Biased Ground Rules

Examples

• 1.A contractor that wrote the statement of work (SOW) for a follow-on production contract competing for that contract
• 2.An engineering firm that developed the system specifications for a weapons program competing for the development contract
• 3.A consultant that helped define the evaluation criteria for a services procurement competing for the services contract
• 4.A contractor that performed a trade study recommending a specific technical approach then competing to implement that approach

Mitigation Strategies

• +Have the government independently review and validate all specifications and requirements documents
• +Require the contractor to disclose any potential bias in its work products
• +Exclude the contractor from competing in procurements where it set the ground rules
• +Use a separate, independent team to develop evaluation criteria and technical requirements
• +Release all contractor-developed specifications to all competitors with sufficient time to respond

Consequences

• !Exclusion from the competition that the contractor helped shape
• !GAO or COFC bid protest sustaining claims of biased specifications
• !Invalidation of the procurement and requirement to re-solicit with independently developed requirements
• !Potential organizational conflicts leading to follow-on exclusions across related procurements
• !Loss of advisory and assistance contracts if the agency determines the contractor prioritized competitive positioning over objective advice

Other OCI Types