If the leadership makes a choice that the contractor does not agree with, he or she has alternatives to handle the issue. The individual or firm can utilize protests, dispute, and various conflict resolution mechanisms to settle the matter. This paper entails a descriptive analysis of how to handle the disagreements in federal contracting. The contractor is expected to deliver the claim or action to a contracting officer who will describe the incident and the appropriate measures that suit the problem. The official is given a period of 60-days to respond.
When the contracting officer does not provide feedback, the contractor considers his or her request denied. It is after such an occurrence that the individual can write a “Notice of Appeal” that he will take to the Contract Appeals Board and provide a copy to the contracting official. According to Beckett (29), the officer is given another 90 days to deliberate on the issue. If the official continues to deny the contractor’s request, he can apply directly to the Court of Federal Claims. The tribunal is authorized by the Contract Disputes Act to listen to the case and provide a decision. However, the lawsuit can take almost a year (Fox and John, 18).
The Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) gives the policies for the contracting system. Unfortunately, Federal contracts are heavily regulated with massive volumes of statutes such as Titles 40, 41, and 30 in the country’s code; hence, the cases tend to be bulky (Kidalov, Keith, and Rene, 21). Contract issues arise when the government makes decisions that do not serve the interests of the contractor, infringe his or her rights, do not uphold the statute of utmost good faith, or result in financial loss. The two parties, the leadership and the contractor, can develop ways to avoid the disputes and settle challenges outside the courts. The government employs reasonable attempts to resolve controversies such as alternative dispute resolution, ombudsman, and partnering to formulate win-win situations.
Works Cited
Beckett, Julia. Public Management and the Rule of Law. New York: Routledge, 2014.
Fox, Dan, and John C. Morris. "THE ROLE OF ACCOUNTABILITY IN FEDERAL ACQUISITION: A SEARCH FOR CONTEXT." Journal of Public Procurement 15.4, 2015.
Kidalov, Max V., Keith F. Snider, and Rene G. Rendon. "Diversity Governance by Convenience?” Federal Contracting for Minority-Owned Small Businesses, 2013.
