Five Cost/Price Evaluation Lessons From Recent Bid Protest Decisions

Introduction

In this era of sequestration and decreased defense spending, paying close attention to cost and price issues is of paramount importance to contractors submitting proposals to the federal government. Nine recent bid protest decisions from the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) and U.S Court of Federal Claims (COFC) provide important guidance for contractors with respect to the nuanced rules governing an agency's evaluation of cost/price factors.¹ The purpose of this article is to highlight five key legal principles derived from those decisions, and to provide brief commentary concerning best practices for contractors to use these principles to their advantage.