limited liability companies - who offer to bind themselves on bid, performance, and payment bonds. Individual sureties are acceptable from prime contractors on federal construction projects, provided the individual owns and pledges sufficient assets to cover the appropriate percentage of the value of the bid or contract...

Veterans Win Significant Procurement Battle

Posted on October 14, 2010
By: Edward T. DeLisle & Craig Schroeder Last year, the United States Association of Veterans in Business ("USAVETBIZ") urged Congress for a government-wide preference in contracting and set-aside programs that extended the existing preference for service-disabled veteran owned small businesses ("SDVOSB") to all veteran-owned small businesses...

Congress Acts, Ends HUBZone Priority

Posted on October 13, 2010
By: Edward T. DeLisle On September 23, 2010, we wrote an article regarding the current status of the HUBZone priority fight between the GAO, the Court of Federal Claims and a number of federal agencies. That article followed another that we wrote on this issue on August 27, 2010...

Government Agencies Defy GAO, Court Positions on HUBZone Priority

Posted on September 23, 2010
By: Edward T. DeLisle On August 27th, we posted an article regarding the recent Court of Federal Claims case, DGR Associates, Inc. v. United States. In that case, the protesting contractor took the position that the government agency, the Air Force, failed to follow the direction of Congress in determining how to set aside contracts for small and small, disadvantaged businesses...

How to Win Federal Construction Contracts with Teaming Arrangements

Posted on September 15, 2010
A seminar on 'How to Win Federal Construction Contracts with Teaming Arrangements' is being held at three different locations. Dates/Locations: October 5, 2010 - Hyatt Regency Dallas, TX October 7, 2010 - Los Angeles Airport Marriott, CA October 28, 2010 - Hilton Philadelphia Airport, PA Time: 8:00a...

HUBZone Priority Upheld by the Courts

Posted on August 27, 2010
By: Edward T. DeLisle On August 13th, the Court of Federal Claims temporarily ended a controversy regarding how agencies go about setting aside contracts for certain qualified small businesses. DGR Associates, Inc. v. United States involved a decision by the Air Force to issue a set aside contract for qualified 8(a) companies...

Legislation Grants Public Access to the Federal Awardee Performance and Integrity and Information System (FAPIIS)

Posted on August 24, 2010
By: Michael H. Payne & Elise M. Carlin As recently reported in Washington Technology, on July 29, 2010, President Obama signed the Supplemental Appropriations Act for 2010 into law. This legislation amends the Clean Contracting Act of 2008, and allows the public to access the Federal Awardee Performance and Integrity Information System (FAPIIS), previously off-limits to anyone other than chairmen and ranking members of congressional committees...

Recent GAO Decisions Highlight the Importance of Meaningful Discussions with Offerors During the Negotiated Procurement Process

Posted on August 04, 2010
By: Elise M. Carlin Each year, a significant number of bid protests filed at the GAO are the result of inadequate discussions. Recently, the GAO released two decisions which reiterated the importance of holding meaningful discussions that do not mislead offerors during negotiated procurements...

The Tradeoff Process in Best Value Procurement

Posted on July 15, 2010
By: Michael H. Payne It is not uncommon, in best value negotiated procurements, for a solicitation to announce that the technical evaluation factors, collectively, are more important than price.  Construction contractors, of course, still remember the days of sealed bidding where the lowest bidder received the award and they are not very receptive to hearing about a subjective technical evaluation that results in an award to a higher priced proposal...

A Postaward Debriefing is Important

Posted on July 12, 2010
By: Michael H. Payne In a negotiated procurement, where a contractor submits a proposal in response to an RFP (Request for Proposals), FAR 15.506(a)(1) states that 'An offeror, upon its written request received by the agency within 3 days after the date on which that offeror has received notification of contract award in accordance with 15...

SBA Proposes Rule to Expand Federal Contracting Opportunities for Women-Owned Small Businesses

Posted on May 25, 2010
By: Edward T. DeLisle & Lori Wisniewski Azzara On March 4, 2010, the Small Business Administration released a proposed rule that, if adopted, would significantly expand federal contracting opportunities for eligible women-owned small businesses ('WOSB')...

Important HUBZone Employee Definition Change

Posted on May 19, 2010
By: Lane F. Kelman On May 3, 2010, the SBA's definition of the term "employee" of a Historically Underutilized Business Zone ("HUBZone") was amended. The new definition establishes a more definitive but stringent reading of when a person is considered an employee for HUBZone eligibility purposes...

The White House Acts

Posted on May 11, 2010
By: Edward T. DeLisle On April 26, 2010, President Obama issued an executive order to study the way in which the government provides assistance to veteran-owned and service-disabled, veteran-owned businesses. This executive order could not have come at a better time...

GAO Issues Report on President's 2011 Budget Proposal for Corps of Engineers Civil Works Program and Recommends Transparency of Presentation be Improved

Posted on April 30, 2010
By: Joseph A. Hackenbracht On April 2, 2010, the Government Accountability Office responded to a request from the House Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development to evaluate 'whether the President's recent budget requests for the Corps are presented so that agency priorities are clear and proposed use of funds transparent...

Provisions Added to the FAR Concerning Use of Project Labor Agreements

Posted on April 26, 2010
By: Joseph A. Hackenbracht On April 13, 2010, the FAR Council published in the Federal Register a Final Rule that adds a new section to the Federal Acquisition Regulation – Subpart 22.5 – Use of Project Labor Agreements for Federal Construction Projects...

New VA Veteran-Owned Small Business Verification Guidelines

Posted on February 21, 2010
A Final Rule governing Service Disabled Veteran-Owned small Business Concerns ('SDVOSB') was published in the Federal Register on February 8, 2010. This law requires the Department of Veterans Affairs ('VA') to verify ownership and control of veteran-owned small businesses, including service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses...

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