Federal Bid Protests Increase in 2014

Bid protests on federal procurements increased by 5% in FY 2014 over bid protests filed in FY 2013.  There were a total of 2,561 bid protests filed with the federal Government Accountability Office (GAO), up from 2,429 filed in FY 2013.
 
Reverses decrease from previous year:  The increase in bid protests reversed a slight 2% decrease in FY 2013, which marked the first time in a number of years that the number of protests had actually declined.  The following shows the percentage change in bid protests since 2006. (The federal fiscal year runs from October 1 through September 30 of each year.)

• 2006 to 2007 - 6% increase
• 2007 to 2008 - 17% increase
• 2008 to 2009 - 20% increase
• 2009 to 2010 - 16% increase
• 2010 to 2011 - 2% increase
• 2011 to 2012 - 5% increase
• 2012 to 2013 - 2% decrease 
• 2013 to 2014 - 5% increase
  

Reasons for protests:  GAO reports the following as the most prevalent reasons why they sustained protests filed with them during the 2014 fiscal year:

• Failure to follow the solicitation evaluation criteria
• Flawed selection decision
• Unreasonable technical evaluation
• Unequal treatment of offerors

More Information:  Click here to read the complete GAO report to Congress on bid protests during FY 2014 (7 pages). 

Practical Tips:  Make sure you have a comprehensive and independent quality control process for reviewing your solicitation documents before they are advertised to ensure that the selection process and requirements are clear.  Your solicitation documents should also define your agency's protest procedures, which may be partially governed by your state law.

Mike Purdy's Public Contracting Blog
© 2015 by Michael E. Purdy Associates, LLC
http://PublicContracting.blogspot.com