Key provisions of the fiscal 2008 National Defense Authorization Act enhance the rights of government contractors under multiple-award, indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contracts. The new provisions add rigor and transparency to the procurement of task and delivery orders of more than $5 million.
A recent court decision highlights the risks that a governmentcontractor faces when the government believes that thecompany has made false statements in proposals, or otherdocuments, that it has submitted to the government.
The Defense Department proposed a rule change Aug. 2, governing its payment obligations, that could result in contractors waiting longer for payment under certain cost-reimbursement contracts.
Long-awaited rules affecting time-and-materials contracting go into effect Feb. 12. Where the procuring agency makes appropriate findings, the rules will allow use of T&M contracts for any type of service procured as a commercial item.
If you are, in even a loose sense of the word, lobbying someone in the government in an effort to get, modify or extend a contract, you may need to disclose that activity.
The ethics scandals that have rumbled through the federal procurement world of late have brought increased attention to numerous statutory restrictions, such as the Procurement Integrity Act, bribery and gratuity statutes, and the Anti-Kickback Act.
The contracting community should prepare itself for new rules that could significantly affect payment for work done by subcontractors under time-and-materials or labor-hour contracts.
GAO, however, has identified lapses of unmitigated influence and has said that the Defense Security Service does not have sufficient knowledge or controls in place to address the risks it presents.
Technology contractors working with the federal government in 2005 will see several changes in the procurement landscape because of new laws and the scandals of 2004.
In my Aug. 13, 2001, article on the General Services Administration's Federal Supply Schedule, I discussed the standards that the General Accounting Office and the GSA itself have established for conducting procurements based on FSS contracts, formally known as the Multiple Award Schedule.
