Protest Basics for GovCons

Recently BOOST’s Director of Contracts Robin Desmore and Maria Panichelli, Partner and the Chair of the Government Contracting department at Obermayer Rebmann Maxwell & Hippel LLP discussed the first of a two-part virtual series on the Protest Basics: Pre-Award, Post-Award, and the Process.

You can view the replay of the event here.

Here are some of the notable pieces from the discussion:

What are the Different Types of Protests:

• Solicitation

• Contractors Submit Responses to Solicitation

• Evaluation of Contractors/Source Selection

• Awardees Chosen

What are the Common Protest Deadlines:

• Pre-award Protests Based on Errors in the Solicitation need to be submitted before the response deadline.

• General (GAO) Rule: 10 days after the basis of the protest is known (or should have been known)

What are Some Protestable Issues:

• Pre-award protests based on errors in the Solicitation:
• Ambiguous or contradictory terms
• Inclusion of prohibited terms/exclusion of required terms
• Unduly or overly restrictive terms or specifications
• Improper use of LPTA
• OCI Issues
• Set-aside/“rule of two”/Kingdomware issues
• De Facto responsibility determination
• Pre-Award Competitive Range/Post-Award Protests:

• Common Non-Pricing Evaluation Factor Issues

• Unstated evaluation criteria or subfactor, etc.
• Error in applying evaluation criteria/assigning ratings
• Unequal or disparate treatment of offerors
• Meaningful/misleading/uneven discussions
• OCI Issues

• Common Pricing Evaluation Issues

• Price Reasonableness
• Price Realism
• Escalation, Adjustment
• Balanced Pricing
• HUBZone Preference

UPDATE: On November 17th, 2020 BOOST Hosted Part 2 of this series: Where OCIs Meet Protests.
Our presenters discussed:
• Award Protests
• OCI Considerations
• Protest Scenarios
• and the Answers to Your Questions

Please visit this link to gain access to the replay.