FedBizOpps | The Contracting Education Academy

March 6, 2017 By AMK

Federal agencies sometimes struggle with creating postings on FedBizOpps

The Ides of March came early — at least for one employee of the Coast Guard’s Shore Maintenance Command contracting office.

While March 15 is known as a rather notorious day in history, March 1, 2017 may now take on special significance as well (at least among federal employees) as the day that a contracting official in Seattle apparently couldn’t figure out how to delete a posting from FedBizOpps (FBO), the website where virtually all federal contracts valued at $25,000 or more are posted daily.

Unable to delete a contract posting, the contracting official simply titled it, in all caps: “DON’T KNOW HOW TO DELETE THESE.”

**This is a screenshot of the FedBizOpps posting created on Mar. 1, 2017 by the Coast Guard’s Shore Maintenance Command.**

The words “DON’T KNOW HOW TO DELETE THESE” appear in the place where the title of a solicitation or contract award normally appears. In this case, the posting indicates that the contract was awarded on December 2, 2013, and it was a sole source award.

The FBO notice also indicates that the contract was for architectural and engineering services, and that the contract number is HSCG50-14-R-PKUGH1.

In fairness, the contracting office at the Coast Guard’s Shore Maintenance Command isn’t the only contracting office that sometimes struggles with FBO postings. Last August, the Denver-based National Park Service contracts office of the U.S. Department of Interior advertised a contract opportunity for “ASSES & DEVELOP LEADERSHIP TRAINING RDI.”

***Presumably, the National Park Service wanted an assessment of their leadership training program performed when they created this FedBizOpps posting on Aug, 29, 2016.***

The Coast Guard’s FBO posting can be seen at: https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity&mode=form&id=97fab27175e8c6b4216141611cbfce48&tab=core&_cview=0.

The National Park Service’s FBO posting is at: https://www.fbo.gov/?s=opportunity&mode=form&id=5fbc373ae5c98756189e3c2277541fbb&tab=core&_cview=1.

November 8, 2016 By AMK

GAO: No “public posting” of solicitation in closed government office

An agency failed to meet its obligations to properly publicize a simplified acquisition valued between $15,000 and $25,000 where the agency placed the solicitation in a three-ring binder at the reception desk in a government office–and that office was closed during most of the relevant time.

bia In a recent decision, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) affirmed that principle that even when the dollar value of a simplified acquisition doesn’t meet the requirement for electronic posting on FedBizOpps, the agency still must take reasonable steps to maximize competition.

GAO’s decision in Bluehorse Corp., B-413533 (Oct. 28, 2016) involved a Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) solicitation for diesel fuel for a school district served by the BIA in New Mexico.

After identifying an emergency need for the diesel fuel, the BIA prepared an RFQ on Saturday, July 30. The RFQ was prepared under the procedures for the streamlined acquisition of commercial items under FAR 12.6, and called for a performance period of delivery from August 2, 2016 through April 30, 2017.

Keep reading this article at: http://smallgovcon.com/gaobidprotests/gao-no-public-posting-of-solicitation-in-closed-government-office/

October 1, 2015 By AMK

Reminder: Selected federal acquisition thresholds change today

As we first informed you on July 8, some of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) dollar thresholds change effective October 1, 2015.

The inflationary adjustments to the thresholds are summarized below, inluding references to the applicable FAR parts:

The micro-purchase threshold of $3,000 increases to $3,500 (FAR 2.101).
The threshold for use of simplified acquisition procedures for acquisition of commercial items increases from $6.5 million to $7 million (FAR 13.500).
The cost or pricing data threshold (FAR 15.403-4) and the Cost Accounting Standards threshold (FAR 30.201-4 and FAR clause 52.230-5) increases from $700,000 to $750,000.
The prime contractor subcontracting plan floor increases from $650,000 to $700,000. The subcontracting plan threshold for construction contracts remains the same at $1.5 million (FAR 19.702).
The threshold for reporting first-tier subcontract information, including executive compensation, increases from $25,000 to $30,000 (FAR Subpart 4.14 and FAR clause 52.204-10).
The threshold for including the clause requiring contractors to provide equal employment opportunities to veterans increases from $100,000 to $150,000 (FAR 22.1303 and FAR clause 52.222-35).
The threshold requiring contractors to flowdown the clause regarding a contractor’s Code of Business Ethics and Conduct increases from $5 million to $5.5 million (FAR clause 52.203-15).
The threshold restricting subcontracts with a contractor that has been debarred, suspended, or proposed for debarment increases from $30,000 to $35,000 (FAR 9.409 and FAR clause 52.209-6).

Other FAR-prescribed dollar thresholds do not change at this time. For instance, the simplified acquisition threshold of $150,000 (FAR 2.101) remains unchanged, and FedBizOpps preaward and postaward notices (FAR Parts 5.101 and 5.301) remain at $25,000..

July 8, 2015 By AMK

Federal acquisition thresholds to change Oct. 1st

Changes will occur in various federal acquisition dollar thresholds effective Oct. 1, 2015.

An acquisition-related dollar threshold is a dollar threshold that is specified in law as a factor in defining the scope of the applicability of a policy, procedure, requirement, or restriction provided in that law to the procurement of supplies or services by an executive agency, as determined by the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Council.

As set forth in Federal Register – Vol. 80 No. 127 – July 2, 2015 (pages 38293 through 38296), the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) will be amended to change:

The micro-purchase base threshold from $3,000 (FAR 2.101) to $3,500.
The threshold for use of simplified acquisition procedures for acquisition of commercial items (FAR 13.500) from $6.5 million to $7 million.
The cost or pricing data threshold (FAR 15.403-4) and the statutorily equivalent Cost Accounting Standard threshold from $700,000 to $750,000.
The prime contractor subcontracting plan (FAR 19.702) floor from $650,000 to $700,000 (The construction threshold of $1,500,000 will remain unchanged.)
The threshold for reporting first-tier subcontract information including executive compensation from $25,000 to $30,000 (FAR subpart 4.14 and section 52.204-10).

Other FAR-prescribed thresholds will not change. The simplified acquisition threshold (FAR 2.101) of $150,000 will remain unchanged, and FedBizOpps pre-award and post-award notices (FAR part 5) will remain at $25,000 because of trade agreements.

If an acquisition-related threshold is based on statute, the matrix at http:// www.regulations.gov (search FAR case 2008–024) identifies the statute, and the statutory threshold. If inflation adjustment is warranted, calculations are rounded in accordance with the table shown above. — If an acquisition-related threshold is
based on statute, the matrix at http://
www.regulations.gov (search FAR case
2008–024) identifies the statute, and the
statutory threshold. Inflation calculations are rounded in accordance with the table shown above.

September 10, 2014 By AMK

White House to agencies: Embrace offbeat methods for buying tech

With no plans to return to the moon anytime soon in NASA’s future, the space agency decided to challenge private sector teams, including small startups and academia, to come up with ways to safely land commercial lunar landers on the moon’s surface and transmit data back to Earth.

None of the six teams selected by NASA to compete for the Google Lunar X PRIZE — which carries total prize winnings of $30 million and a Dec. 31, 2015, deadline — is a “traditional” government contractor.

And the method NASA used for the process — a milestone-based competition combining the best attributes of a firm, fixed-price contract with the flexibility of an indefinite-delivery deal — wasn’t exactly the typical FedBizOpps posting, either.

But the point is — it worked.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.nextgov.com/cio-briefing/2014/08/white-house-agencies-embrace-offbeat-methods-buying-tech/92051

The Ides of March came early — at least for one employee of the Coast Guard’s Shore Maintenance Command contracting office.

An agency failed to meet its obligations to properly publicize a simplified acquisition valued between $15,000 and $25,000 where the agency placed the solicitation in a three-ring binder at the reception desk in a government office–and that office was closed during most of the relevant time.

As we first informed you on July 8, some of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) dollar thresholds change effective October 1, 2015.

Changes will occur in various federal acquisition dollar thresholds effective Oct. 1, 2015.

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