After you bid
What is a bid protest?
A bid protest is a formal challenge to a solicitation, a cancellation, or an award, and it can be filed with the contracting agency itself, with the Government Accountability Office, or with the U.S. Court of Federal Claims.
Also written as: protest a government contract, agency protest, protest grounds.
FAR 33.101 defines a protest as a written objection by an interested party to a solicitation or other request by an agency for offers, to a cancellation, to an award or proposed award, or to a termination of a contract for improprieties in the award. "Interested party" is a real limit: an actual or prospective offeror whose direct economic interest would be affected.
Three forums, three characters. An agency-level protest under FAR 33.103 is fastest and cheapest and goes to the people who made the decision. GAO is the main forum, with published timeliness rules and a statutory decision deadline. The Court of Federal Claims is a court, with the procedure and cost that implies.
Protests are not free of consequence. They cost time and money, they are decided against protesters more often than not, and the commercial relationship with the buying office is not improved by one. The strongest use is a solicitation term that is plainly improper — raised before proposals are due, when it can still be fixed.
What this means when you bid
If the problem is in the solicitation, raise it before the proposal deadline. After award it is a much heavier and much less winnable fight.
Bid protest compared with the terms it gets confused with
Bid protest vs GAO protest
A bid protest can be filed at three forums; a GAO protest is the specific route to the Government Accountability Office, with its own timeliness rules and a 100-day decision deadline.
What GAO protestmeans →Where this definition comes from
Federal contracting is one of the few fields where the authoritative answer is free, public and one click away. These are the sources this page is built from — go and read them.
- FAR 33.101→
Definitions.
- FAR 33.103→
Protests to the agency.
- FAR Part 33→
Protests, disputes and appeals.
This page explains a term in plain English and cites the authority it comes from. It is not legal advice, and the regulation governs where this page and the regulation differ.
Free tools for government contractors
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Bid protest— common questions
- What is a bid protest?
- A bid protest is a formal challenge to a solicitation, a cancellation, or an award, and it can be filed with the contracting agency itself, with the Government Accountability Office, or with the U.S. Court of Federal Claims.
- What is the difference between Bid protest and GAO protest?
- A bid protest can be filed at three forums; a GAO protest is the specific route to the Government Accountability Office, with its own timeliness rules and a 100-day decision deadline.
- Why does a bid protest matter when you are bidding?
- If the problem is in the solicitation, raise it before the proposal deadline. After award it is a much heavier and much less winnable fight.
Related terms
- GAO protest
- Debriefing
- Responsive bid
- FAR — Federal Acquisition Regulation