Protesting a Bid or Awarded Contract

Posted by Administrator on September 22nd, 2006

What you should Know if you are Thinking about Protesting a Government Bid or Award

If you do not agree with the decision of a contracting officer or a government agency regarding a government contract bid or awarded government contract, government regulations will provide you with multiple ways in which you can remedy the situation. You could file a bid protest or award protest, dispute your disagreement or even take the government to court.

In order to file a bid protest or award protest, you must be an “interested party.” This means that you must have direct economic interest and potentially be affected by the contract award or by the failure to award a contract. If your protest were sustained, it means that you could be in line for an award.

Protesters can challenge anything from the acceptance or rejection of a contract bid or proposal to the award or proposed award of a contract and even defective solicitations or bids.

Some examples of bid defects are restrictive specifications, omission of required revisions, or indefinite or ambiguous evaluation factors. You can even protest a contract termination if you allege that the contract was awarded based on improprieties.

Procedures if you Decide to Protest a Bid or Protest an Award

Government contracting regulations require that you use your best efforts to resolve matters with a contracting agency before you file a protest. Open conversations are encouraged between you and the agency contracting officers; this helps promote a fair and diligent resolution of matters.

If things can’t be resolved through open conversation and a bid protest or award protest is submitted to an agency, you can expect an informal and procedurally simple resolution to the protest that may involve another agency’s personnel, third-party neutrals or alternative dispute techniques.

If the bid protest or award protest is received prior to the award of a contract, the contract will not be awarded. The pending award decision will depend on the outcome of the protest. There are some exceptions to this rule, such as if the government is in dire need of the products or services, a prompt award would be in the best interests of the government, or the delivery or service will be unreasonably delayed. If the agency receives the protest 10 days after the award of the contract, the contract performance will be halted until a resolution is made regarding the award protest. The other eligible companies who responded to the RFP or bid will be notified about the protest, since the award will be suspended. If the award protest is received 10 days after the contract award, individual agency procedures will determine how the protest will be handled. In these cases, it is likely that the contract award may be invalidated and the contract performance may not be terminated or suspended.

If you can not resolve anything with your contracting agency, you can file a bid protest or award protest with the General Accountability Office (GAO).

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