Guides
Evergreen explainers on how federal contracting actually works — certifications, contract types, protests, and compliance.
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Guides
How Federal Agencies Ratify Unauthorized Commitments
FAR 1.602-3 lets a contracting officer retroactively ratify a deal an unauthorized government employee struck with a contractor, but only if seven conditions are met and the authority never delegates below the chief of the contracting office.
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Guides
Stop-Work Orders: What FAR 52.242-15 Requires
A guide to FAR 52.242-15 stop-work orders: the 90-day default period, why extensions need contractor consent, and the 30-day deadline for claiming cost and schedule adjustments once the order ends.
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Guides
DoD Enhanced Debriefings: The Clock Offerors Must Track
A guide to DoD enhanced post-award debriefings under DFARS 252.215-7016: the $15 million threshold, the 2-day question and 5-day answer windows, and how the FAR 33.104 automatic-stay clock depends on when that exchange closes, not the debriefing session itself.
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Guides
SBA Mentor-Protégé Program: Rules and the JV Payoff
SBA's unified Mentor-Protégé Program under 13 CFR 125.9 shields approved pairings from affiliation findings, letting a small protégé joint-venture at a mentor's scale while keeping its own small-business status on the award.
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Guides
Limitations on Subcontracting: What Primes Keep In-House
FAR 52.219-14 caps how much of a set-aside contract a small business prime can pay to subcontractors that are not similarly situated, with penalties starting at $500,000 for violations.
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Guides
The $2.5 Million TINA Threshold: What Contractors Must Know
FAR 15.403-4 sets a $2.5 million threshold for certified cost or pricing data on prime contracts awarded on or after July 1, 2018. Here's how the Oct. 1, 2025 inflation rule, FAR 1.109(d), and the FAR 15.403-1(b) exceptions determine which figure applies to your deal.
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Guides
Data Rights in Government Contracts: A Guide
FAR and DFARS split technical data and software rights into Unlimited, Government Purpose, Limited, and Restricted categories. Contractors who miss the pre-award window to mark proprietary data, or let the 5-year GPR clock lapse, can lose protection entirely.
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Guides
Economic Price Adjustment Clauses in Fixed-Price Contracts
FAR 16.203 lets contracting officers add economic price adjustment clauses to fixed-price contracts to guard against labor and material cost swings — but only after a documented necessity determination, and the clause number depends on what's being priced.
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Guides
Cure Notice vs. Show Cause Notice: What Contractors Face
FAR 49.402-3 requires a written cure or show cause notice before most default terminations. Here is how the 10-day cure clock and show cause response differ, and what contractors should do when one arrives.
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Guides
FAR Subpart 9.5: The Three Conflicts That Can Kill an Award
How FAR Subpart 9.5 defines unequal access, biased ground rules, and impaired objectivity OCI, and what a November 2025 GAO sustain teaches about documenting mitigation before award.
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Guides
The Procurement Integrity Act: Rules Before Contract Award
FAR Subpart 3.104 bars disclosing bid or source selection data before award and sets a one-year post-employment bar for officials who decided contracts over $10 million. What BD and HR teams must track before, during, and after a competition.
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Guides
REA vs. Claim: The FAR 33 Line That Changes Everything
FAR 33.207 sets a hard $100,000 certification threshold, 60-day decision clocks, deemed-denial rules, and interest accrual that only apply once a request becomes a claim — an REA has none of it.
