As we have mentioned previously, the growing use of multiple award task order contracts in federal construction contracting, as can be seen in much of the disaster recovery work in New Orleans, is limiting the competitive opportunities for small and mid-sized construction contractors. Unless a contractor is the recipient of one of the major task order contract awards, there is no opportunity for a contractor to compete for upcoming individual task orders and the contractor is effectively precluded from competing for potentially millions of dollars of work to be awarded over a period of years. In the past, when there were more single award contracts, if a contractor lost out to a competitor, there was always another solicitation on the horizon. If a contractor fails to become one of those selected to compete under a multiple award task order contract, there may be no, or very little, work “waiting in the wings.”
It follows that it is important to monitor the decisions of the GAO and the courts to see what is being done to protect the rights of contractors, and we will continue to do so. In a newly issued GAO decision, Palmetto GBA, LLC, B-299154, December 19, 2006, the Comptroller General stated that according to the legislative history of the Federal Acquisition Streamlining Act (FASA), task and delivery-order contracts were intended to encourage the use of multiple-award, rather than single-award contracts, in order to promote an ongoing competitive environment in which each awardee would be fairly considered for each order issued. H.R. Conf. Rep. No. 103-712, at 178 (1994), reprinted in 1994 U.S.C.C.A.N. 2607, 2608; S. Rep. No.103258, at 15-16 (1994), reprinted in 1994 U.S.C.C.A.N. 2561, 2575-76. In this regard, the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) requires agencies to provide all awardees “fair opportunity to be considered for each order exceeding $3,000 issued under multiple delivery-order contracts or multiple task-order contracts.” FAR sect. 16.505(b)(1)(i).
An interesting aspect of the Palmetto case is that the GAO reiterated that a task or delivery order that precludes competition for future task or delivery orders for the duration of the contract performance period may constitute a “downselection.” The GAO has recognized downselections in circumstances not only where all work under a contract will be foreclosed from future competition, but also where specific categories of work will be similarly foreclosed for the duration of the contract. While the GAO did not find that “downselection” occurred in the Palmetto case, it is important for contractors to recognize that a task order award that eliminates competition for future work can be successfully protested.
Continue Reading Task Order Contractors Must be Given a Fair Opportunity to Compete for Individual Task Orders