competitive bid | The Contracting Education Academy

June 19, 2020 By cs

Feds spend billions on COVID-19 contracts, often without fully competitive bidding

When nurses and doctors across the country were struggling to treat coronavirus patients without enough protective gear, and the federal government was scrambling to find those supplies, Quedon Baul saw an opportunity.

His three-person company in McKinney, Texas, distributes medical supplies but didn’t have much experience with face shields. Still, he landed two government contracts worth up to $20 million to deliver the personal protective equipment. He couldn’t meet the first deadline, so he found subcontractors to do the job.

“You get an opportunity, you take it,” Baul says. “It wasn’t my first rodeo, but it’s certainly my first big rodeo.”

The U.S. government has granted contracts worth as much as $25 billion as it races to address the COVID-19 public health crisis. NPR reviewed a database of thousands of contracting actions and found more than 250 companies that got contracts worth more than $1 million without going through a fully competitive bidding process.

Some of the companies, such as Baul’s, had little or no experience with personal protective equipment. Others had never worked in the medical field at all. Contractors also included a company that imported vodka and a school security consultant.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.npr.org/2020/06/09/869052415/feds-spend-billions-on-covid-19-contracts-often-without-fully-competitive-biddin

The Contracting Education Academy at Georgia Tech has established a webpage where all contract-related developments related to the coronavirus (COVID-19) are summarized. Find the page at: https://contractingacademy.gatech.edu/coronavirus-information-for-contracting-officers-and-contractors/

November 13, 2018 By AMK

PA bill would open door to competitive school construction bids, away from cooperative purchasing

Pennsylvania state representative Jesse Topper has introduced a bill that would open major construction projects to competitive bidding, reports The Inquirer of Philadelphia.

The bill, which is with the State Government Committee, was precipitated by a study from research firm Ducker Worldwide that found from 2005 to 2010, schools across the state wasted more than $100 million in taxpayer money on roofing by using cooperative purchasing rather than competitive bidding.

The proposed bill would outlaw cooperative purchases for construction projects, which the bill’s backers say will save money, especially for public schools having financial troubles. One school district received a roofing bid from a cooperative for $2.4 million, whereas an open bid for the same project totaled $1.4 million.

Still, many Pennsylvania school officials say cooperative purchasing agreements have merit, offering quality assurance, consistency and reduced maintenance, reported The Inquirer. They also say that open bids, unlike cooperatives, don’t take design costs or project monitoring into account.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.constructiondive.com/news/pennsylvania-bill-would-open-door-to-competitive-school-construction-bids/541536/

January 7, 2016 By AMK

Viewpoint: Reverse auctions don’t help agencies or taxpayers

Dozens of organizations representing hundreds of thousands of America’s small construction firms— whether minority-owned, women-owned, veteran-owned, HUBZone or just plain old small business—agree: using reverse auctions to procure construction services for the federal government does not save money, does not encourage quality and does not help small businesses.

Reverse auctions do not guarantee the lowest price for a contract. Rather, like in “The Price is Right” game show, they guarantee that one business will underbid others by just one dollar. A bidder has no incentive to offer its best price and may never have to offer its lowest price. Nevertheless, business do offer their best price for low price technically acceptable procurements and other contracting approaches conducted through sealed bids, where competitors do not know their competitor’s price. Data reporting any bid savings is, therefore, highly questionable.

Reverse auctions do not make sense for the procurement of many contracts, particularly those for professional services and especially construction services.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.govexec.com/contracting/2015/12/viewpoint-reverse-auctions-dont-help-agencies-or-taxpayers/124791/

July 20, 2015 By AMK

DHS audit: School district awarded $50 million in disaster funds without competition

A Homeland Security Department (DHS) audit found that a northeast Kansas school district awarded $50 million in federal disaster funds to rebuild facilities following a 2008 tornado without using a full and open competitive process.

However, the DHS inspector general said it deferred to the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s decision that the costs were “fair and reasonable for the work performed” under government regulations that allow for exceptions, according to the June 24 report released publicly last week.

Still, IG said the agency had better options and should remind Kansas of its responsibilities to make sure grant recipients are aware of federal regulations and monitor such activities to ensure compliance. It also said the state, which administered the funds, should also inform the Chapman, Kan., school district that it must comply with procurement requirements otherwise future FEMA reimbursements could be at risk.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.fiercehomelandsecurity.com/story/kansas-school-district-awarded-50m-disaster-funds-without-open-competition/2015-07-10

June 30, 2015 By AMK

Long-time in coming, OFPP reverse auction memo rings hollow

Anne Rung, OFPP administrator, has released a six-page policy memo basically reminding agencies of best practices to keep in mind when using this tool.

But the only real instruction to agencies is for them to send her office a point of contact by July 10.

“OFPP seeks to work with agencies to identify the essential management data points (e.g., price paid for item, fees paid (if any), number of bidders and level of interactive bidding) and mechanisms for collecting and aggregating information in a manner that leverages technology and avoids the need for manual collection,” Rung wrote in the memo. “For your awareness, as a further step, the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council will open a case to develop coverage on the use of reverse auctions in the Federal Acquisition Regulation and will address the guidance in this memorandum, as appropriate.”

The rest of the memo doesn’t necessarily address any of the long-held concerns by the Government Accountability Office, lawmakers and vendors.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.federalnewsradio.com/517/3875528/Long-time-incoming-OFPP-reverse-auction-memo-rings-hollow

When nurses and doctors across the country were struggling to treat coronavirus patients without enough protective gear, and the federal government was scrambling to find those supplies, Quedon Baul saw an opportunity.

Pennsylvania state representative Jesse Topper has introduced a bill that would open major construction projects to competitive bidding, reports The Inquirer of Philadelphia.

A Homeland Security Department (DHS) audit found that a northeast Kansas school district awarded $50 million in federal disaster funds to rebuild facilities following a 2008 tornado without using a full and open competitive process.

Anne Rung, OFPP administrator, has released a six-page policy memo basically reminding agencies of best practices to keep in mind when using this tool.

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