Glossary / Evaluation, Regulations
Bid protest
A bid protest is a written challenge by an interested party to the terms of a solicitation or to the award decision. It can be filed with the agency itself, with the Government Accountability Office under its bid protest regulations, or with the Court of Federal Claims. GAO protests carry strict clocks: a protest of the solicitation's terms is due before proposals are due, and a protest of an award is generally due within ten days of when the protester knew or should have known its grounds, or within ten days of a required debriefing. A timely GAO protest usually stops performance while it is decided.
Why it matters to your pipeline
A protest is a tool, not a reflex. A well-founded one can correct a flawed evaluation; a weak one costs money and goodwill with a buyer the firm wants to keep selling to. The practical value for a small firm is often in the debriefing that precedes the decision to protest, where the evaluators explain what scored and what did not.
When this term shows up in an opening GovSmith finds for you, your vCM explains what it means for that pursuit and does whatever it calls for. You decide; we do the work.
Example
A firm loses a $6M set-aside and learns in its debriefing that its key-personnel resumes were scored as missing a required certification that they in fact listed. It files a GAO protest within ten days; the agency takes corrective action, re-evaluates and makes a new award.
Find out what applies to you
Some terms will matter to your business right away and some won’t for years. A vCM can tell you which are which.