Disputes
A dispute is when a government contractor has issues or material disagreements that relate to the contract itself and therefore files a claim.
A claim is defined as a demand by one of the contracting parties seeking, as a matter of right, the payment of money, the adjustment or interpretation of contract terms, including the time of performance. This also includes other relief that arises under or relating to the contract.”
The Government Would Like to Keep Contract Conflicts Out of Court
All contractors have the right to dispute and appeal. However, the government prefers to try to resolve all contractual issues in controversy by mutual agreement at the contracting officer’s level. The government expects you to use reasonable efforts to resolve controversies before the submission of a dispute.
Remember To Be Reasonable
When an unfair decision is put forth, then it definitely should be protested with voracity. However, you should be reasonable in your claims. The federal government is a very lucrative customer, and you do not want to harm this relationship for unnecessary reasons.
What Do You Do If The Government Makes A Decision You Disagree With Regarding a Contract?
A small business has several remedies ranging from filing a basic protest to taking the government to court.
Disputes Are Only For The Contractor
Only a contractor is allowed to file a dispute claim. This means that subcontractors can not enter into the federal dispute process. This is because the contractor is an original party to the contract.
Typical Contractor Disputes
Some common contractor disputes are as follows:
- Defective specifications
- Changing delivery dates
- Failure of the government to supply a contractor with what he/she needs to properly fulfill the requirements of the contract
- Any other “event” that would keep a contractor from completing the contract or from being able to perform the contract.
The dispute is triggered when one of these events occurs and all informal attempts to resolve the issue fail.
What Is The Difference Between A Protest vs. A Dispute?
A protest involves a defective bid or the awarding of a contract to a different bidder. In contrast, a dispute involves an issue with the contracting officer that arises after you have been awarded the government contract.
The following are the three Federal Bid protest Levels:
- Judicial action brought at the United States Court of Federal Claims (COFC).
- Protest filed with the (GAO) Government Accountability Office.
- Agency-Level protest filed with the agency conducting the procurement.
It is important to note that a protest must be filed within ten days after the basis of the protest is known or should be known. Any protests that exceed this 10-day limit will automatically be thrown out. If you want to go forward, you must go to a higher level like the United States Court of Federal Claims.
Protesting A Bid Or Award
You must be an interested party, which means a prospective bidder who will be affected by the award economically. This usually means you will receive the award if your protests are sustained.
One such challenge would be that the bid was defective. A defective bid can include:
- The omission of a required provision
- The ambiguity of Important facts
- Indefinite evaluation factors.
The termination of a contract may also be protested if the protest alleges that the termination was based on improprieties in the award of the contract. This means that you can protest the bid, award, or termination of the contract. Make sure that you are very aware of the deadlines set for a protest.
Protesting A Defective Bid
These are some common grounds for a defective bid:
- The bid is not detailed enough or vague:
- It’s too detailed: SOW too long
- It’s too restrictive: it uses standards or specs that are not needed.
- More time is needed to respond
- It contains ambiguous statements: which do you want?
- There are many brand names or equal issues.
- There are small business issues: such as Hubzone and the wrong size standard
- Failure to meet small business set-asides
What Is The Amount Of Your Dispute
If Your Claim is under $100,000, then going through the dispute resolution process will be faster than if your claim is over this amount. This is because the Board of Contract Appeals is required to decide within 60 to 120 days.
The smaller claims will usually take priority, and the board will postpone an appeal concerning a larger dollar amount contract. The Court of Federal Claims could take more than a year just to reach the trial stage. If the dollar amount of the contract is large, the dispute could conceivably go to the U.S. Supreme Court. So it sometimes is smart to think about a strategy for your disputes based on the dollar amount that you are seeking in your claims. This is why seeking legal counsel is a good idea.
How Do You Get Started Working With The Government?
SAM stands for System Award Management.
To do business with the federal government, you must register your business in the System for Award Management. The government will not hire any type of business that has not been written in the SAM directory.
We have an article on our site, Everything You Need to Know About SAM for Small Businesses, that gives you essential information about this process.
Sam Directory Can Help
Again the first step to obtaining lucrative government contracts is ensuring your business is registered with SAM. Let us take this complicated process off your hands so you can focus on winning some of these valuable proposals. We can make your life easier and get you in the door to a very profitable new revenue stream with the government. As a visionary entrepreneur, you understand how using our site to register in the SAM directory is the first step to lucrative government contracts. Congratulations on taking this critical first step to become a government contractor.