Government Contracting
Government Contracting is a blog about purchasing best practices in the government sector, federal, state and local. Lee Crane is a contracting officer with the U. S. Postal Service and has both CPM and CPIM certification.
Regulatory changes
In her recent piece for GovernmentExecutive.com, Elizabeth Newell does a great job of highlighting a few of the announced acquisition regulation changes. This is a must read for anyone involved in Government Contracting. You can find the article here. ...... Read More
Comments (0)Contract abuses
In looking over the most recent list of Open FAR Cases I stumbled upon one pending issue that has the potential to make life more difficult (and possibly more expensive) for Federal Contracting Officers.Case 2008-032 is listed on page 11 of the September 11, 2009 report. It involves a provision of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal 2009. In particular, it addresses Section 865 of ...... Read More
Comments (0)Why appearances are important
In last week’s Washington Post, Robert O’Harrow, Jr. writes what can only be considered a “must read” by anyone involved in Government Contracting. It is good for all of us, Contracting Officers and Contractors, to be reminded of the consequences of even the appearance of impropriety. We are working in an environment which has an extremely low tolerance for ...... Read More
Comments (0)Better get competitive bids
A recent article in nextgov.com slammed the U.S. Navy for awarding $500 million in engineering contracts without adequate competition. Will the report create enough momentum to finally change FAR’s treatment of set-asides for IDIQ contracts? It just might. Especially in this era of hyper-sensitivity to adequate competition, this report might be just enough to put this topi ...... Read More
Comments (0)You decide if it’s an invasion of privacy
Have you ever wondered how awkward it would be to have everyone in your office knowing everyone else’s salary – exactly? Many of us in government contracting are about to find out… Thanks to a little-known website posted as a public service by a local New Jersey newspaper, every Federal Employee’s 2007 salary is available for viewing and sharing. Postal payroll i ...... Read More
Comments (1)How federal contractors can do their job
Just in case you didn’t make it to page 188 of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (yet) there is an interesting section that could impact the way Federal Contracting Officers do their jobs. It is Section 1554 entitled “Special Contracting Provisions”, and it mandates the use of competitively awarded fixed-price contracts “To the maximum extent possible& ...... Read More
Comments (0)Government contractors and the recession
You are unlikely to open a paper, listen to a news story, or have a water cooler conversation these days that won’t include some variation of “given the economy”, or ”in these tough times” or “nowadays”. We are in a recession and it comes up a lot. But how are these “tough times” affecting the behavior of Government Contractors?& ...... Read More
Comments (0)Advice on cost estimates
Federal Computer Week reports that the Government Accountability Office has published its first manual to help federal, state, and local government agencies develop more reliable cost estimates to better manage government projects. The guide applies to civilian and defense projects managed by government organizations or private contractors, said Gene Dodaro, acting comptroller general. Click ...... Read More
Comments (0)What’s exempt from the Services Contract Act
Many of us have heard rumors of certain types of services that are exempt from the SCA. These rumors are absolutely true. There are a small number of services to which the Service Contract Act does not apply. They are: Construction, alteration and/or repair, including painting and decorating of public building or public works [that is to say, if the Davis-Bacon Act applies]; Work required in ...... Read More
Comments (2)Inside service contracts
Lee S. Crane is a contracting officer with the U.S. Postal Service. He has 10 years of sourcing and supply chain management experience. Ah, the Service Contract Act. If there’s a Federal Buyer that doesn’t love this piece of legislation, they should have their warrant revoked. But that said, loving a thing, and really getting to know it, can be two complete ...... Read More
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