Georgia Tech Procurement Assistance Center

The Navy gets tough on DFARS cybersecurity compliance

By

Last year we told you about a 2018 Navy memo, known as the Geurts Memo, which required defense contractors to implement certain controls for NIST SP 800-171, some of them going beyond 171 requirements.  If you didn’t see our write-up, it can be found here: “Still Lagging on DFARS? The Navy Has A Memo For You”.

The Navy has now gone several steps beyond that 2018 memo and is requiring their contracting officers to implement a strict regime when it comes to their contractors’ compliance with NIST SP 800-171 and the Guerts Memo.

Continue reading at:  Sera-Brynn

Wait! Wait! Don’t sign that!

By

Government Contracts attorneys have long advised clients to be wary of executing contact modifications containing broad release language.  In such situations, a simple modification extending the contract schedule or addressing a specific item of work can result in the government later taking the position that by executing the modification the contractor intended to release all related claims, no matter how tenuous the connection between the subject of the modification and the later claims.

A recent case from the Court of Federal Claims stands as a good reminder to contractors not to let their guard down when executing modifications with the government.  On September 23, 2019, the court issued a decision in Meridian Engineering Company v. The United States, No. 11-492C, in which it clarified the law surrounding the scope of releases and the doctrine of accord and satisfaction.

Continue reading at:  Government Contracts Insider

Protégé subcontract revenues from mentor hold no basis for economic dependence

By

An important benefit of a mentor-protégé agreement (MPA) is that no determination of affiliation may be found between a protégé and its mentor solely because of assistance provided under the agreement.  A recent decision of the Small Business Administration (SBA) Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA), Avar Consulting, Inc., upheld a size determination which found that a protégé was not affiliated with its SBA-approved mentor through economic dependence, even though the revenues it received from the mentor constituted over 70% of the revenues it received between formation and the date of size self-certification.  A small business government contractor that anticipates future affiliation with a business under the 70% economic dependence rule should consider entering into an SBA-approved small business MPA with that business to prevent future revenues it receives from the business from being considered when economic dependence is assessed.

Continue reading at:  Piliero Mazza

Are more FCA cases against small businesses on the horizon?

By

On August 20, 2019, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that it had reached a $20 million settlement with Luke Hillier (Hillier), the majority owner and former CEO of a Virginia-based defense contractor, ADS, Inc. (ADS), to resolve “allegations that he violated the False Claims Act (FCA) by fraudulently obtaining federal set-aside contracts reserved for small businesses that his company was ineligible to receive . . . .”  The resolution of the claims against Hillier follows ADS’s payment of a separate $16 million settlement on related claims, as well as an additional $225,000 paid by Charles Salle, the former general counsel of ADS, to resolve claims arising from his role in the alleged scheme.  Combined, the $36 million total settlement is believed to be the largest FCA recovery in history based on allegations of small business contracting fraud.  Given the size of the collective settlement and the nature of the allegations against Hillier and ADS, small businesses everywhere—particularly government contractors—should anticipate a potential increase in the frequency of small business fraud-related FCA cases.

The case from which these settlements arose was originally filed in November 2013 and alleged that ADS caused its affiliates to falsely represent themselves as, among other things, Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses (SDVOSBs).  It further alleged that these false representations allowed ADS, through its affiliates, to compete improperly for set-aside opportunities that were intended to be available only to SDVOSBs and for which ADS was not eligible.  As a result of this improper access, ADS profited at the expense of both the government and eligible SDVOSBs.  The claims against ADS were settled in August 2017; however, the claims against Hillier remained outstanding until last month.

Continue reading at: Piliero Mazza

Big changes to the Buy American Act are coming—will they matter?

By

On July 15, 2019, President Trump signed Executive Order 13881 addressing domestic preferences in government procurement.  Unlike Executive Order 13788 (April 18, 2017) and Executive Order 13858 (Jan. 31, 2019), which had no substantive effect on existing domestic preference statutes and regulations, this one does.

EO 13881 calls for the FAR Council to make two significant changes to FAR clauses implementing the Buy American Act.  The first increases the domestic content requirements for items to comply with the Buy American Act.  The second increases the price preference for domestic products.

Continue reading at:  The Contractor’s Perspective

GSA takes next step towards consolidating multiple award schedules

By

After receiving more than one thousand comments from industry and other stakeholders, on October 1, 2019, the General Services Administration (GSA) issued a solicitation for a single, consolidated Schedule as part of its project to combine its 24 existing Multiple Award Schedules (MAS), also referred to as Federal Supply Schedules (FSS), into one.  It is an important step towards the agency’s goal of simplifying and reducing duplication in its Schedules program, through which more than $30 billion is spent annually on commercial goods and services.  However, much work remains before such a goal can be realized.

This update provides an overview of GSA Schedules consolidation, the timeline for its implementation, and key areas that Schedule contractors should be prepared to track in the coming months.

Continue reading at:  Perkins Coie

OIG report: SBA’s all small mentor-protégé program falling short

By

The Small Business Administration (SBA) Office of Inspector General (OIG) recently issued a public report on the SBA’s All Small Mentor-Protégé Program (ASMPP), in which the SBA OIG found certain shortcomings in the SBA’s administration of the program.  As discussed below, the report also provides a series of recommendations, most of which the SBA has accepted.

What is the ASMPP?

The SBA began accepting applications for the ASMPP in 2016 and has seen a surge in applications each subsequent year.  Under the ASMPP, any small business – including 8(a) small businesses, Historically Underutilized Business Zone small businesses, veteran-owned and service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses, woman-owned and economically disadvantaged woman-owned small businesses – may enter into an agreement with a large business under which the large business will provide mentorship and assistance.  In return, the large and small businesses are permitted to joint venture to perform federal small business set-aside contracts.

Continue reading at:  Buildsmart blog

Say goodbye to FedBizOpps!

By

As some of you may already know, the Federal Business Opportunities website – commonly referred to as “FedBizOpps” or “FBO” – is not going to be around much longer.  The site will be decommissioned by November 8th of this year, with the site’s “critical functionality” being moved over to/merged with the System for Award Management (“SAM”) as early as first quarter 2020.  However, we are not talking about the same old SAM that contractors may be used to; FBO’s functions will be moved over to a new system at beta.SAM.gov

According to a fact sheet issued by the GSA, “one the transition is complete, beta.SAM.gov will have the same federal business opportunity capabilities that are found today in FBO.gov.”  You will still be able to follow contract opportunities, and save searches, but the processes used to do so (and the related terminology) might vary slightly.  The new system will also boast some improvements over the old flawed-but-familiar FedBizOpps, including…

Continue reading at:  GovCon Examiner

SBA adjusts monetary-based size standards for inflation

By

Effective August 19, 2019, the Small Business Administration (“SBA”) has updated and increased the monetary-based size standards (i.e. receipts-based and assets-based size standards).  The SBA announced this change back in July, and explained that the standards were being changed solely to account for inflation.  Pursuant to the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010, the SBA reviews the size standards every five years and makes any necessary inflation-based adjustments.  The SBA also has the power to revise the size standards to account for changes in industry structure and federal market conditions.

Continue reading at:  Obermayer, Rebmann, Maxwell & Hippel LLP

DoD issues final rule restricting the use of LPTA procurements

By

Effective October 1, 2019, a new rule issued by the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) amends the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) to limit the use of lowest price technically acceptable (LPTA) procurements.  In December 2018, we highlighted the DOD’s proposed rule limiting LPTA procurements.  The final version of that rule, published on Thursday, September 26, 2019, is, as of October 1, 2019, found at section 215.101-2-70 of the DFARS.  As our earlier analysis concluded, this amendment to the DFARS significantly restricts DOD’s ability to favor low-cost options over technical superiority.

Continue reading at:  Perkins Coie

Contracting News

Read More

Contracting Tips

Read More

GTPAC News

Read More

Georgia Tech News

Read More